9 Ballsiest WWE Promos Ever

8. The Rock Asks The Crowd If He Should Turn Heel

This isn't exactly the most subtle breaking of the fourth wall, nor is it the most creative way a superstar has ever toed the line between being a face or heel. But dammit, was it ever gutsy. Before the "Hollywood Rock" heel turn (which remains one of the most thoroughly entertaining heel runs in the company's history) was fully underway, The People's Champ was getting a lot of mixed heat.

It was as close to a split decision among the crowds as you're likely to find, and that put Dwayne Johnson, burgeoning movie star, in the awkward position of trying to play to both sides... right up until he didn't. On an episode of SmackDown, The Rock started having flashbacks to his days as Rocky Maivia, It was practically "Die, Rocky, Die" all over again. And so, rather than go into his usual good-natured routine, he constantly ducked and weaved from persona to persona, playing the role of "good guy who wonders why you hate him" one minute, and "bad guy who hates you right back" the next.

It was almost as if he was trying to gauge the crowd response with each line, and adjusting his promo on the fly (the frequent check-ins on his cell phone felt especially off-the-cuff). It really took balls of steel to flat-out ask the Indianapolis crowd "Do you really want to boo The Rock? Do you understand the line we're going to cross... if you boo The Rock? Do you understand?". And when the crowd responded with a few more boos than cheers, Michael Cole opined that "Indianapolis could be speaking for the entire world." He wasn't far off. No superstar would even consider doing this today.