The Rock's 10 Best WWE Moments
9. Hurricane Season
The Rock’s appeal was so engrossing that he was likely always fated to make the move from wrestling to film. Considering the bizarre sense of loyalty wrestling engendered in some fans, this was seen as something of a betrayal at the time. While many were excited to see the Rock make his mark on the silver screen, others were indignant that he dared to leave the company that put him on the map. Because none of us have ever taken jobs that paid better, obviously.
The Rock has, to his credit and sometimes detriment, often been credited as a selfless wrestler. Putting over Brock Lesnar in dominant fashion 2002 prior to filming The Rundown and The Scorpion King, Rocky returned in early 2003 and leaned into this perceived betrayal, unleashing the arrogant, and utterly enthralling Hollywood Rock. Even as a raging egomaniac, the Rock was selfless, entering into a brief verbal war of words with diminutive superhero The Hurricane.
This culminated in a 1-on-1 match on a March episode of Raw, where an interfering Steve Austin enabled the Hurricane to get a surprise victory over The Great One to his utter disbelief. In one fell swoop, the Rock had given the rub to a hot new character, set up the closing chapter of the acclaimed Rock-Austin WrestleMania trilogy, and cemented that he was willing to give back to the business that made him a star.
On a completely unrelated note, HHH beat Hurricane clean on Raw three weeks later.