Maven Recalls Nervousness Before WWE WrestleMania Debut, How The Rock Helped Him

Former WWE star Maven has remembered his nerves before his first WrestleMania match in 2002 and how The Rock put him at ease.

While Maven had experience wrestling in front of large audiences, the grandiosity of "The Showcase of the Immortals" understandably made the newcomer nervous. On a recent episode of "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Maven revealed that his idol, The Rock, gave him advice before his WrestleMania debut. The first Tough Enough winner grew up being a massive fan of The Rock and was starstruck when "The Great One" offered some words of encouragement before his match. 

"He's like, 'Mave.' So, I'm like, 'Yes.' And [I though] he's gonna give me the secret, he's gonna give me the special sauce, and as deadpan as you could imagine he goes, 'Mave, come here.' He literally goes, 'No one's expecting much out of you, just do the best you can,' and turns around. And I'm like, 'What?' And then he turns, and you know that smile, and he gave me a wink," he said. "But that was the levity that was needed at that moment. Just [saying], 'Listen, dude, we're out here to entertain, go out there and have fun.'"

Chris Van Vliet later joked to Maven that no one remembered his match against Spike Dudley and Goldust at WrestleMania 18 as The Rock vs. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan stole the show that night. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.