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| Love him or hate him, he's had a hell of a career Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Mania may have been my last match. The 3 year goal was to come in & elevate the @wwe. Then proudly "do the honors". #RockTalk @tigertomblin
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 26, 2013
I know that The Rock's most recent run in WWE wasn't loved by everyone. Then again, that seems to be the synopsis of his entire career. He was polarizing, especially in our community of meta-fans, from the day he broke out of his "blue-chipper" shell and became the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment™. I was firmly in his fan camp back then. In the last three years, I grew very tired of his shtick to the point where I really didn't care if he was around. Given how underwhelming his output in the ring has been since his return at Survivor Series '11, I wouldn't cry if he never wrestled again. I also wouldn't really shed a tear if he never came back in an in-character capacity on WWE TV either.
However, that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate on a level what The Rock meant to wrestling and to me as a fan. I know that was kind of a shitty lede to go with for a piece like this, but however bad Rocky has become over the years doesn't hide the fact that for the longest time, he was one of my favorite guys in the entire industry. We all know the charisma he brought to the table. It's almost a meme to say that he's the best there ever was on the mic, even if I don't necessarily agree with that statement (Foley was better in the Attitude Era, for example). What I always admired about him was his wrestling ability.
People scoff at me today about my claims that he was the best wrestler in the then-WWF in at least one calendar year if not more. I always enjoyed his matches with Triple H, even though Trips did his best to sandbag the shit out of the proceedings with his "I AM THE CEREBRAL ASSASSIN," slow-things-down-because-that's-how-he-thought-the-NWA-worked routine. His matches with Steve Austin were even better. I even remember enjoying the crap out of any match I've seen of his on repeat viewing in the last few years. It's always good when the footage ends up proving your memories correct. Sweet vindication.
And even though his run in the last three years has personally felt underwhelming, there's one awesome thing about it that I'm not sure anyone can deny. There's no way he had to do what he did. When Rock left WWE initially to be a movie star, no one ever thought he'd be back unless his career tanked. By all metrics, it hasn't. He's gotten big box-office success to the point where he was able to do the whole "do movies that his kids would be allowed to see" thing with The Tooth Fairy among others. He's garnered critical success, both in Get Shorty early in his career and recently with Pain and Gain, a movie about which everyone I know who's seen it is saying is kinda bad except for Rock's performance. There is no reason why he has to come back to the ring at all.
Yet, there he was for three years. Even in a part-time capacity, that's love, man. Rock came back because he loved wrestling. Isn't that what many among us want out of our performers? I personally don't care whether you love your work or not if you're good at it. However, I do get a kick out of seeing guys openly profess their joy at being a pro wrestler, a business that's easy to fall out of love with as a performer it seems. I don't need that love for the business to show for me to appreciate a guy's work at all, but as a performer, you are endeared to me if you love giving me your performance as much as I love receiving it.
For that reason alone, I can't be mad at Rock's comeback, even if I thought it could have been better. I personally don't believe he's done, not by a longshot. Wrestling retirements often have the same veracity behind them that rock farewell tours have. However, if this is the end for him, then man, The Rock had one hell of a career. Maybe it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but hey, sometimes, even the greatest artists don't always produce work that is up to our standards as critics. I don't think anyone has embodied ideal as well as Dwayne Johnson has over his wrestling career.
However, that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate on a level what The Rock meant to wrestling and to me as a fan. I know that was kind of a shitty lede to go with for a piece like this, but however bad Rocky has become over the years doesn't hide the fact that for the longest time, he was one of my favorite guys in the entire industry. We all know the charisma he brought to the table. It's almost a meme to say that he's the best there ever was on the mic, even if I don't necessarily agree with that statement (Foley was better in the Attitude Era, for example). What I always admired about him was his wrestling ability.
People scoff at me today about my claims that he was the best wrestler in the then-WWF in at least one calendar year if not more. I always enjoyed his matches with Triple H, even though Trips did his best to sandbag the shit out of the proceedings with his "I AM THE CEREBRAL ASSASSIN," slow-things-down-because-that's-how-he-thought-the-NWA-worked routine. His matches with Steve Austin were even better. I even remember enjoying the crap out of any match I've seen of his on repeat viewing in the last few years. It's always good when the footage ends up proving your memories correct. Sweet vindication.
And even though his run in the last three years has personally felt underwhelming, there's one awesome thing about it that I'm not sure anyone can deny. There's no way he had to do what he did. When Rock left WWE initially to be a movie star, no one ever thought he'd be back unless his career tanked. By all metrics, it hasn't. He's gotten big box-office success to the point where he was able to do the whole "do movies that his kids would be allowed to see" thing with The Tooth Fairy among others. He's garnered critical success, both in Get Shorty early in his career and recently with Pain and Gain, a movie about which everyone I know who's seen it is saying is kinda bad except for Rock's performance. There is no reason why he has to come back to the ring at all.
Yet, there he was for three years. Even in a part-time capacity, that's love, man. Rock came back because he loved wrestling. Isn't that what many among us want out of our performers? I personally don't care whether you love your work or not if you're good at it. However, I do get a kick out of seeing guys openly profess their joy at being a pro wrestler, a business that's easy to fall out of love with as a performer it seems. I don't need that love for the business to show for me to appreciate a guy's work at all, but as a performer, you are endeared to me if you love giving me your performance as much as I love receiving it.
For that reason alone, I can't be mad at Rock's comeback, even if I thought it could have been better. I personally don't believe he's done, not by a longshot. Wrestling retirements often have the same veracity behind them that rock farewell tours have. However, if this is the end for him, then man, The Rock had one hell of a career. Maybe it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but hey, sometimes, even the greatest artists don't always produce work that is up to our standards as critics. I don't think anyone has embodied ideal as well as Dwayne Johnson has over his wrestling career.