Not really since the masses never used C++, Java on the other hand saw massive adoption and did much damage to OOP.

Uh, C++ was huge in the mid-90s. Nearly all your Windows desktop software is in C++ - as were a lot of Web1.0 sites, before they were rewritten in Java.

Let me rephrase then, Java saw mass adoption from unskilled programmers similar to VB. C++ has always been big among skilled programmers, but skilled programmers are not the masses. Compare C++ numbers to Visual Basics numbers and then tell me C++ had mass adoption. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

Not sure why you say that. C++ seems like it was the lingua franca of non-elite CS programs after Pascal and before Java.

Programmers with CS degrees are not the masses.

C++ was (and is) pretty widely used - even in places where java is now (the dreaded enterprise, yes C++ was very big there too).

Yes, yes they did.