Favorite "The Rock" Character

[ProWrestlingFan]

Since becoming The Rock in 1997, The Rock has had many gimmicks.

Nation of Domination Rock :

As a member of Nation of Domination stable along with with Faarooq, D'Lo Brown and Kama and Mark Henry, Rock turned heel for the first time since debuting in WWF/WWE as Rocky Miavia in 1996. It was during this time when Rock stopped using the name Rocky Miavia and became The Rock.

The Corporate Champion :

The Rock turned heel again at Survivor Series 1998 after defeating Mankind to win the WWF Championship with the help of Vince McMahon. The Rock joined "The Corporation" stable and started referring himself as "The Corporate Champion". The Rock started cutting awesome promos. His fued with Steve Austin was filled with epic moments and promos. Fans still cheered Rock during his run as a heel though because of how entertaining he was on the mic.


The People's Champion :

After Backlash 1999 The Rock turned face again and started fueding with HHH, The Undertaker and Corporate Ministry. Later in 1999 The Rock formed a team with Mankind called "Rock 'n' Sock Connection" and won the Tag-Team Championship 3 times. Rock and Mankind together were comedy gold.The Rock then remained face till 2002 winning several WWF Championships and WCW Championship (WWE Version) in between.



The Hollywood Rock :

The Rock then returned to WWE in 2003 after taking a hiatus from Wrestling in 2002 in his Hollywood character as a heel. In my opinion this was the most entertaining version of The Rock.

The Rock :

The current version of Rock kind of resembles his Hollywood character but this time he is a face instead of a heel.


So which is your favorite persona of The Rock ?

 

[zhaff2004]

The peoples champ was my favourite, will never forget his promos with Y2J, Austin, Hogan, HHH and Angle. Amazing stuff and he was doing this at the height of wrestling's popularity.

 

[asiatic7]

I thought the Rock was at his best around 98'- 99 when he left the NOD and became a singles star and eventually WWE champion. He was cutting great promos and really started to find his niche. Rock was good in all of the incarnations mentioned in the OP, but I liked when he was the heel "people's champion best.

Same goes for SCSA. He was best in 97 -mid 98.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Easily The Peoples Champion as he put on his greatest work ever with that character, from The Rock N' Sock Connection to his iconic feuds and matches with HHH, Austin, Undertaker, Y2J, Kurt Angle, Hollywood Hogan etc. to his hilarious promos in-ring & backstage with Michael Cole, Coach, Kevin Kelly & Lilian Garcia. He got over with his NOD & Corporate Champion characters but he became larger than life as The Peoples Champion.

 

[RJJ]

The corporate champion(98'-99') was by far my favourite. That was was Rock at his peak when it comes down to pure entertainment. He was so entertaining to a point where the fans couldn't resist anymore, they started cheering for him instead of booing him. I remember him getting the biggest pop of the show(Yes, even bigger than austin) the night after WM 15 even though he was still a heel. His mic work was fresh and gold. He used to come up with new material week in and week out. Till this day, I don't think anyone can hang with 99' Rock on the mic.

 

[KingOfKings249]

If you honestly think about it, there was never a real "character change" .. the Hollywood gimmick can be debated but besides that there was never a real change in character besides him going heel to face or vice versa

ex: when he went from heel (Coporate) to face (People's Champ) nothing really changed about his character

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Well first off, you forgot "The Blue Chipper" Rocky Maivia.

Otherwise I would say the other persona or character changes were as follows...
- Nation of Domination/The Corporate Champion
- Holly-Rock
- "The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment" Dwayne Johnson

I think The Rock mostly changed characteristics in the different eras you described but he didn't actually change his persona or character that many times.

But EASILY, my favorite era for The Rock was as the "Hollywood Playboy".
Honestly, while I always saw talent & found entertainment in the Rock, I never cared for his character very much. His most entertaining period by far came when he played a very hyped version of what everyone perceived him as at the time, "that rich, a$$hole, playboy from hollywood". It was an extension of what people were really thinking at the time & he had what became my personal favorite match of his ever at Mania XIX with SCCA with that character.

 

[madnumber24]

Hollywood Rock is the best one to me, he was funny as hell, I'll never forget those times he talked about the cities he was in by singing a song lol(especially Sacramento and Cleveland)

 

[starkmoto]

Has to be Corporate Champion Rock, Deadly Games was the best non-wrestlemania wwf ppv of all time and what a way to start off a heel run!

 

[GameOver]

Corporate Peoples Champ - The end of THe People's Champ hands down
both of these characters he was masterfull on the mic, one liners and in ring he could go toe to toe with most people and very seldom did he back down from a challenge somethiing not alot of Heel's would normally do and certainly never a face.

as far as mic work goes (The People's Champ), his verbal bashing of everyone when he will go untouched for along time noone has really come close to that same comedy/coolness

The 2 incarnations after that grew stale on me, sure he was still funny but mostly it seemed forced and the most recent he was putting it on way too thick, which i guess was the point to make Cena look better which it did (until they faced each other that is) but verbally IMO Cena trumped Rock in that whole leadup Rock sounded like the whiny bitch..

final answer
Corportate Champ-People's Champ

 

[anvilx8]

Has to be Corporate Champion Rock, Deadly Games was the best non-wrestlemania wwf ppv of all time and what a way to start off a heel run!

I DEFINITELY agree that Corporate Champ Rock was the best! Was such a good twist and no one saw it coming

But I REALLY disagree with u that SS 98 was the best non mania ppv of all time haha. Really, there wasnt a single memorable match on the card.

 

[subsouljah82]

for me it has to be his current gimmick for the the main fact that he stepped away from wwe for 7 years and decided one day he was ready to come back and unlike many legends was able to walk in the door and be as good as he ever was on the mic and in the ring it just shows that he was a natural at this business and speaks volumes about his ability and love for the industry no matter what the iwc thinks he damn sure didnt need the money it was for love of the game and as a life long fan i respect that

 

[thebarber]

Hollywood Rock was priceless, and would love to see this version return for Wrestlemania 29. He was priceless in his feuds with Hogan, Austin and Goldberg in early 2003, as he is even massively over further in Hollywood, he could play the part to perfection, give a completely different storyline compared to the year long borefest that was the Cena vs Rock build up.

 

[HBsam31]

I thought the Rock was at his best around 98'- 99 when he left the NOD and became a singles star and eventually WWE champion. He was cutting great promos and really started to find his niche. Rock was good in all of the incarnations mentioned in the OP, but I liked when he was the heel "people's champion best.

Same goes for SCSA. He was best in 97 -mid 98.

I gotta agree with this one. I love all incarnations of The Rock, but during this time period he was just starting to cut those promos we know and love. I remember me and my friend's sides hurting from laughter after The Rock started calling people trailer park trash. We just hadn't heard anything like that before. All of his material was fresh during this time, and I still look on youtube to find promos from this time period.

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

Being as I'm the biggest Rock fan (hence the name), I feel that it's necessary that I comment on here. IMO, The People's champion was his best persona. Point __________.

During this time, he established himself as the best on the mic of all time! He had a billion catch phrases:
It doesn't matter, know your role and shut your mouth, if ya smell, roodie poo candy ass, lay the smackdown, etc.

He also had jokes lined up for everybody! Undertaker, with his Mickey Mouse tattoos. Big Show, the steaming stinking pile of monkey crap. Stone Cold, a nothing, a nobody, a pee-on to The Rock. HHH has a 3 ft nose, he can turn it sideways, and stick it straight up Vince's ass!

He was just pure gold on the mic. Period. Everything he said was memorable and he beat practically everybody during that era. He held the strap more in that era than any other mentioned. The Brahma Bull, the Jabroni beating, pie eating, trail blazing, eyebrow raising People's champion entertained and electrified millions... and millions across the globe best in his PC persona.

 

[JasonSilverTX]

Well first off, you forgot "The Blue Chipper" Rocky Maivia.
.

He didnt forget him, he clearly noted he was going off of Rockys 'The Rock' persona and its variations, not the Rocky Maivia incarnation that superceeded the 'The Rock' persona.


Also as far as the OP question goes, I personally liked the Holly-Rock variation due to the fact there were subtle differences in lines, deliveries, and the main factor that rock was more-so putting over characters during that time instead of getting just himself over. 'The Hurricane' comes to mind as a good example in this case as the two had AMAZING promos together before the fued was cut short. The Hurricanes references to the Scorpion King having a tiny dingaling, and The Rocks expressions and reactions were priceless.

 

[SuperTaco]

I started really enjoying pro wrestling in late '98/early '99, when his mic work was becoming so good that the fans didn't want to boo him anymore. The People's Champ era is easily my favorite because it was my true introduction to the kind of legendary matches and feuds that were commonplace in this era. Me and my whole family cheered for The Rock, we watched RAW every week just to see him. We bought PPV's just to see his match. That is the impact he had on us and the kind of impact he's had around the world.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Good question. All the subtle changes in Rock's character from face to heel all worked and were golden. The truly remarkable thing is that he was able to stay just as fresh and edgy as a face as he did as a heel. Usually when a heel turns into a face the character gets stale and panders to the crowd. I'm sure part of it had to do with the attitude era and faces being able to retain heel characteristics about them, but Rock was able to be as effective a face as he was hee while remaining sharp on the mic in both capacities.

On to the question. I became a fan of The Rock's in the early part of 98 as he took control of The Nation from Farooq. While he had been heel and apart of The Nation for almost 6 months before taking control from Farooq, it was his time as the leader and his fued with DX (HHH) in the summer of 98 that gave birth to The Rock we all know. He was so good and got so over with the fans that the WWF had no choice but to transition him to a face shortly after the 98 SummerSlam because the fans wouldn't stop cheering for him.

Because I became a fan of Rock's whe I did I was always more partial towards heel Rock rather than face Rock. I liked it when most people booed Rock because it made my cheering him that more important to me. When talking heel Rock you have three different versions. There is Nation Rock which I touched on. Corporate Champ Rock who turned at the 98 Survivor Series and remained in the title picture and a heel until 99 Backlash, and finally there was Hollywood Rock. This was his last full time run in the company, saw him return after the sucess of The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King. He was around for a few months to beat Austin at Mania and put Goldberg over before dipping to Hollywood for good.

As for my favorite I would have to go with Hollywood Rock. While Corporate Rock was also a full blown heel, Hollywood Rock was too and was able to do so after a long and sucessful time as a face. I was always impressed that he was able to be cheered for as long as he was as the top guy and than quickly get booed. I always thought Hollywood Rock had the best theme music of the different variations on his theme. I loved the prolonged intro that had shots of a helicoptor flying over LA and the transition that music had into his theme which was slowed down slightly and drawn out to play more towards his heel character.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Z5gMvUqHE

But the real reason why I liked Hollywood Rock the most was because he finally got to go over on Austin clean at WrestleMania XIX. Being a Rock fan, I had to put up with alot of Austin crap growing up and after losing to Austin at WM XV and XVII, to watch Rock beat Austin at WM XIX will be one of my fondest memories in all my years watching Wrestling. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I have rewatched WM XIX to relive Rock beating Austin.

 

[BaconBits]

I was always the biggest fan of Hollywood Rock. That was when he was his absolute best. The epic, drawn out, entrance, the snarky, but hysterical promos and backstage segments, his ring skills were at an all time high. It was so very entertaining.

I think that version of The Rock should return in the buildup to Wrestlemania, because if he's to face Cena again, this time to put Cena over, he needs to be the heel, even if it is the most entertaining version of him.

 

[MYGold]

Finally, The Rock has come back to...Toron.....

To.....

To...Toron........


TOOOOOO Run his mouth on ALL your candy asses!


Hollywood Heel Rock was the funniest version. He played the Rich Asshole who everyone wanted to be perfectly.

"YAY!!! He said 'Toronto.' That's where WE live. YAY!"