7 Greatest People's Champions In Wrestling History
4. The Rock And A Hard Place
Clearly theres no article on peoples champions that can go without including The Rock, the only man on this list who specifically called himself The Peoples Champion as part of his gimmick. In point of fact, though: The Rock was doing so long before it was actually true. As a charismatic, ruthless heel in the Nation Of Domination, The Rock would call himself The Peoples Champion as a mark of his superiority, to accrue heat with the crowd. Of course, just as Austin had the year before, The Rock would get so over in his heel persona that the crowd demanded he turn babyface: the Peoples Champion became so for real. People tend to forget that the Peoples Champion turned on the People almost immediately, too: the swerve at Survivor Series 1998 with The Rock becoming the Corporate Champion occurred only weeks after hed become the Peoples Champion. Was that a swerve, or had he always been a corporate heel and simply faked being a babyface peoples hero? It doesnt really matter, since the second run as Peoples Champion is the one everyone remembers. The Rock was always at one remove from the People, but this wasnt some jet-flying, kiss-stealing playboy and as Peoples Champion, The Rock was like your far cooler older brother, who plays college football and comes back every Thanksgiving to sneak cigarettes to you while he mocks your haircut.
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