Unfairly Criticized & Universally Respected

[Hollywood Naitch]

I'm gonna say The Rock gets the most unfair criticism. There was a thread on here a few weeks back about The Rock being a "sellout". HOW IN THE WORLD is he a sellout?! The man busted his ass for the WWE, accomplished everything in the business, and then he left. He didn't leave when the WWE needed him most, no, he left once they were the sole powerhouse around... due to him and a few other guys. Rocky was universally loved by the fans, and people eagerly await his return... even if he doesn't wrestle (which may NEVER happen), but the second a new movie of his comes out he's a "sellout" because he played a tooth fairy in a movie. It's called getting a paycheck and making a living, people.

The Rock should not be criticised for leaving wrestling to make it in Hollywood...who wouldnt have done the same? He left a business where the chances of injury are extremely high to make more money in a most "respectable" industry where he didnt have to get smashed with chairs or beat up daily, without a ridiculous travel schedule. The Rock was one of the most successful and important guys in the Attitude era, which was one of the most profitable times in the history of the business, and accomplished almost everything possible in wrestling in a really short period of time. He was a multi-time World Champion, an Intercontinental Champion, Tag Team Champion, and headlined Wrestlemania, so what else did he have to achieve? Nothing. So you can't knock him for this. He had done it all and felt it was time to move on to pastures new.

Rocky was really good in the ring, while may not being as technically sound as Kurt Angle or Bret Hart, or as high-flying as HBK or Jericho. He put on good, exciting matches and had some fantastic signiture moves, which were universally loved, and great punch. You just did not get a boring match from The Rock, almost everything he did was entertaining. He was obviously a great athlete and equal with excellent wrestlers such as Triple H on a pure "wrestling ability" level. You cant criticise his in ring work. He even made a simple elbow drop the most popular move in the business for christs sake!

Could he draw? Yes he could. WM 17 was a huge-drawing event, and during the attitude era when The Rock was on top, the ratings were higher than ever. The highest rated Raw segment ever is the "This Is Your Life" section with The Rock and Mankind in the ring. No more proof is needed here. The Rock was a MAJOR draw, second to maybe only Austin during this time, which is no mean feat considering how popular Austin was.

And then there are the interviews/promos/backstage segments. Absolutely legendary, Dwayne Johnson is a hilarious guy, who was playing a character which suited him perfectly. He was so charismatic that even a simple raising of an eyebrow, or a facial expression or a raising of a hand made the crowd go crazy, so no criticism of him here either. There are literally so many classic Rock interviews/catchphrases/promos I could go on all day. But I am sure you all know that already.

So, lets look at the facts.

Can you criticise him for going to another industry to make more money after doing it all in wrestling? NO

Can you criticise his in-ring work? NO He was excellent, exciting, knew how to work a crowd better than almost anybody else, and had some great moves

Can you criticise his charisma or promo skills? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! The Rock is the master

So, to me, any criticism of The Rock is unwarranted, unfair and incorrect. Just out of jealousy. As much as I want him to come back, as a fan, why would he? Why would he need to? The only way he will get back in the ring is because he misses it and wants to give the fans one last match. By all accounts he is a nice guy so maybe we will see it one day, but I am not holding my breath. I certainly won't hold it against the guy if he chooses to stick with his acting.

 

[Tech N9ne]

I would say each one of them have their own reasons why they are above criticism, and also criticized for who they are, and how big they are.

To choose one though, I would go with Austin. Everything he did for WWE when they were almost done, is huge.

I think his wrestling style is more along the lines of his gimmick and not what he is limited to do. He became a brawler because he was supposed to be a badass. But when he first came into WWE, he was the Ringmaster. He was supposed to be known for his in ring technical abilities.

Also, in ECW, he came in and was supposed to be a Heel because he still wrestled technically and didn't resort to the "hardcore crap". The same angle or gimmick that Steve Corino basically stole a little later.

Also, going even a little further back. In his WCW days, he was definitely a technical wrestler. Sure he was a rule breaker, but his style was technical. He also used the top rope on occasion.

If you go to youtube and watch some of his "Stunning" Steve matches in WCW, he wasn't relegated to a certain moveset. Sure he had his usual moves, but he was pretty innovative and had a wide variety of moves and tactics he could resort to.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Any wrestler who is at the zenith of the company will receive an unfair amount of criticism. Thats just the way that it is and always will be. Everyone that you mentioned was the top draw in their company at one time or another. The midcard guys receive far more respect because they were protected in the sense that all they had to do was go out and have good matches while the main guys had to do so much more. So pretty much any world champion can and will be criticized by the fans for any reason that they can find.

 

[Tastycles]

Ultimate Warrior gets far more shit than he deserves. The man is obviously a tosser, so he doesn't have anyone bigging up inside the wrestling world, but you don't half hear some bullshit about him.

"He was only over because of his entrance music" - Bollocks. If MVP walked out to that music, nobody would give a fuck. What Warrior had in absolute abundance was raw charisma. Remember, before him everyone walked to the ring all purposeful, he comes out, sprinting, and shaking the ropes. That's something he did, not the music.

"He couldn't draw" - Again, bollocks. What people who say this miss from the second half of the sentence is "as well as Hogan". But so what. The Rock couldn't draw as much as Hogan, and nobody says he couldn't draw. Warrior did far better at maintaining the numbers than Savage did, and in a much more hostile environment. Indeed, the fall off from Hogan was minimal at most. Hogan is the only champion in wrestling history that drew more than Warrior. Even Austin wasn't pulling in 10.0 ratings.

"Couldn't wrestle" -This probably has more basis, but he could take a crowd through a match far better than most main eventers. The Ultimate Warrior had a limited moveset, but who cares when he's making the crowd feel everything he does?

For me, he is the most undeserving of the criticism he receives by a country mile.