The Many Faces Of The Rock - Ranked From Worst To Best
6. WCW Champion
2001 saw a clear shift in The Rock’s character. He was still The People’s Champion, but his act was becoming increasingly stale, and Rocky’s performances felt more and more like they were being phoned in. Fans were so jaded with The Rock that some towns had started booing him again, and the negativity came to a head when the crowd put their full support behind Hulk Hogan, Rocky’s WrestleMania 18 opponent.
The transition started in the aftermath of WrestleMania 17. Rocky had just lost his WWE Championship thanks to Steve Austin’s heel turn and alignment with Vince McMahon, and when he returned to TV that July, Rock joined the Invasion as a member of Team WWF. His main contributions revolved around his WCW Championship feud with Booker T, and he captured the belt on two separate occasions over the coming months.
Rock lost his title when Chris Jericho unified the belts at Vengeance 2001, and the Hogan rivalry kicked-in shortly afterwards. It was very clear that Rock’s time in WWE was coming to an end at this point, and his character had become little more than a comedy act. Rocky pinned Hogan at ‘Mania and was drafted to SmackDown shortly afterwards, but his sabbatical was just around the corner.