The Rock, the most entertaining superstar in sports entertainment?

The Great One.

The People’s Champ.

The Most Electrifying Superstar in All Sports Entertainment.

The Brahma Bull.

Hearing those nicknames brings up so many memories. Memories, I must add, of a bygone era. I was a young adult when The Rock burst into the limelight. To say it wasn’t pretty would be a massive understatement. The Rock, then known as Rocky Maivia, was poorly received by wrestling fans. He was so poorly received, I’m not sure I can adequately describe it. Some people might use the term “X-Pac Heat” to describe this.

Now that I think of it, the heat Rocky was getting was a combination of a few styles of heat. In the old days, there’d be fans that would go so far as trying to actually harm certain heels. This would involve putting bleach into water bottles and try to squirt that bleach into a heel’s eyes. In some cases, it would involve trying to actually stab the heels.

While I’m not aware of anyone trying this with Rocky, there was a lot of hatred towards him. Fans looked as though they really wanted to beat the holy fuck out of Rocky personally. It’s not like he even did anything wrong, considering he was a face.

Perhaps it was the changing attitudes of the fans. There were a lot of fans, at that time, that grew up with the take your vitamins and say your prayers during Hulkamania. Many of these same fans grew up in a time when Network executives wouldn’t allow certain programs to air unless it met certain guidelines. As examples, I grew up on shows like He-Man & the Masters of the Universe, Thundcats, Voltron and many other cartoons.

While other countries, such as Japan, you could actually have characters killed off in cartoons, American cartoons were far more limited on what they could show. Even shows like Married….with Children was considered a game changer and the show didn’t debut until several years later.

If memory serves me right, the only physical “violence” many of these cartoons could show violence IF it involved an inanimate object. If you destroyed something like a robot, nobody cared. If a character had to fight a living, breathing character, the violence had to be toned down considerably.

Many wrestling fans of the era grew up with that form of mentality, despite having the knowledge that the world isn’t always a nice place to live in. At that time, we, as young kids, understood that sometimes, good people end up being screwed over for no good reason whatsoever, that evil people win far more frequently then anyone likes to admit to. We grew up realizing that reality can really fucking suck.

I suppose many of us grew up as variations of Al Bundy, in a way. We realized that hard work doesn’t always mean shit. We grew up realizing that sometimes, you have to do shit that you don’t always like doing. When we continued seeing the old, worn out characters that preached about doing the right thing and everything would work out.

By the time Rocky came around, the younger generation was admitting to things that the older generation, as a whole, didn’t necessarily want to admit to…..that life isn’t as black & white, right or wrong, good or evil.

I was lucky that my old man understood the mentality, understanding why my generation would rather flip off our boss, kicking them in the crotch while telling them to “suck it”. Probably helped that he knew those urges a bit too well, himself.

So, when people like Vince McMahon felt it necessary to keep using the same tired themes of shaking hands, kissing babies and being a real gentleman/lady, fans were embracing things like the gangland beat downs the n.W.o. were giving to their rivals.

When fans first saw guys like Steve Austin in ECW, fans could certain relate with his anger towards his previous bosses in WCW. When the Stone Cold character eventually developed in WWE, the beer swilling, foul-mouthed, beer drinking, disrespecting persona was something people could grasp very easily.

Even now, I’m sure most people have bosses that they’d like to flip the bird to before dropping them like a bad habit. Even at 40, I still want to do that to people. Why? Because it would be far more satisfying then working for the evil shithead bosses.

When Rocky came around, fans were making a drastic change from family friendly to a more cynical viewpoint. Nobody wanted to hear how you just have to work hard. Nobody wanted to hear that you just have to keep trying. People were tired of hearing about turning lemons into lemonade or life is what you make it. As far as most people were concerned, at that time, it was all about knowing the right people. It as all about taking any opportunity you could. If it meant fucking your way to the top, so be it. Step on a few feet? Fuck them.

Wasn’t until WWE allowed Rock to finally cut loose and stop being the uber nice guy that his career truly took off. Allowing him to finally show a meaner, crueler personality made one hell of a difference. During this time, as a show of confidence, Rock getting to lead the Nation of Domination and getting rid of Faarooq greatly helped. I doubt Rock would’ve gotten as far as he had, at least not so quickly, if he hadn’t been allowed to lead the nation.

Then again, most people could probably argue that if you’re going to put anyone into a prominent role, you have to build them up. If that mean putting on a secondary title on that person, so be it. In a few cases, giving a stable for a wrestler to lead is a big damn deal. Not always, though. One or two solid rivals typically helps.

Rock had the right combination of people working with him in the Nation at the right time. Six months sooner or later and there’s no guarantee that Rock would’ve succeeded as the leader.

One major point that always needs to be mentioned is having the right rivals to face, as well. Facing off with D-X and Steve Austin was easily the best choice of rivals for The Rock, and the Nation to a lesser degree. Most of the people in this scenario were wrestlers that seriously needed the exposure. If you think of it, guys like Rock & Triple H were reasonably young yet. Looking good in a feud like this would really help to solidify their careers.

X-Pac & Steve Austin were performers that had been around awhile. Looking good could make the difference in how far they would be pushed. For years, X-Pac managed to gain a solid mid-card push while Ausin, much like Triple H & Rock, would become multiple time champs. While I’m thinking of it, Mark Henry got a bit of a screwjob out of the ordeal. He should’ve had a few title reigns in there. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking IC Champ, maybe a couple times as tag champ. Maybe a few times with the European Title.

Anywho, when Rock was given liberty to be the loud-mouth, smack talking, insulting jerk, only then did he get to show what he was capable of. Can you imagine how WWE would’ve looked if The Rock never had that chance to succeed? Even Hollywood would’ve been a different place, as well…..to one degree or another.

Without the freedom on the mic, we never would’ve had many of the classic insults with Jonathon Coachman or Kevin Kelly, the later of which I believe was even referred to as an ugly hermaphrodite. That’s something we won’t get to see happen again……not anytime in the near future. Whether you have some of the DVDs with The Rock, old PPVs, have a subscription of the WWE Network, or just want to watch YouTube, re-watching the Rock’s promos/segments with Kevin Kelly, The Coach, even with Lillian Garcia are absolutely entertaining.

Watching him go off on other wrestlers was just as entertaining. Mick Foley seemed to be one of those guys Rock could work with. Never mattered if they worked together as a team or as rivals, they managed to bring the best out of each other. As rivals, they’d have some pretty brutal matches. Even though Foley couldn’t do as much as he used to, he managed to take…..and dish out……some pretty hellacious beatings. This would include the Halftime Heat episode where Mankind’s head would be put into a hot oven. Other scenarios would include beating Foley in an “I Quit” match with some pretty insane chair shot, as well as a Last Man Standing match, which I believe occurred at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Granted, the ending of the match was viewed as bullshit, but that’s not really the point.

If there is a point, I suppose it’s the idea that Rock could go to Hell and back with just about anyone and manage. No matter how many times he faced guys like Triple H, Austin, Undertaker, Big Show or anyone else, for that matter….Rock could have an entertaining match and/or feud with a wide range of people. He could just as easily work with those same people as a duo/group.

When working with Foley, Rock easily showed just how entertaining he could be. The “The is Your Life” segment is still credited as the highest rated segment in WWE history. Not sure if this is a WWE claimed stat or if it can be backed up independently. For this discussion, I’ll trust that it can backed up.

When you can have such a goofy segment bring in huge ratings, it says a lot about the people you’ve got putting on that segment. It’s been proven time and again that you can’t just put anyone into a roll or a situation and just expect it to succeed. You have to have the “IT” Factor to pull certain things off. Foley and Rock…..holy shit…….it’s really amazing how they could work together so damn well.

While I’m at it, their time as the Rock & Sock Connection, albeit short, made for several great matches, which included the New Age Outlaws, as well as Undertaker & Big Show.

Another person that Rock seemed to work well with is Chris Jericho. Not many people were capable of going word for word with The Rock. Both men seemed equally adept at being smart asses. Similar to Foley, Jericho could work wonders with The Rock, both as an ally and as an enemy. Matches weren’t nearly as violent, but still highly entertaining. Never seemed to matter how often they met in the ring. It never got old.

I could make the same point for Steve Austin and Triple H. Rock couldn’t seem to lose when it came to either of these men.

Generally speaking, The Rock could work well with so many people. He managed to even have popular segments with Jonathon Coachman and Kevin Kelly. Though, it’s not likely you’ll catch anyone in WWE calling others a hermaphrodite on TV anytime in the foreseeable future.

When I think of it, as great as Rock was, it’s not likely that his old routine would work in the current product. The day where you can call someone a hermie, tell them to “Suck It!” while making gestures at your crotch, drink beer (spilling most of it), among other things is long over. Whether or not it’s good or bad is really up to the reader.

What I can say is that I’ll enjoy the memories, no matter what.