The Many Faces Of The Rock - Ranked From Worst To Best
5. The Part-Time Icon
The Rock made a number of appearances in the years following his official WWE departure in 2004, but his career’s next major arc began in 2011. Rocky was announced as WrestleMania XXVII’s guest host during his first Raw appearance in seven years, thus kickstarting his famous “once in a lifetime” feud with John Cena.
Cena and The Rock butted heads at ‘Mania, and continued their rivalry over the coming weeks. Their ‘Mania XXVIII match was made almost a year in advance, and at Survivor Series, The Rock wrestled his first match in years. He and Cena joined forces to defeat The Miz & R-Truth, but the union didn’t last, and Rocky downed his rival with a Rock Bottom afterwards.
Hype levels were through the roof in the lead-up to WrestleMania, and Rocky prevailed. He defeated an overconfident Cena by countering John’s attempted People’s Elbow with a Rock Bottom, but the rivalry didn’t end there. The 2013 Royal Rumble saw The Rock inexplicably become WWE Champion by defeating CM Punk as a part-timer, before eventually dropping the belt to Cena in a WrestleMania rematch a few months later.
Rock’s character was relatively steady throughout, and while he leaned a little too heavily on his old childish insults, Rock vs. Cena 1 felt like a truly special moment. Rocky gradually wore out his welcome overtime, however: his promos almost descended to self-parody, and his second match with Cena wasn’t half as memorable as the first.