15 Exact Moments Wrestlers Died Inside
11. The Rock Gets Gotten-To
The Rock is a very strange guy.
He was one of the few wrestlers of his day who expressed little interest in making his opponents look weak. Steve Austin had that in him - he didn't take Triple H too seriously in 1999 - and the glorified kicked cat that is Paul Levesque spent the next couple of decades following that example. Trips was so paranoid it's a wonder his little throne wasn't made of tinfoil. The Undertaker was a nightmare for this sort of thing, too. Re-watch his match against Kurt Angle at Fully Loaded 2000. 'Taker might as well be in there with Just Joe. Rock, however, was almost sporting about this sort of thing. Perhaps he felt he had sufficiently ridiculed his opponents on the microphone. So when did he turn into such a defensive, insecure freak? Was it Hollywood?
He was drafted back in when WWE wanted him to endorse Roman Reigns at the 2015 Royal Rumble. WWE expected the top babyface to get jeered mercilessly (which was somewhat of a clue that Roman Reigns should not have been the top babyface).
Astonishingly, this masterplan did not work. It didn't matter that Roman was cousins and pals with the Rock. If wrestling fans cared about who the performers are friends with, they'd literally all be cancelled!
Look at Rock's face in this "exclusive" backstage promo, man (pictured). He is raging with Godlike hubris about the crowd's ungrateful reaction. He had blessed them with his presence, and they turned on him.