10 Spontaneous Wrestling Decisions That Became Famous

2. The Rock Starts Saying 'Know Your Role'

Rene Dupree Steve Austin Stunner
WWE.com

During an interview conducted by JBL with Ron Simmons on the WWE Network, the latter shared a quick story regarding The Rock. In the early part of Rock's career, he had been a struggling babyface. Turning heel, he joined The Nation Of Domination, a faction headed by Faarooq (Simmons).

Behind the scenes before one particular appearance on Raw Is War, Faarooq organised the troops and laid out the plan. In a throwaway moment, he told The Rock that he had to "know his role" in the skit. Ever eager to try and make an impression, Rocky decided to start using the phrase to his advantage.

On one occasion during a promo, he hurled the line out. Simmons laughed as he recalled looking sideways at his younger peer, realising where he had taken the phrase from. Of course, the line expanded to become, 'Know your role and shut your mouth', a key catchphrase for The Rock.

There's a very good chance that the guy would have become a success even without such a phrase, but it definitely helped his cause. 'Know Your Role' was even the subtitle to the WWF SmackDown 2 video game, largely due to its popularity.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.