From his initial debut in WWE all the way to becoming number one on Forbes’ list of most highly paid actors, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has learned his craft both in and out of the ring through pure grit and determination. Join us as M&F takes a trip down memory lane and looks at the top 10 moments in the Great One’s WWE career, tracking the People’s Champion on his path to becoming a cultural icon.
You can relive The Rock’s storied history in WWE via the WWE Network. For more information and to get your first month for FREE, visit wwenetwork.com.
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Dwayne Johnson Makes His WWE Debut
As Dwayne Johnson made his way to the ring during WWE Survivor Series in 1996, commentator Jim Ross exclaimed, “Now that’s going to be the man right there!” Initially wrestling under the ring name Rocky Maivia (a nod to his father Rocky Johnson and his grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia), he was the first ever third generation wrestler to enter WWE.
While Rocky made an immediate impact by leading his team to victory that night in Madison Square Garden, his debut is best remembered for the loud outfit and bouffant hair style. It would take some time for the Great One to completely emerge, but we all have to start somewhere!
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The Rock Is Born
Rocky’s curly hair and loud outfit failed to catch on with pro wrestling fans now seeking cooler heroes like the n.W.o and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and so our clean-cut hero aligned himself with the rebels of the Nation of Domination under the leadership of wrestling legend Ron Simmons.
Now cockier and far more self-assured, Rocky became “The Rock” and eventually took control of the group on March 30, 1998. His days in the Nation of Domination allowed him more time on the microphone, and a chance to raise a few eyebrows, if you smell what we are cookin’!
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The Rock Gets Brutal
In an attempt to regain the WWE Championship from Mick “Mankind” Foley at the 1999 WWE Royal Rumble, the Great One challenged the champion under “I quit” rules. It proved to be one of the most brutal matches in WWE history and showed an edgier side of The Rock.
In a contest where anything goes, The Rock talked trash to the champion and handcuffed him, then blasted him with a series of chair shots all the way along the ring isle. In the end, Foley could be heard saying, “I quit,” meaning that The Rock had regained his championship. It was later proved that Foley didn’t submit, but rather an audio recording was played over the loudspeaker meaning that the Great One had cheated. But the real story was The Rock’s aggressive attitude: He showed the WWE faithful that night that he’d do whatever it took to succeed, no matter how brutal.
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Halftime Heat
On January 31, 1999, the Great One attempted to defend his WWE Championship in an empty arena match. This bout against Mick Foley took place during a special edition of WWE Sunday Night Heat that aired during halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII.
It was a surreal, no-holds-barred scrap and during the melee both competitors fought all over the building. The Rock was able to send Mankind hurling down the concrete arena steps, but would ultimately lose the match, and his title, when he was pinned down by Mankind, who had commandeered a forklift truck!
While The Rock lost the match, he still took part in what Vince McMahon described as, “Perhaps the most unique title match in WWE history.” Ten million viewers tuned it to see one of The Rock’s most memorable moments.
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The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection
There’s no doubt that the alliance between The Rock and Mick Foley made for one of the most unlikely teams in WWE history, but fans still lovingly remember The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection almost 20 years after they first formed.
While the two grapplers had first been bitter rivals, Mankind was able to help bring out the Great Ones’ comedy timing and on-point facial expressions during their highly entertaining double act. The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection lifted the WWE Tag Team Championship belts on no less than three separate occasions, but it’s fair to say that the unorthodox duo is best remembered for their skits out of the ring.
In one such segment on Raw, known as the “This is Your Life” segment, Foley paraded a number of blasts from The Rock’s past in front of him, including “Yurple” the clown and his sixth grade home economics teacher. It is still the highest rated promo in WWE cable TV history.
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Third Time’s the Charm
When two of WWE’s biggest icons clashed at WrestleMania XIX before almost 55,000 fans inside Seattle’s Safeco Field, it marked the third WrestleMania that these two warriors had collided.
At WrestleMania XV, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin beat “the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment” for the WWE Championship. Two years later, Austin would once again dethrone The Rock. With a 0-2 record against Stone Cold, and even with no title on the line, The Rock had everything to prove in Seattle—and he did just that. After nailing Austin with three devastating Rock Bottoms, the Great One came out on top in a classic confrontation that helped solidify The Rock as one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time.
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Once in a Lifetime?
When The Rock stepped through the ropes to face John Cena in Miami in 2012, it marked the first time that the Great One had competed at WrestleMania in eight years. Now an established movie star, The Rock returned to WWE and received a rapturous reception. It wasn’t long before he and Super Cena were trading insults, leading to their heavily hyped “Once in a Lifetime” match at WrestleMania XXVIII.
The feud, and their match, was a success on many levels: WrestleMania XXVIII, with Rock and Cena in the main event, drew more than 1.2 million pay-per-view buys, setting a new WWE record and, like with all great box-office hits, it demanded a sequel—with a rematch set for the following year at WrestleMania XXIX in New Jersey.
The Rock displayed obvious signs of ring-rust due to his time away dominating Hollywood, but he shocked the world by getting the win over Cena in a thrilling bout that lasted more than 30 minutes. It just goes to show that you can’t stop The Rock.
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Twice in a Lifetime
Now 1-0 against John Cena, The Rock headed in to their WrestleMania 29 rematch as the reigning WWE Champion. In the weeks and months before their match, both men picked up where they had left off, trading deeply personal insults. The Rock felt that Cena was acting the part of a watered-down caricature, and Cena felt that The Rock was a part-timer whose true passions were with the movies rather than the mat.
While The Rock lost the rematch, and the title, the match ended with an unforgettable moment of sportsmanship where both men buried the hatchet and shook hands in front of more than 80,000 appreciative fans. It was a true passing of the torch moment that only a star like The Rock could provide.
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The Rock Wins Eighth WWE Title
When The Rock challenged CM Punk for a shot at the WWE Championship at the 2013 Royal Rumble, he found himself in a war. Toward the end of the match, the lights went out, allowing The Shield to interfere and put the Great One straight through a ringside table out of the referee’s sight. Using this to his advantage, CM Punk was able to get The Rock back into the ring and pin him, but WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, intervened and restarted the match.
Drawing on his guts and intestinal fortitude, The Rock was able to hit Punk with a Spinebuster and followed up with the People’s Elbow for the win and eighth run as WWE Champion.
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ICON vs. ICON
“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan was no longer viewed as the vitamin-eating, prayer-saying hero ahead of his clash at WrestleMania X8 with the Great One in the Toronto Sky Dome. So it seemed obvious that the crowd would swing heavily in The Rock’s favor, but another WrestleMania moment was created when fans started to cheer heavily for the Hulkster instead.
Call it nostalgia (Hulk famously wrestled the Ultimate Warrior in the same building at WrestleMania VI); call it appreciation for Hogan’s recent return; or call it whatever you like: The fact is The Rock was jeered every time he landed a blow on Hulk Hogan, and no one had expected this leading up to the match.
Going up against a usually positive audience was a true test of The Rock’s spirit, and rather than be intimidated by the crowd, “the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment” embraced the chance to show his darker side. The Rock went on to pin the Hulkster, but the real story was about more than just the win. The real story during this confrontation was how The Rock worked with an unpredictably hostile crowd and ended up telling one of the most compelling stories in WrestleMania history. It was a night that proved Hulkamania lives forever, and that The Rock is one of the most entertaining WWE superstars of all time.
