WWE Wanted Christian To Imitate The Rock
Could we have had 'The Peeps' Eyebrow'?
WWE legend Christian has revealed just how close he came to being slapped with a gimmick that would have seen him become The Rock's doppelganger.
To be fair, there are certainly worse fates than looking like Dwayne Johnson, who - through an exercise routine that makes muscles ache just thinking about it - is now recognised as one of Hollywood's hottest leading men.
But bulking up wasn't exactly what WWE had in mind for Christian, who at one point was told by the company's creative team to shave his hair, don a pair of tight spandex trunks (only white, instead of Rock's usual black ones - get it?), and even try out the People's Eyebrow.
The two-time World Heavyweight Champion told listeners of the Pod of Awesomeness: “So, one day I get home, and I get this call [from someone in WWE creative]. They’re like, ‘Hey, they kinda want you to do this thing where you think you become The Rock. We want you to do the eyebrow thing, cut your hair real short, and, you know, The Rock wears black, so you’ll wear white and you’re gonna use all his catchphrases and you’re gonna act like The Rock and pretend you’re The Rock and you’re gonna be The Rock.'"
If it sounds like a bad idea now, then wait until you hear the name-change they had in mind: "They were gonna call me, are you ready or this, wait for it… wait for it… ‘The Lock’. Because anytime I went to the ring, it was a lock I was going to win," Christian explained.
In the end, the idea was vetoed by Vince McMahon, which proves that unilateral authority isn't necessarily such a terrible thing after all. The boss, despite his critics, clearly has an eye for bad ideas, and recognised that lumbering Christian - at the time, a promising upper-mid-carder - with a dead-end gimmick could have proved costly.
The happy medium they settled on was a little less comical: 2003 Christian - after some words of encouragement from The Rock - incorporated a little of The Great One in his act (referring to fans as his "Peeps", for one), but stopped short of a full makeover. Instead of "The Lock", he became known as CLB (an acronym for Creepy Little Bastard), courtesy of Stone Cold.
Having said all that, the gimmick on its own isn't completely awful - put it on a young upstart without any designs on the main event and it could have worked. It definitely wasn't the right look for a star like Christian, though, and we're all grateful that common sense - for once - prevailed.