12 WWE Stars Who Got Better With Age 7

7. The Rock

                                                             

The innate charisma of Dwayne Johnson would have likely seen him evolve into becoming a movie star without having a significant career in WWE much past his debut and early WWE career as milquetoast babyface Rock Maivia. However, Maivia’s climb as a well-rounded performer is truly the stuff of legend. Rocky’s babyface-to-heel shift allowed him to gain comfort in his skin as a character. He always had the athletic tools, but in lacking comfort as a character certainly was less-than-ideal fluidity of motion to be a top star.

The move from Rocky to The Rock saw him learn how to find that extra gear that separates Hall of Famers from has beens and never weres. Assuming leadership of The Nation and Feuding with Triple H allowed him to learn how to connect with people as a more-than-character, becoming the kind of wrestler that deserves main event spotlight. From “The People’s Champ” to WWF World Champion to Wrestlemania headliner he learned how to be consistent as a main eventer, and learn how to pull main event caliber performances out of anyone he wrestled. From Wrestlemania main eventer to movie star, The Rock learned his worth and was able to do big business with both legends (Hulk Hogan) and mid-carders (The Hurricane) alike. From there, The Rock has now figured out how to come back and forth between film and WWE to lend his ultra-credibility to everything from rising legends like John Cena to arguably paving the road for WWE to become a dominant social media brand by using the Rock’s exemplary example in that realm.