There wasn't anything surprising about The Rock turning babyface in 1999. It's just that the fans were so ready to start cheering him that when it finally happened the floodgates were open and The Rock became an even bigger star once the people - his people - started to embrace him. We all knew it was coming. That doesn't take away from the fact that it was a big turn, though. In the spring of 1999, The Rock was the Corporate WWE Champion that lost the title to Steve Austin at WrestleMania 15 and then lost the rematch at Backlash. It was that point when Shane McMahon and his buddies blamed Rock for it. He was supposed to keep the title in the group, but he lost. In their eyes, he let them all down. The night after Backlash on the April 26, 1999 edition of Raw, Shane berated Rock for losing to Austin again and made a point that all Rock cared about was impressing the people. That led to Rock getting right in his face, defending himself and fighting against The Corporation members. At that point the face turn began for him, which led to another feud with Triple H although their roles were different compared to their 1998 feud. When The Rock went face it set the stage for him to grow into the role as one of WWE's biggest stars. It's a role he was ready for and he was very successful at it for the next four years. If he never left WWE as a full timer in 2003 he probably would have spent most of his time as a face just because he was too good at everything for the fans to keep booing. He really was the People's Champion.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
