Hey to everybody out there who was nice enough to check out The Prime Cut for yet another edition. Thank you for doing that! I’ll try to keep this column shorter because it seems that my wordy columns come out way too long and I don’t want to bore any of you out there. Today’s column will deal with the People’s Champion, The Rock.
The last we saw The Rock on WWE Programming was at WWE SummerSlam 2002, where he lost the WWE Undisputed Championship (at the time) to Brock Lesnar. The match ended with Brock Lesnar getting the F-5 on the Champion and defeating him. Throughout the whole bout, the fans seemed to be in mixed waters. Chants like “Rocky! Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!” could be heard throughout the arena. However, minutes later, chants like “Rocky sucks! Rocky sucks!” and “Let’s Go Lesnar! Let’s Go Lesnar!” Of course, to make matters more interesting, from “Let’s Go Lesnar!” the fans would go back to chanting “Rocky! Rocky!” The feelings were mixed.
Why did that change happen? The Rock has been a face for a long long long time now. I was a bit surprised when I read reports from the show. On his way up the ramp, The Rock was called a “Sellout” among other names. He talked about it over at WWE.Com and said he didn’t mind these comments. Well, this column will look at The Rock’s current situation, where he stands on his actor/wrestler status, as well as what his future could be. Remember, this bittersweet moment occurred at SummerSlam, but it sounds logical to say that those with ill feelings towards The Rock have been fed up for a while. Let’s look at the two sides.
Many believe that The Rock is not exactly the best wrestler the company has had. I’ve personally talked to people who have told me that they don’t like The Rock because he uses the same moves, is not too much of a technical wrestler, and they immediately get bored and sick of him. They believe that a wrestler shouldn’t get so ahead of his game just because of his mic skills. I’d definitely say that people who believe that are these who are more into pure wrestling and grappling, and not so much into the rasslin,’ entertaining part of it, as you can conclude.
Another “negative” about The Rock that many fans have a problem with has been talked about lately. That is the fact that even though The Rock was out of the company for quite some time, he made a return and was immediately given the WWE Undisputed Championship. Likewise, in 2001, in the time of the “Alliance,” The Rock made a return after shooting a movie and was immediately given the WCW Championship, as he defeated Booker T. Now, that was a bit of a tough decision to be mad at in my opinion, seeing as how the company wasn’t as successful as expected after buying out WCW.
Of course, some people might not like The Rock, but there’s a lot of people who definitely do. Let’s look at the “positive” side of things where The Rock is concerned. Now, though some don’t agree with that, I personally believe The Rock is the man who personifies “entertainment” in what we call “Sports Entertainment.” Whether your like him, or hate him, you know that there has been at least one time you’ve laughed along with The Rock. At least one time you watched through one of his interviews and cracked yourself up. The man is no doubt entertaining and very good on the mic!
The Rock is not a wrestler with the technical abilities of a Kurt Angle, nor is he a high-flyer or a risk-taker, but he is definitely a man of energy and electricity, as he himself says. The Rock can adopt to different wrestling styles very quickly. Let’s face it, he’s sold more moves than anyone else and has jobbed to many people, but the most important thing is… he’s done it very well! I remember seeing Rhyno deliver a Gore on him in 2001, and damn, I’ve watched Rhyno for a long time, but I haven’t seen anyone else sell that move better than The Rock. Same goes for a Stone Cold Stunner or any other move you can really think of! The Rock is just very capable of selling moves and knowing how to connect with the crowd in that area. As far as adapting to styles go, The Rock does well in the ring when he’s fighting technicians like Kurt Angle, big guys like Lesnar and ‘Taker, as well as gladiators like Triple H. That’s a huge plus wrestling-wise and probably one of the reasons why The Rock has enjoyed a success for a long time.
So then, what exactly happened at SummerSlam and after the event was over when The Rock was sent to the back with boo’s? My best guess would be that wrestling fans showed their “wrestling” roots. I know this statement is not clear as of right now, but I hope the explanation will help. What I mean by this is that while there was nothing wrong with The Rock shooting a movie, the fans realized that he will be off again sooner or later (SummerSlam is the last time he’s appeared since). The “pure” fans would not at all be happy with such a move, and it’s only natural for their reactions to be negative. I personally am not happy either that The Rock is doing more movies.
It seems that The Rock has made the decision to do both wrestling and movies as much as he can. He’s stated that many times before and he’s said that even for a month or so, if he’s able to, he’d return to the ring and the WWE. Well, that sounds like a good decision, but the fans are simply not buying it. You can’t be THE man in sports and entertainment and go off for almost a year to shoot movies. Nor can you be a good actor who spends at least a month or two wrestling. I think one thing is obvious here…
The Rock needs to make a decision! A big-time one! He should either return to wrestling and decrease the time he spends acting to a minimum (one movie, say in years) or he should just try and give it a shot to become an actor. The combination of the two is simply not working! As you can see, the WWE is getting themselves in a hole doing it, and the fans are turning on The Rock. That brings me to his future…
It’s obvious that as of right now, The Rock is not really doing well with his fans. He gets booed at house shows when packages are aired and his face pops up, and on his last night, he got booed big time. The Rock needs to make the decision — wrestling or movies! Upon his return, he’ll definitely get the cheers, but if the WWE goes wrong and continues their trend of having him over for a few weeks, it’s just not going to work. They need a good explanation and a good buildup, otherwise the People’s Champion will be a hated heel again. Either way, let’s hope they get it right and The Rock makes the right choice!
Well, that will do it for that one! Thanks for reading people! Let me know what ya think by e-mailing him. My e-mail is Levsi11@aol.com Once again, Thanks!
Eddie
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