The Rock: His future in wrestling (if any)

[NYSandman]

I find myself missing the Rock. When the Rock first debuted, I thought he would be a flash in the pants, like everyone else. His gimmick sucked, and I thought he would just be another second or third generation guy who thought they could make it on reputation alone.

When he morphed into the Rock, I became a mark instantly. The Rock is a good wrestler, but I have always been a promo guy, and can look past a mediocre in-ring performance if the guy can make me laugh or piss me off.

Rock is, without a doubt in my mind, one of the best promo guys of all time. He had a knack for saying just the right thing at just the right time, and his facial expressions are also top-notch.

Don't get me wrong, the man can wrestle, too, but I tend to look at personality.

Now, this great wrestler is making movies, most of which were okay, but not great, IMO.

Do you think Rock will ever return full time? I have to say that I find it surprising how Rock totally abandoned wrestling. I can understand getting paid just as well to make movies, while not having to deal with constantly being on the road, getting your ass beat, etc. He is making great money, and probably doesn't have to do as much.

Then again, acting can be a hard, HARD job, with long days and multiple shoots of one 10 second scene.

I don't know if WWE has approached Rock and he has refused, or if the Rock himself just doesn't want to do it anymore.

I am not taking sides. But, if the Rock has CHOSEN to not address wrestling fans, then that is a damn shame, because one day his career will dry up. He is not a top caliber actor and was introduced to the movie world in the wrong way. If he had started along side a few great actors, it might have been fine. But he was cast as the star from the beginning, and while I liked some of his movies, I liked him better as a wrestler.

I have no doubt Vince would give Rock another go if his move career dried up. But, would we as fans, give him another shot.

I would, because he is that damn good.

 

[Dgenerationx528]

The Rock is never coming back to wrestling. He will continue making movies because that is a more profitable profession for him. Unless Vince McMahon gets very desperate and offers him an unreasonable amount of money to sign with WWE, don't expect Dwayne Johnson to ever return to pro wrestling.

 

[MightyFlameboy]

I've recently juz watched some old PPVs again, of the Rock challenging Booker T for the WCW Title at Summerslam at the pinnacle of the invasion angle. The Rock cut a promo saying "The Rock is born in WWF. He'll never leave the WWF".

It's so ironic now that the wrestler who got me interested in WWE and sports entertainment in the first place has left the business for good so prematurely. It may sound selfish, but everyone's human, and they'll need to work the best deal out for themselves in order for them to live a better life. And for now, it's definitely the movies for the Rock.

U may watch his movies and think 'crap' or 'B-grade', but the fact is his pocket is getting loaded much more than when he's in WWE, and that is all that matters from a professional business point of view.

Heck, actually, I think he may have picked up his acting skills after seeing the Game Plan. I thought it was the run-of-mill crappy Disney wholesome family movie, but the Rock's charisma translated well into the movie, probably due to the fact he's portraying a character embracing his first love which is football.

I'm crossing my fingers and hope he'll make a few more Wrestlemania appearances, even in a non-wrestling capacity.

 

[Sicko]

WHO Don't miss The Rock, even if you hated him and booed him toward the end of his wrestling career he is missed

he is getting some good acting Roles, Game Plan did well, he is also in that Get Smart movie as well, sucks to say but I don't think he is ever coming back full time plus he is actually a good actor, it is not like he is as bad as Hogan was and making corny movies like Hogan did, WWE has lost a great one to Hollywood for the first time

would be a nice if he showed up and suprise the fans one day

 

[Shocky]

I wouldn't say never now though. The Writer's Strike in Hollywood is going to start effecting things real soon. No Writer's, no movies, it's plain and simple as day. If this strike goes on for a decent amount of time, and the last one went on for the better part of a year, movie scripts begin to dry up, and wallah, people need money.

Now I'm not saying the Rock is hurting for money, I'm sure he's not a Konnan or Ric Flair with regards to his finances, but you never know. A guy like that might get the itch if he ends up sitting around doing nothing for a few months. What better way to kill time then to lace the boots up.

Again, it's a long shot, but with the situation in Hollywood right now, you never know.

 

[ABS]

Who doesn't miss The Rock I surley do...but what pissed me off is he kind of sold out FAST , I remeber when he did a promo the day after Steve Austin walked out on us how he was born for this business , how he has WWE in his blood , how he would never quit this company and how who didi't repect it can get the F out , I must say , he followed his own advice.

I used to love the rock , I was huge rocky fan up until a coupl months ago I realized he Sold us , we don't mean shit to him anymore. Yes I would love to see The rock again becuase as Nysandman said he's that damn good. But I would look at him from a diffrent point of view. And don't expect him to come un-less his Hollywood career goes down the Drain.

 

[jamesjd66]

I miss him too. *Tear* I honestly dont think he's coming back though. His movies do well, some very well even if most are kids movies revolving around football one way or another. If he starts bombing hard there's a shot. I don't see someone in his shoes ever wanting to go back to a road schedule that's necessary to be a wrestler.

He also is getting divorced from his wife right now and probably getting all sorts of strange Hollywood ass.

Hollywood Ass> Life on the road as a WWE wrestler

 

[midgensa]

This is just a wishful thinking thread.
I don't think it is impossible that he comes back for a one shot deal or something for a WM, but there is NO chance of him making a full-time return.
Dwayne Johnson makes WAY more money than The Rock ever did. He pulled in $12M for The Rundown, $15M for Walking Tall, in the area of $5M for Doom, Be Cool and the Scorpion King and is probably pulling in the area of $10M+ for The Game Plan. Quick math ... he has already made over $75M in movies ... probably more than in his wrestling days combined.
I do think that there is probably nothing like hearing your music hit and walking out to a crowd that goes nuts like that, so a one-shot deal ... MAYBE ... but a full time return ... that will never be in The Rock's thoughts.

 

[FoleyIsGod]

The Rock did everything he could in the world of wrestling. He won titles, made huge money for himself and the company, had great matches with everyone from Stone Cold to Hulk Hogan. He had beat all that there was to beat.

Coming back would be an anti climax as we would all be expecting more from the Rock. I doubt he can top himself after what he did in the early part of this centary.

Its a bit like watching people take sick bumps off the Cell or in ladder matches. My mind goes back to when they first were made popular (THAT F0oley cell bump, Hardys tlc matches in 1999) If people kept expecting Holy Shit moments like those every week, they would become boring and stale or worse, people will end up dying as the risks get dangerously close to the edge.

Me personally, I have seen the best Wrestling has to offer, starting from 1988 up until the present day. Almost 20 damn years of wrestling

 

[donutman]

Why come back? He's making a buttload more money than he ever did wrestling, without all that hard work. Even with the writer's strike, I'm sure he rather relax and wait for a script than to put on the boots and go on the road 24/7. The Rock is on the verge of becoming the next big action star, he doesn't need wrestling anymore.

 

[Sparky]

i think he might come back one day even if its only for a ppv match becouse i dont think there would be any better feeling then walking out to the arena and getting cheered the way someone like the rock would. and deep down he has to be missing that, becouse there is no way the movie buisness would be able to get more people cheering for him at somthing like a movie premier then the WWE fans would give him at a major ppv like Wrestlemania

 

[Loveless Chulita]

I would love to see The Rock make a return but I don't see him making a return to wrestling. I see The Rock showing up at an event and all of a sudden the whole "Do you smelll...." music comes on and the crowd plus me would lose their minds, lol.
But of course it won't happen anytime soon.
The Rock is not a stupid man, acting was a passion that he found and loved and wrestling just wasn't doing it for him anymore.
I don't think he "sold out" he had to do what was best for him and maybe he got burnt out from his job of taking bumps day in and day out.

 

[rajasalshi]

But The Rock has indeed been contacted the WWE for the 15th anniversary special raw edition! But i hope he makes a live appearance and not just a titantron segment like he did last time.

 

[Bottom_Line]

I hope on the anniversary show Rock gets to do a segment with Santino, or Chris Jericho. Some of his funnier segments were Rock and Jericho going back and forth, or else the two of them working someone over.

 

[RAW Is Jericho]

I would love to see The Rock come back but sense he's making way more money acting there is pretty much no chance he will. I only see him making special apperences on Raw or maybe WrestleMania. He won't get hurt making movies either so there's another reason why he most likely won't be coming back to WWE.

 

[JoeyImage]

lol "flash in the pants" ? It's "flash in the pan". I miss Rock too, but he won't be back to fulltime wrestling. He's not even known as The Rock anymore.

 

[nygiants92]

Why come back? He's making a buttload more money than he ever did wrestling, without all that hard work. Even with the writer's strike, I'm sure he rather relax and wait for a script than to put on the boots and go on the road 24/7. The Rock is on the verge of becoming the next big action star, he doesn't need wrestling anymore.

If it wasn't for Rock excelling in the WWE for as long as he did, he would of never seen the bright lights of Hollywood, and that's a fact.

As for him returning, I don't see it happening myself either, as he has made the transition from sports entertainment, to being an actor quite well (at least to me, anyway). It's really hard to say of how everyone will react, because everyone has their own opinion, but me personally, I think a comeback for a storyline leading up to the next Wrestlemania seems like the way I'd go for a Rock return.

Then again, most other people will argue with this statement:
"Vince shouldn't bring back guys from the Attitude Era. He should focus more on the talent that he has now"

This is very true, but we all know Vince is mostly all about the ratings, and what's going to draw him the most money. Vince wants money and ratings, and The Rock most likely wants to promote his movies and all, and he can give the fans something extra by a short return to the ring.

This is all really a "what if" type of a situation here, but I'd really go with this idea, but that's just me.

 

[takerfan120]

I hope the rock doesn't come back I do not like the fact that he sold the wwe fans out. He said he was born in the wwf and would never leave the wwf, but he is like the child and wwe is the parent and in the rocks mind it is time for the wwe parent to go to the retirement home. He may comeback for one time things like birthdays, but it will have to make him a lot of money to do so and his matches if he would consider doing such a thing again would not be as good because his heart would not be in them

 

[a7xoff]

I think the rock is done being a full time wrestler. I'm sure we'll see him a few times here in there for those random promos and that 1 more match type deal. For the most part though I think he's pretty much done with wrestling. I mean the man has really done a great job in the movie industry, and really has no reason to come back to wrestling. Even if he came back, what has he not done already? He's won the titles, he's feuded with all the big guns. There's nothing left for the man to do in the buisness, but IMO he's more then welcome to appear when he wants... Like possibly Raw's 15th anniversery?

 

[keeffecanflyit]

" Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson isn't scheduled to be appearing on next week's three-hour 15th Raw anniversary special on the USA Network. There were earlier reports stating that WWE had contacted Johnson about appearing on the show. Plans can always change, but as of now he isn't scheduled. "
={

 

[Derf]

With the way The Rock's career is going, he'll never return full time, and it don't seem he's to interested in returning part time. To be honest, I see the next time Rockie returns to the ring will be at Wrestlemania 26 or higher. He'll likely get inducted into the HOF withen the next 5 years or so, and will make his last apearence in some kind of promo before leaving for good. Thats my guess, anyways...

 

[acmilan2005_01]

man, the rock gave us like 5 of the best years in the history of wrestling (1997-2002). compare wwf during 1997-2002 with 2002-2007 ... the last 5 years have been the same thing repeated over + over again, 97-02 was when EVERYTHING was just fresh new + inventive. anyways ...

nowadays "dwayne johnson" is a c-grade actor in c-grade movies, he'll never be as big as he was mainstream wise again because no-one knows who he really is anymore. the reason why he was so big was because he was THE ROCK not dwayne johnson, for christ sake.

i appreciate the rock for everything that he gave us back in the day, hes a wrestling legend + deserves a place in the hall of fame for sure (which he'd probably refuse to do too!), but surely he OWES it to the wwe to at least appear live to do a promo - its raw's 15th anniversary for christ sake. but then again, he did help make raw insanely popular with the mainstream. surely, if hes away making a movie, then fair enough cant blame him, but if he doesnt appear because hes "above" wrestling + doesnt wanna associate with it anymore, then thats f*cked up. hes sh*ttin on his father + grandfathers legacy imo. he owes it to vince + every single wrestling fan who cheered + bought his merchandise back in the day + made him what he is today

 

[beetle717]

man, the rock gave us like 5 of the best years in the history of wrestling (1997-2002). compare wwf during 1997-2002 with 2002-2007 ... the last 5 years have been the same thing repeated over + over again, 97-02 was when EVERYTHING was just fresh new + inventive. anyways ...

nowadays "dwayne johnson" is a c-grade actor in c-grade movies, he'll never be as big as he was mainstream wise again because no-one knows who he really is anymore. the reason why he was so big was because he was THE ROCK not dwayne johnson, for christ sake.

i appreciate the rock for everything that he gave us back in the day, hes a wrestling legend + deserves a place in the hall of fame for sure (which he'd probably refuse to do too!), but surely he OWES it to the wwe to at least appear live to do a promo - its raw's 15th anniversary for christ sake. but then again, he did help make raw insanely popular with the mainstream. surely, if hes away making a movie, then fair enough cant blame him, but if he doesnt appear because hes "above" wrestling + doesnt wanna associate with it anymore, then thats f*cked up. hes sh*ttin on his father + grandfathers legacy imo. he owes it to vince + every single wrestling fan who cheered + bought his merchandise back in the day + made him what he is today

How can you say he OWES the wwe or the fans anything, he fufilled his contract and made no promises after that. The only thing he OWES anyone is he owes his daughter to be the best father he can, and he owes the movie producers and financiers the best perfomance he can give for the movie he's filming. Anything else he chooses to do is not from a debt that he's already paid. He owed the fans to be the best wrestler he could while he was under contract, he owed them a good show, he delivered, and now it's over.

 

[kabby420]

o.k first of all i don't get it, this post makes it on the site and it's not considered spamming, the rock isn't even the rock anymore! he's just dwayne johnson, he will never come back to wrestling, he wants nothing to do with it, and that's the bottom line. the final clue that he won't EVER be returning is he is no longer using his wwe nick name he has completely blown off wwe and it's fans. So why is this post even on this site! HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WRESTLING!!!!!!!!!!!! he is not even gunna be on raw for teh anniversary show, he won't even do a video spot! sure wwe would be great if he returned, but he probly wouldn't have it anymore, it would take a long time for him to get back into his groove, i mean look at austin, he sucks now, he's boring, and he probly can't wrestle for shit anymore, all he can do is play to the crowd with his stupid "WHAT!!!!???" TALK THE SAME OLD RECYCLED CRAP!!!!!! do a stupid ass stunner and that's it. It's better that the rock doesn't return, that way we can all remember him as the great one, not like stone cold, who really has lost respect from me. And if i recall the crowd on teh last raw that he was on, wasn't that hot for him! when he came out in teh beer truck, it was like people didn't really care, and while he was on teh mic people weren't even doing the "WHAT?!?!?!" THE ONLY LEGEND TO PULL OFF A SUCCESSFUL RUN IN THE INDUSTRY IN MY OPINION IS FLAIR! that guy no matter what entertains, and he knows what he's good at, all these wrestlers making movies, ({or at least trying to) or joining rockbands, or getting reality t.v shows, they all suck at what brought them to the dance...WRESTLING! WWE doesn't need these old fart bags commin back, they need fresh talent and they need to develope. Who cares if the rock comes back, he'll just ruin his career if he did, because he isn't the same guy anymore. I'm sure the rock would be the first person to tell u that.

 

[Batistabomb10]

The Rock was and will always be the TRUE Peoples' Champ! I would LOVE to see the Rock return to wrestling, but I do not think it'll happen. Despite the fact that he is a third generation superstar and the best damn wrestler ever, he went on national television and said he was done with professional wrestling. It hurts for me to admit that, because I still hold onto some faint hope that one day he will return, but he is making more money acting than he was in wrestling, and not only that, but the schedule is not as rough with all of the traveling, and he has less chance of getting injured. Call me crazy, but he is probably making the right decision from a professional/personal standpoint.