The Godfather On Vince McMahon's Plan To Get The Rock Over In WWE
Godfather was one of Rock’s soldiers in The Nation of Domination
It’s hard to believe now, but at one point The Rock had ‘go away’ heat with the WWE audience, when he was plying his trade as the whitemeat babyface Rocky Maivia.
It was when Rocky joined The Nation of Domination and morphed into the cocky Rock that he started along the path to superstardom. And according to Nation cohort The Godfather, it was all part of Vince McMahon’s plan, telling the Such Good Shoot podcast:
“They weren’t doing nothing with me and D'lo - Rock was wrestling main events. And so we were there at the end to take the stunner or something, so he didn't have to take it. You know, he would go over on whoever it was, and then we'd have to take their finish. I went like six, seven months, man without working at all just we were just there building The Rock as part of The Nation.
“Vince told me and Ron Simmons, that ‘once I get people to hate this kid, when I turn him he's gonna be the biggest thing wrestling's ever seen’ and that's what Vince told me and Ron.”
It definitely worked in McMahon’s favour, as after his run in The Nation, Rock was ready for the main event scene, working on top as the heelish Corporate WWE Champion, before turning face and vying with Steve Austin to be the face of the company during WWE’s hottest period.
Source: Such Good Shoot Podcast