The Many Faces Of The Rock - Ranked From Worst To Best
2. The People's Champion
Rocky started using his “People’s Champion” nickname prior to joining the Corporation, but it didn’t mean all that much until the McMahons turned on him. Shane McMahon abandoned The Rock to join forces with The Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness, whom Rocky regularly butted heads with while writing the latest chapters in his now legendary rivalry with Triple H.
As a babyface, this was The Rock’s undisputed peak. His character gradually evolved from 1999 to 2001, and after starting off cocky and arrogant, his personality slowly grew in intensity. By early 2001, The Rock had become one of WWE’s biggest badasses, and few could match his fire and passion. The arrogance was still there, but The Rock was a far more driven performer than ever before, and that was bad news for the competition.
His promos took on a harder edge, particularly in the build to his WrestleMania 17 showdown with Steve Austin, and Rocky became WWE’s franchise player. This persona saw Rock become a multi-time champion, link-up with Mankind as one half of the Rock and Sock Connection, and draw one of the biggest victory pops in WWE history when he defeated Triple H at Backlash 2000. There’s no question about it: this persona was an unparalleled success.
The downside of Rock’s “People’s Champion” character is that WWE have continually tried to replicate the persona’s traits with other wrestlers, most notably Roman Reigns. Rocky was smooth, sassy, and supremely confident, and these qualities come-off as obnoxious in the hands of a lesser performer. There’ll never be another babyface quite like The Rock, no matter how hard WWE try.