Rock's uncharacteristic faltering on promos and requiring lines on his wrist in 2012?

[Creepy Old Man]

Was this a work to make Cena look better, or just Rock losing some of his magic? I don't really get it, because Rock never displayed these deficiencies before or after the "Once in a Lifetime" build, including against Cena. Working with Cena in 2011 and 2013, it was business as usual for Rock, sharp as a tack. So why in 2012 did he have trouble remembering lines? Why was there a substantial volume of "um"s and stumbles over basic words, as well as a bunch of notes on his wrist available for the TV cameras to pick up? It just didn't seem like Rock.

Maybe he was struggling at that time. Maybe it was shooting schedules and travel wearing him down, maybe he had temporarily lost interest in the business. Or maybe it was all calculated.

Your thoughts?

 

[MrGameTime]

My take would that defintely wasnt a work, rock just has his mind on many other things such as as the film industry, tbh i think rock will always love wrestling but his real desires are now else where i think he comes back to wwe for the fans only and maybe vince not for himself anyway. I dont think his real heart is in the business anymore, compared to pre mummy returns rock

 

[The Warlord]

My take would that defintely wasnt a work, rock just has his mind on many other things such as as the film industry, tbh i think rock will always love wrestling but his real desires are now else where i think he comes back to wwe for the fans only and maybe vince not for himself anyway. I dont think his real heart is in the business anymore, compared to pre mummy returns rock

Nah he loves the adrenaline rush when he gets out there. Its probably not the same feeling he gets on the movie set. He has a history in the WWE...and for him to come back for the fans and Vince, also probably makes him happy as well.
As far as the writing on the wrist...not really a big deal, probably got used to doing retakes in the movies but you only get one shot in front of a live crowd. I think Cena poking fun at him was nothing more than a game of one upsmanship. Hell, who knows...maybe Rock used to do that in the past but nobody pointed it out

 

[nwojeff]

i just think he was out of practice at the time. He wasn't used to being there and delivering wrestling promos. It's a much different world than delivering lines in movies and memorizing a script. Now you might say why didn't he seem that bad in 2011, wouldn't he be even more out of practice then? That would make sense, but I think in 2012 he had his mind on other things besides wrestling and maybe he just wasn't as prepared. Plus, he was training to get back in the ring against Cena so it wasn't like the previous year where all he had to do was focus on his promos. But really when you think about it, his 2011 mic work wasn't stellar either. Especially at Wrestlemania 27, it was kind of dull and not like his usual self.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

The writing on the wrist was a work. Do you really think Cena was that clever to come up with a rhyme about the writing, that The Rock would allow Cena to flash his wrist clearly to the audience and a perfect camera angle, and that Cena has the balls to try and humiliate Vince's biggest prize and the man that is going to get Cena the biggest pay day of his life without prior knowledge?

I don't know or remember the "ums" and stuttering but I doubt The Rock was sent out with instructions to look bad. He was probably just off his game at points. It was a shitty build both years for something that was supposed to be so big and personal.

 

[BenChillin]

I guess it was a confidence thing cause of his comeback or something.

The promo I'm REALLY impressed with was his most recent against Rusev. As a fan of new york hip hop, that was fuckin amazing. Mentioning all five boroughs of the city and the stuff in between was fantastic. Surprised he had that down on an impromptu appearance.

 

[BuriedByCena]

It was a work for sure. The Rock has never been phased. The WWE knows The Rock would demolish Cena on the mic, so they had him tone it down so Cena could look strong. As you already pointed out, Rock was perfect before and after that storyline.

The Rock has natural Charisma everywhere he goes. He doesn't let a crowd get to him. He has appeared at tons of award shows like the Oscars, MTV awards etc and didn't miss a beat. He is ROCK SOLID.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

There's no way The Rock needed to write his lines on his wrist. It was most certainly part of the program. Perhaps this idea would have more substance if it was The Rocks first promo back but I mean come on. On his return before WM27 he did a 20 min promo in the ring. It was storyline purpose to make Cena seem like he cared more than The Rock. Remember the build up Cena was saying this was all he had whilst The Rock would be going back to Hollywood.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I've always just thought Rocky was out of practice at the time, and just needed the lines as a little reminder to help him along, which was surprising but not exactly shocking as he'd been out of the game for so long and in Hollywood where take and take can be done in order to get a scene "just right", unlike on Raw where it's all live.

The fact Cena mentioned it though does make me consider the possibility it was a work, but the thing that puzzles me is that surely Vince wouldn't have wanted his big money investment for WM being mocked about writing lines on his hand- which makes him look bad. I'd be VERY surprised if Vince had instructed Rocky to write those lines, and I wouldnt expect Rock himself to be willing to look out of practice/unable to remember his lines.

 

[Ashw825]

I don't think it was a work. I think Cena became his usual douchy self and broke kayfabe to try and one up The Rock because he knows just like everyone else knows that he can't hold a candle to Rock's mic work. I thought that Cena came of very well in that feud when it refers to promos with just him in the ring. However, when The Rock was with him in the ring, every announce of Cena's was on full display. You would have The Rock stand their and tell Cena he was going to kick his ass and The Rock would stare Cena down, and as a result Cena would look back with his goofy smirk. That's why Cena has never been able to sell me on anything because he never looks like he actually cares. The Rock looked like he legit wanted to beat Cena's ass and Cena continued to smirk and grin the whole time.

 

[Goldie]

The Rock was showcased to maximise PPV buys for Wrestlemania, why would they make their big cash cow purposely look weak in the build up by ensuring he bumbled his lines?

Ideally they would want the Rock to look as strong (or witful) as possible to bump up every last potential PPV buy. Having a match with 2 big stars that is seen as having a 50:50 outcome is a big key to getting fans to spend their money.

The Rock had been away for a long time, and was just out of sync compared to his old self.
In the Attitude era a lot of his promos were spontaneous.... Near 10 years of acting with scripted monologues meant that his sponteneuity had lost its edge

 

[mral82]

Dwayne has always said every Catchphrase in every promo since becoming The Rock so Dwayne has always stuck to his safe zone the Script as he can't handle be SHOOTED on as he's always been out of place trying to break Kayfabe. Cena on the other hand since his Dr. Of Thuganomics phase ain't afraid to break the Script as he's done that many times but PPL are so FULL OF CENA FLAVA'D HATERADE they don't C how great CENA is as all John was doing was pointing out Dwayne's Fall.