The Rock: Face Or Heel?
7. Range
Face:
The babyface vintage of the Rock never really deviated from the same basic template, but with those numbers, why would he? That template was thus:
- Talk a lot of piss-funny trash
- Reduce the rival to dogsh*t on his shoe via exaggerated impersonation
- People still care about said rival, because they're wrestling the Rock
- Blow the roof off the arena on pay-per-view
It was fantastic, life-affirming stuff; the Rock had patter for days and an immaculate way of timing it. "Funny don't draw money," is a wrestling adage, but Rock sold pay-per-views with what effectively were stand-up routines.
Heel:
Rock was more interesting in the heel role, and just as funny. The 1999 Royal Rumble, a steep and reckless learning curve, nonetheless framed Rock as a psychopath exuding a dangerous energy. This is in contrast to the mere, lowkey sociopathy of 1998, in which, in an interview with Gennifer Flowers, Rock was OK with the existence of "homeless pieces of trash" - provided they stay away from his freshly-mowed lawn. Corporation Rock wore the power well to become even more of an arrogant bastard, and Hollywood Rock simply looked down on the WWF from the top of a luxury high rise, treating us plebs to his guitar practise.
Winner: Heel.