"Hollywood Rock" Is One Of The Best Heel Characters In WWE History
The question regarding the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of professional wrestling will always be the biggest point of contention between wrestling fans, and given the storied history of the business, the names in the mix are numerous.
The discussion will always be heated and controversial. Most likely, there will never be a unanimous answer, given the sheer number of candidates. But there are a few that stand out among the rest, and even the detractors admit that certain superstars are in a class of their own. One particular name is The Rock.
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The Rock was peerless during his peak in the Attitude Era and is best described as a bundle of swagger and charisma, with a massive chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove. After failing as a generic babyface by the name of Rocky Maivia, the third-generation superstar underwent a transformation into the 'Great One' most wrestling fans still love today.
The Rock was the only one to rival Steve Austin in popularity, and his presence in the main event scene of WWE was a significant factor in the eventual triumph over WCW.
After being presented as a foil to Austin in the lead-up to WrestleMania, Rock remained a babyface for the majority of his illustrious career in the WWE. But unlike the majority of faces, Rock was an entirely different character and was as rebellious and chaotic as Austin. Even then, people adored him and in a span of a few years, he established himself as one of the greatest faces of all time.
The Evolution Of The Rock's Persona
As the Attitude Era came to a close, Hollywood came knocking on the door of The Rock as he had unrivaled charisma and decent acting chops. Rock began to appear in movies, starring in a number of blockbusters and adding to his already massive star power.
The fans took this as an insult and in the lead up to his SummerSlam 2002 clash against Brock Lesnar, the Rock was booed by a majority of fans. Admittedly, his babyface character, while entertaining and popular, had begun to grow a tad stale.
The Rock then went on to accomplish what even Austin was not able to do — The Great One worked a heel turn to utter perfection.
As a testament to the genius of the man behind the character, Dwayne Johnson planted the seeds for his eventual heel-turn when SummerSlam 2002 went off the air. The Rock seemed visibly disturbed by the fans booing him and he claimed that sing-a-long with The Rock was over before dropping the mic and swaggering out of the ring.
This was the actual birth of his heel character and after some time-off, The Rock was brought back by Vince McMahon for a rematch against Hulk Hogan at No Way Out 2003.
If the Rock in the Attitude Era had a chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove, 'Hollywood' Rock was the guy who had accomplished everything he had set out to do and in doing so, the chip on his shoulder had grown into a two-by-four.
During his feud with Hogan, Rock spent more time insulting the fans than the Hulkster himself. He went on to flaunt his success in Hollywood and claimed that he was too big for the business. Almost overnight, the Rock became the biggest heel in the company, and fans tuned in each and every week to see someone beat him up and ship him back to Hollywood.
The Rock was ruthless during his brief stint as a heel and in every second of his screen-time, he was either praising himself as the greatest gift to wrestling or talking down on a popular babyface — or more often, the fans — for being worthless jabronies. And his competition for the top heel spot was supposed to be fierce as on the other side of the show, Triple H was burying superstars left and right. Yet, fans gravitated towards The Rock who outdid himself each time he appeared on camera, working some of the best promos of his entire career.
He introduced the highly underrated “Rock Concerts” where he would come out with a guitar to soothe his soul, and bury anyone he deemed a jaborni with potent rhymes and a slew of clever insults. And each time the crowd would laugh at his witty banter; The Rock was there to remind them of their place. But the pinnacle of 'Hollywood' Rock was his infamous promo at Toronto in 2003.
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The city had booed the Rock against Hogan at WrestleMania 18, and Rocky had not forgotten the moment the people turned on him. He termed the event as a travesty and for almost 15 minutes, he tore into the people of Toronto without a shred of mercy, and left the ring with people legitimately wanting to sock him on his face. Some deem this promo even better than Shawn Michael’s Montreal promo in 2005.
'Hollywood' Rock Cemented His Place As An All-Time Great
Despite the success of the 'Hollywood' gimmick and the reactions to his new persona, The Rock spent the majority of his time putting wrestlers over. The Hurricane had a memorable feud with The Great One and he wound up winning. The Rock then went on to complete his trilogy with Austin at WrestleMania 19 with a definitive victory.
The last fans saw of 'Hollywood' Rock was at Backlash 2003, where he was hailed as a hero by fans against Bill Goldberg. The Rock put the monster from WCW over, and that was the end of his short-lived but incredibly entertaining heel persona.
The Rock was already considered an all-time great before his heel turn, but after his work as a cocky heel from Hollywood, no one could deny that The Great One was once-in-a-lifetime athlete and that there would never be another Rock in wrestling ever again.
