Forgotten Superstar - Darryl Peterson

[IrishCanadian25]

Also known as:

Man Mountain Rock

Maxx Payne

​

Little did we all know, Darryl "Maxx Payne" Peterson was also an accomplished amateur wrestler, earning all american honors at Iowa State and taking 5th place in the NCAA tournament in 1985.

Daryyl worked along side Chris Benoit in New Japan Pro before developing the Maximum Payne character idea. Originally, the character was supposed to be called "Lucifer Payne" but the concern was that it was too demonic and would cost him opportunities. He played him as a Hendrix lover, but came off as a Dimebag Darryl lookalike.

Darryl's first match was a US Title Match against Dustin Rhodes. The match was scheduled to be Rhodes vs Ron Simmons, but Simmons was hurt. Darryl had played the National Anthem on his guitar, and after Simmons was announced as hurt, Payne grabbed the mic and challenged Rhodes. The challenge was accepted, and Payne was DQ'ed after shoving the ref.

Payne's most (only?) memorable feud was with Marc "Johnny B. Badd" Mero in WCW, when Payne shot "The Badd Blaster" into Johnny's pretty face, messing him up. Badd took 2 straight matches from Payne in revenge, including a mask vs guitar match.

Payne also had a face run as Cactus Jack's Tag Team Partner in a feud with The Nasty Boys. The Boys were very stiff, almost inflexible and uncompromising. When a botched spot resulted in Knobbs breaking his shoulder, Payne was buried and later fired.

In the WWF, Man Mountain Rock never took off. He had a cool intro, playing guitar in the ring to pyro, but his only pseudo-feud was with Bob Backlund, and it went nowhere. Peterson was released in 1995. He did cash in on a settlement with Rockstar games, which he sued for using the name "Maxx Payne" and the likeness. Peterson still does film, and is a pretty normal guy.

 

[Mr. TM]

Why don't I remember him/that guitar? I can't remember him at all. I guess that is why there is this thread. back in the early 90s, if your name was Hogan/Hart, I hardly noticed you. I youtubed the Brian Knobbs incidence, and it is sick. Can't really blame Payne for this one. All the films I have seen on youtube do not show me much to be impressed on him. He seems to stumble around the ring, and not sell. What does everyone else think about him?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

You stole this idea from me IC25. Ok so it had been in my head for about a year, and I knew nobody would post in it. But I'm still annoyed at you.

It's a testament of how good the shit gimmicks in wrestling were, that you can remember a wrestler who did nothing. Jimmy Yang will be a wrestling blip that will be forgotten in a few years. So is Man Mountain Rock. But people of our age will still recall him, which I can't imagine younger fans will with Yang. It's also a very simple gimmick, he just played a very cool, very 90's guitar. He also had fake tattoos which has always been a WWE thing. From Taker's tear, Crushes funky teeth things & Savio's Latin inspired ink.

Great match with Foley vs. Nasty Boys.

 

[klunderbunker]

I remember this guy very well. He was a big guy with a very odd gimmick in WWE but I always marked out for him as a kid. In WCW, that match against the Nasties is just a good old fashioned brawl. He never was going to be a superstar obviously but he looked like he was always having a lot of fun playing his characters. It's a shame that he never was able to get something like a midcard push, maybe get beaten in an IC title match on Raw or Superstars then kind of fade away into being a comedy character. Overall, a good guy that never really got as much time in front of the camera as I would've preferred.

 

[Big Fella]

I'm fairly sure Man Mountain Rock was attempting to promote a video showing major WWE stars at the time partying and doing drugs.

I also think he was essentially extorting some of the wrestlers he had on film by promising to not include their footage in his "documentary." I'm also fairly sure he was released from the WWE in part because of drug use, which makes him not only a scumbag but a hypocrite as well.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

I remember when I first saw Maxx Payne in WCW. My impressions of him were that I really didn't see him doing much. I mean with the whole landscape being filled with over-muscled athletes, former football players, and overplayed second generation wrestlers, he seemed like nothing more than just another overdressed jobber. But there was something about him. A certain psychosis. He didn't quite have the knack for mind games that Cactus Jack did, but he seemed pretty dark and you just couldn't take your eye off of him. He seemed to just be flopping around without any real purpose for a while, being under-utilized by being out into feuds with such characters a The Rap Master PN News. Then came the moment where he was paired with Cactus Jack and the two seemed to be one of the most unpredictable teams in the tag team division. I was expecting the two to at least have a transitional title reign, but it never came to fruition and the two were depushed and long forgotten.

Then when I saw Maxx in the WWF as Man Mountain Rock, I wondered if they would utilize his dark character but was quickly disappointed. He had colored his hair, now looked boring coming to the ring, and didn't even utilize The Pain Killer. He was now using the basic big man splash. A bad feud with the uptight moral authority known as Bob Backlund later, and Maxx was gone.

Such a shame. He finally got the the big stage and was made to look like a complete generic loser with a bad gimmick and even worse utilization. He could have been somebody. He could have been a... contender. He could have been the WWF's version of Cactus Jack. He could have the next Cactus Jack. And with his amateur background, who knows what the possibilities could have been for him. But alas, he is now just nothing more than a memory. A fond memory. But a memory, nonetheless.