4. Cheap Heat With The Rock
Its almost unthinkable that an unannounced appearance from the Rock would be a negative in anyones eyes. His surprise promo back in October was a real highlight and made Raw feel like it was a must-see program if only for a night. But Rocks appearance at the end of the Royal Rumble felt like it was a desperate attempt by WWE to stem the boos that rained down on Roman Reigns at the end of the match. WWEs logic was clear: The Rock is still massively popular with fans (even tough fans like those in Philly), so his endorsement of Reigns would drive fans to openly cheer Roman, or at least cheer Rock as he stood next to Roman, so it looks like they like Roman Reigns too. Wrong. In a move that would only surprise WWE brass and those who didnt watch the end of WrestleMania XXIX, fans ignored Rocks endorsement and booed Reigns nonstop. Using a major star like Rocky like that just felt cheap.
Scott Carlson
Contributor
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
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