When did you start watching The Rock as a main eventer?

[Hard Hit Prince]

The Rock is arguably one of the TOP5 most popular superstars to ever lace up a pair of boots, currently he may be the number one fair and square, but before he became as big as he is now, he was gracing the midcard of the WWF in 96/97/98. Since his in-ring persona of Rocky Maivia, to the cocky, charismatic and highly athletic member of the Nation of Domination to the corporate champ and to his Brahma Bull that took 2000 by storm and made him what he is today.

Now The Rock however his a funny cat, when it comes to be memorable and a big household name - back in 1998, where The Rock won his first WWF Championship in the Survivor Series tournament, he turned into a beloved athletic crowd turned babyface, to the biggest heel in the roster, when he backstabber Mankind and pretty much everyone by joining into the dark side, or the McMahon side. However, some may agree that when The Rock turned into the biggest champion of the industry, he wasn't really a must-see superstar with the likes of Undertaker, Mankind or Steve Austin - in reality he was a uppercard that was given a chance and ran with it. Six months after the first win, The Rock was already a three time WWF Champion, until he faced Steve Austin and was defeated in the main event of WrestleMania.

But when did you start watching The Rock as a true WWF main eventer, and as a big household name? Because it may be just me, but even though Rocky was popular with the fans, and that he was ready for his run, I think that losing the championship so many times in a such a short time period hurt him in the short term (even though Mankind vs. Rock was always great).

Now some additional questions to make it a great discussion, like I always find to have with you Old-School folks:

• What was the feud that you saw from The Rock and thought that this guy would be a main eventer in the future? What feud really made him a main eventer?
• When The Rock defeated Mankind and joined The Corporation, were you expecting it?
• If The Rock went toe-to-toe with Steve Austin in his first title reign (not his third), would it make any difference to you?
• What was the best "damn" match from The Rock in 1998 and 1999?

 

[zhaff2004]

I was and still am a massive Rocky fan. He is the one that truly hooked me into wrestling and the attitude area and for me, was the main reason i tuned into raw over nitro during THOSE days.

I feel that the feud that really brought the rock into the spotlight was the whole IC feud with HHH. Tremendous stuff from both men that really showed the world that both those guys were legit and destined for the top. His interview with Gennifer Flowers was also something that really put him on the map... if you smell what i'm cooking.

I feel that had Rocky gone toe-to-toe with Austin during his 1st title reign, it would have seemed as being too soon. Rock needed time to legitimize himself as world champion material and buy winning the strap 3 times prior to facing austin, it helped him reach that level of legitimacy.

For me, the best rock match from that period would be a toss up between his match against austin at XV and him vs Mankind at the rumble, the I quit match. both matches were something special... Also worth a mention is his Iron man match against HHH from Judgment day (I think) in 2000. I know it doesn't fall under the time frame specified, but that match was a clinic in terms of timing, drama and ring psychology.

 

[tvcolosi]

I knew he was going to the top when he was in a triple threat #1 contenders match Steel Cage match with Mankind and Ken Shamrock. It was in the old school blue cage and went 20 minutes and they stole the show from the triple threat main event with Kane, Taker and Austin..

The swerve at the Survivor Series caught me off guard which makes it great, never saw it coming.

Austin vs McMahon in the Rumble and the Valentines Day Massacre PPV were great, waiting until Mania was a good idea because Rock and Austin had fued in late 97 over the IC title and they needed the year apart essentially...

The Ron Simmons "Damn" moment for me was his showing in the 1998 Rumble. Entered 4th, stayed in 52 minutes and was the last eliminated (by Austin of course) after defending the IC title against Ken Shamrock earlier in the show

 

[MillionDollarMan]

I considered Rock a main eventer going into that Survivor Series swerve. He was completely over with the crowd and the "people's champ." He did a brilliant job taking all that positive heat and turning it into heel heat. It also helped get Foley to the next level which no one thought was possible. Rock was already there, but it got Foley to the main event.

 

[GameOver]

I knew he would be big soon as he turned cocky heel, even if he didn't i wanted him to be a main focus, he was the total package

 

[The Butcher]

I can't pinpoint a moment or event where I started to view him as a main eventer, but I'd knew he'd be a serious player and a mainstay when he took over the Nation of Domination.

 

[Makaveli31]

But when did you start watching The Rock as a true WWF main eventer, and as a big household name?

I would say Survivor Series '98. The Rock had that "NWO/Attitude heat" a heel but extremely popular with the fans. I don't think his personality ever really fit in with the Nation but as the leader of the Corporation I think he was allowed to be more of himself and really elevated himself to the top of the WWE....and arguably even surpassed Austin in terms of popularity by 1999. His feud with Mankind solidified him as a true main event talent as it proved he could headline major PPV's and draw serious money.

The match I remember most from '99 was his match with Austin at XV.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

For me the one moment when the Rock got over was when Kane and Undertaker were beating the hell out of D-Lo and The Rock walked down to the ring and stood there talking smack to them both. The look on the Taker's face, and the body language of Kane as if to say "this guy must be nuts!" and yet the rock stood there in the people's ring and told them to move their Jabroni asses. It was a career making performance. Of course this was to set up the Leader of the NOD storyline (Rock had come out to defend his NOD brothers), that ended with the NOD turning on the Rock. The Rock became a huge babyface leading in to Survivor Series; Deadly Game (my all time favourite PPV simply because of the Rock and Mankind, and Vince and Shane) where he swerved everyone and became the Corporate Champion.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I don't think The Rock was still a main eventer when he became the WWF Champion, I don't think it was just like that. When you compare Mick Foley, The Undertaker, arguably Kane and Steve Austin to him, it was clear that they were all more important and above him booking wise. So even when The Rock had his feud with Mankind in 98/99, I wasn't seeing him as a true main eventer, just an uppercard guy that was getting a push.

That was one of the reasons why The Rock lost the championship two times in less than six months to Mankind. They had no viable contenders and they needed to make The Rock as serious as they can for his main event match at WM15 against Steve Austin. It's really cool to think that in that era The Rock was arguably the best wrestler in the company - but for me, he solidified his place after WrestleMania XV, after he main evented the show of shows against Steve Austin. By that time, The Rock proved that he was ready for the big leagues and he proved that he was the big leagues. However it was quite easy to see that The Rock had a special amount of talent to make it easily in the business - for me, specially his feud against Steve Austin in 97 was what put him on the map, as far as being a guy with potential to even surpass the Rattlesnake. Now to point out the best match from The Rock in the 98/99 period, I'll have to go with his match against Triple H at SummerSlam 98 (fantastic ladder match) and his brutal I Quit Match against Mick Foley for the WWF Championship.

 

[Airehk]

I knew The Rock was going to be big time for a while, but once he was feuding with Mankind for the title, that was when it was official. When the Rock joined the corporation, I wasn't expecting it, but I also wasn't surprised. The Rock was a bit of an asshole then, even though I liked him and my friends teased me for it. If The Rock went after Austin too soon, I don't think he would have been ready enough to actually win yet. I recall the first ever Smackdown where Triple H and Taker fought Austin and Rock. Austin's pop was WAY bigger than the Rock's. Today, it may be reversed.
Between 1998 and 1999, Mankind/Rock - I Quit at RR '99 was the best match.

 

[FreezeIzGAWD]

I can tell U the exact moment when I knew Rocky was gonna be BIG time... It was the NOD skit where he gave everyone Rollies and gave RON SIMMONS his photo....CLASSIC... I just laughed for hours and was like this guy is AMAZING but when he got over on SHAMROCK who I just knew was about to become IC I was like this guy is GOLD!!!!

 

[dtroppe]

I knew pretty quickly after he joined the NOD. I was a kid then and went to a Florida mall with my dad to attend a Rock and D Lo Brown Utograph signing. Two hours before it was set to begin, the line had circled the first floor and was half way circled the second. I remember thinking, wow everyone loves the rock as much as I do, and he was a newly turned heel.

 

[HBsam31]

He came out as a star in the Nation, but the feud with Mankind put him over the top. The Rock hadn't faced anyone like Mick Foley to that point, and what a brutal series of matches. They did a Halftime Heat empty arena match during halftime of the Superbowl. To me that is pretty big. The Rock had crazy steam after breaking away from The Nation, and by the time the feud with Mick Foley was over he was a superstar.

 

[gambit420]

Summer of 1998!

 

[pthbass89]

For me it's when he distanced himself from The Corporation after Backlash 1999, because up to that point he felt like a transitional champion as he was basically holding the belt until Wrestlemania 15 in which SCSA would win it back. Whereas, when he began his title chase towards the latter part of 1999, he really started to gain momentum and the crowds were getting more and more behind The Rock as each week went by.

He was viewed as a face but he still had the classic Rock attitude which made him much more believable as a main event draw as opposed to the highly watered down one that came post-2001, add The Rock'N'Sock connection and reengaging in a feud with Triple H (who also at the time was really gaining momentum and beat The Rock to the title at Unforgiven 1999) which would last way into the golden months of 2000, this is when I saw that The Rock really was something special. He was the top face and main attraction up until the returns of SCSA and The Undertaker.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

At Royal Rumble 1998. Probably even before then after his IC title feud with Austin. But for me, the Royal Rumble 1998 in his match with Shamrock where he lost the title and had the decision reversed. And then lasted in the Rumble match itself for like 50 minutes. It was obvious he was going to be one of the next top guys. Austin, Rock, Foley and Shamrock were all coming in to their own at this time. Well Austin was already crazy over. Only Shamrock never made it.

By the time December 1998 came around, he was the champ. And his feud with Foley over the next three or four PPV's were my favourite all time Rock matches and moments. Corporate Champ Rocky is my favourite.

 

[AttitudeAJM]

The first time I noticed the Rock could be a main event guy was Breakdown 1998. The cage match with Mankind and Ken Shamrock. The crowd responded to him. The People's elbow was over. He seemed like a super big deal. From there he seemed to step to another level.

 

[PaulEnglish]

For me it was the moment he joined the N.o.D. The way he gave that first promo...the long pause he gave between each word when he parroted "Die. Rocky. Die". I felt right then that he was going to be an amazing heel, and he totally was. The fact that he morphed so well into an amazing babyface was (in a way) surprising, given how strong of a heel I thought he was.

 

[jlawls91]

Hi all, new to the forum!

My first memory of wrestling involves The Rock when him and Austin first started feuding for the WWE Title and Rock threw Austin and the belt over the bridge into the water.

But watching back over the past months from around '98 and the Nation, The Rock truely came out as a big character on the mic and truly showed his charisma, which the crowd ate up with Die Rocky Die.

So, I can't comment on whether I saw Rock as a star because he was practically at that level leading up to Wrestlemania 15, just as a heel although before becoming the Corporate Champion at SS 98 the crowd started to love him.

I absolutely loved the Rock and Sock Connection as a kid and watching back my opinion on it hasn't changed. Rock as a grouchy character along with Mankind trying to win Rock over was brilliant; especially finishing catch phrases and Rock's reluctance to like him.

I can't remember off the top of my head which match of 98/99 is my favourite. Although it really surprises me looking back that in 99 Rock only beat Billy Gunn and The British Bulldog (excluding the I Quit with Mankind) in PPVs.

 

[shalliin]

Still haven't. I was never a fan of his. I always find it funny that he became so popular and got a rep as a great mic working by using the same lass ass 4-5 puns in each and every interview from his first title match on.

Putting out a dozen variations on 'you know what the rock is cooking'. 'it doesn't matter what...', 'ruddy poo candy ass', 'know your role..', doesn't make you a great talker, it just means you can get to the lowest point of commonality in the crowd and pluck it like a guitar. A great talker should be able to control a crowds reactions by going out and making different statements at each event and not just repeat what was said elsewhere and just fill in the names of opponents and locations like a WWE Mad Libs.

I also get tired of people praising his in ring work yet going wild on Cena's lack of in ring talent. Take any 5 of the Rocks matches and he used less different moves in all of them then Cena does in any 2.
punch, kick, ddt, kipup, , match over. repeat each as needed to lead to rock bottom, peoples elbow(still stupidest finishing/signature move since Hogan's leg drop and every bit as insult worthy as 5knuckle shuffle.) throw in an occassional spinebuster or suplex and that was it.