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It's incredible to think of how small moments could have changed the course of WWE history. The beauty of wrestling is that all it takes is one organic moment, a right decision, or a spark in the crowd that allows a superstar to take off.
In many cases, WWE Superstars' careers have been saved because of a good and timely storyline. Here are six big names whose WWE careers were saved by a storyline:
#6. The Rock - The Nation of Domination was a stepping stone to WWE megastardom
Let's be clear - Dwayne Johnson was destined for WWE success from day one. The son of legendary WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, The Rock had to struggle for years in life before getting his break with WWE, then known as WWF.
He debuted at Survivor Series 1996 as a "white-meat babyface" known as Rocky Maivia. Colorful from head to toe, Maivia was dressed in ribbons, and the 24-year-old would make a great impression in his first bout.
He won the Survivor Series match that he debuted in and received praise from the crowd, all while Vince McMahon and the rest of the commentary team were continuously hyping up the young prospect.
He and WWE probably didn't realize that reaching the top wouldn't be as straightforward a route as they thought. He found Championship success in WWE within less than half a year of his debut. Despite this, he found himself getting booed as a babyface.
As we've seen several times in the years since then, babyfaces getting booed isn't a particularly surprising thing. It mostly has to do with WWE fans rejecting a babyface character and not connecting with the authenticity, or lack of it. After getting "Die Rocky Die!" chants, a knee injury in 1997 would end up being the best thing that could have happened to The Rock at the time.
Vince McMahon decided to look at things from a fresh perspective upon Rocky's return and pitched the idea of him turning heel and joining The Nation of Domination. According to The Rock, the reason for this was that McMahon wanted him to have an organic rise to the top, which meant allowing fans to boo him and allow him to get over organically.
That's exactly what happened. Rocky Maivia turned into The Rock and joined The Nation of Domination. While this isn't the most highlighted or celebrated part of his WWE career, it was the big stepping stone that The Rock needed to get to the level that he was meant to reach.
As it turns out, an organic rise to the top helped, and the rest is history. Today, The Rock is one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.
#5. Xavier Woods - The New Day saved him from WWE mediocrity
The New Day is arguably the greatest tag team in WWE history at this point. There has been no group in the company's history that had a run as long as The New Day did. Officially speaking, November 2014 to October 2020 was The New Day's tenure in WWE.
Even with their split, there wasn't a break-up or character change - it was simply WWE's decision to take Big E to the next level as a singles star. If you were to ask all three members, they would likely say that The New Day never broke up in the first place.
Either way, Xavier Woods was a man who was at risk of being on the "chopping board" of WWE when they released superstars that weren't being utilized. Woods needed something different, and The New Day was that answer.
While Big E and Kofi Kingston benefited in their own right (with the latter reaching the pinnacle and becoming WWE Champion in 2019), it was probably Xavier Woods who benefited the most, with his career getting saved thanks to The New Day.
Nobody expected them to have the run that they did, but all three men are now established stars, with Woods finding success outside the ring as well and establishing his own brand.
#4. Heath Slater - The WWE Draft and "I Got Kids" storyline
2016 saw WWE re-introduce the brand split after over half a decade. It was a big relief for fans, and perhaps superstars as well, as the brand split provides more opportunities for other superstars to climb the ladder.
In the 2016 WWE Draft, every active star was assigned to a brand except Heath Slater. The "Social Outcast" member was left out and sat in a dark room as the WWE Draft came to an end. This kickstarted an incredible month-long storyline where Slater desperately jumped from brand to brand to try to secure a contract - only to get defeated and suffer setback after setback.
Around this time, he introduced the catchphrase "I Got Kids", and it took off instantly. WWE fans gained a lot of sympathy towards Slater, who ended up becoming the hottest star in the company for a month.
In a month that saw incredible WWE programming on both brands, it was SmackDown that benefited from more presence by Heath Slater. His story saw him team up with the returning legend Rhyno to become the first SmackDown Tag Team Champions.
Slater also needed to win the tournament to secure his SmackDown contract. In an incredibly short-but-organic storyline, Heath Slater's WWE career was saved and culminated with his SmackDown Tag Team Title win.
While he was released a few years later, he became a respected superstar over time.
#3. JBL - A change in gimmick led to WWE Championship success
JBL's WWE career was potentially in danger in 2003-04 after Farooq's character was written off and The APA was finished for good. It took a drastic change in character for him to save his WWE career, but few did it better than him.
As controversial as JBL is, his shift in character was perfectly timed, as Kurt Angle and The Big Show were injured, while Brock Lesnar left WWE. The company needed a top heel on SmackDown and JBL was the solution, as he became an instant-heat magnet.
It was around April-May when Eddie Guerrero was disappointed about "not drawing" enough as the WWE Champion. While it was hard to blame him, he took it personally and requested to drop the World Championship.
In June 2004 at The Great American Bash, JBL won his sole WWE Championship and held it until WrestleMania 21, where he helped establish John Cena as the new face of WWE.
There were a lot of factors that led to JBL's WWE Title reign, but the change in character was so perfectly executed that it was hard to deny him that spot. He would hold the record as the longest-reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history until AJ Styles surpassed him in 2018.
#2. CM Punk - The Straight Edge Society gimmick that possibly saved his WWE career
The case of CM Punk in WWE is an odd one. He was highly-regarded when he was signed, and as he revealed himself, he was always a Paul Heyman guy. At Survivor Series 2006, Punk was the standout man cheered by WWE fans in a team that comprised of himself, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and The Hardy Boyz.
It was in 2008 when he realized his first World Championship success in WWE. But it wasn't always smooth sailing. He won his second Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 25, and his World Title reign in 2009 was cut short against The Undertaker, who he lost to at Hell in a Cell.
It was The Straight Edge Society gimmick that truly launched his WWE career to new heights. As the most-hated heel in the company, he proved to a lot of higher-ups exactly what he was capable of.
It was a big stepping stone for 2011, where he truly reached the peak of his WWE career.
#1. Kane - A series of failed gimmicks leading to a legendary WWE run
It's hard to argue any bigger name in WWE whose career was saved by a storyline. Glenn Jacobs didn't debut with WWE in 1997. Two years prior, his official WWE run began, where he went by the name "Unabomb" (first being billed as Mike Unabomb) before making his televised debut as Isaac Yankem, DDS - Jerry Lawler's wicked dentist.
The peak of that run was his SummerSlam match against Bret Hart, and then a steel cage match against the WWE legend on RAW. The character was quietly retired, and he took Kevin Nash's place as the "Fake Diesel" - a character along with the Fake Razor Ramon that received heavy criticism.
It was only in 1997 where a big change took place, and the "Kane" character started to get a slow-burning build by Paul Bearer and The Undertaker. At Badd Blood 1997, Shawn Michaels faced The Undertaker in the first-ever (and arguably greatest) Hell in a Cell match to determine Bret Hart's Survivor Series WWE Title challenger.
It was in this very pay-per-view where Kane made what many consider the greatest debut in WWE history. Breaking open the steel door of the cell, he decimated his storyline half-brother The Undertaker, debuting his iconic character and kickstarting one of the greatest rivalries in WWE.
Glenn Jacobs' WWE career was saved by this storyline, and it resulted in years of incredible programming.
