“Know Your Role…” The Rock’s 5 Greatest Matches
Everything Else By David D. on October 7, 2009 at 2:56 pmDwayne,
I’ve been waiting for you to come back the same way Hip-Hop has been waiting for that new Outkast album or Detox. It’s been about eight years since you were a full-time wrestler and everything I wanted to be in life. You are one of the biggest stars of all time and have the most mainstream success of any wrestler not named Hulk Hogan.
And since you left wrestling, things have not been the same. There hasn’t been a wrestler to recreate what you and Stone Cold Steve Austin did in the late 90’s. While Austin legitimately can’t wrestle due to a banged up neck, you chose to go to Hollywood. More power to you. I understand the pursuit of cheddar without risk of dying at 40 like most of your peers. But good lawd would it hurt to just pop up on Raw or Smackdown! once a year or something?
A couple of days ago, I found myself hoping against hope that you’d return (and that we’d get another Outkast album while we’re at it). As I was wishing for one last Rock match, I saw this preview. And it dawned on me that it’s over.
There is no Santa Claus. Detox is a myth. And The Rock is no more.
To commemorate this loss, here are a list of the Rock’s 5 Greatest Matches of his all too short career:
5. vs. Hulk Hogan At Wrestlemania X-8 — No one can call this an athletic masterpiece as Hulk Hogan was like 83 when this match took place. And there are a few awkward moments in the match. But the sheer star power made this memorable. This was Hulk passing the torch to the next megastar. Unfortunately Rocky’s star power would push him beyond the ring.
4. vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin At Wrestlemania X-9 — The Rock vs. Stone Cold is the greatest story ever told. Okay, maybe it’s second to the Bible. But barely. And this match was the final chapter in their rivalry. After about five years of the most entertaining wrestling/promos wrestling has ever seen, these two locked it up one more time. If you watch closely at the end you’ll see The Rock sharing friendly words with Austin, thanking him for their careers. (Spoiler Alert: Wrestling is fake.)
3. vs. Kurt Angle At No Way Out 2001 — One knock against The Rock from his early years was that he wasn’t that good of a wrestler. But Dwayne slimmed down and really started to focus on his craft. That’s how he was able to put together a classic match with Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle. In another bit of wrestling comedy, though, the ref forgets to count to three at the end. Awwwwkward.
2. vs. Triple H At Judgment Day 2000 — One hour. A full hour of two of the biggest stars in WWE history battling it out. This was pretty freaking epic and little teenage David thought this was the coolest match ever. No matter how fake wrestling is, an hour of tossing people around is a daunting task. And these two made one of the most entertaining matches of all time with their effort.
1. vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin At Wrestlemania X-7 — Like I said, The Rock vs. Austin is almost as legendary as Baby Jesus vs. Mephisto. And this was the pinnacle. The Illmatic of their feud. It’s the greatest Wrestlemania main event ever and one of my top five matches of all time. Watch and think about how far wrestling has fallen since these two left the biz.
Posted in Everything Else, GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK, Sports, Videos — Tags: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Triple H, WWE, WWF
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34 Comments
As soon as I read the title, I knew who had written it. :)
I smell what you are cooking, the Rock worked hard to become the wrestler he has become. When he first hit the ring, Rocky “SoulMan” Johnson almost disowned him. lol
yo i was thinkin this the other day lol - when him an stone cold was there wrestlin was crazy
The peoples elbow, has spoken.
Jambroni!
The Peoples Elbow: “The most electrifying move in Wrestling”
I feel it’s best to go out on top and leave the people wanting more…I like the days when the Rock was a villain rollin with Farooq.
i don’t agree, david d….you are missing some gems from this jawn.
@thugnificence
nation of domination WAS a bomb ass stable!! lol, rock, farooq, d-lo brown, mustafa…. lol, nothihn better than seein a bunch of angry niggas beat up white people on national tv!
Best part of this post: The Limp Bizkit soundtrack on the final clip.
I’m still holding out for Dwayne The Rock Johnson to be casted in Predators, but doubt it will happen.
He’s a pretty good actor, I must admit I enjoy his movies, including Race to Witch Mountain.
I feel like his “I Quit” match with Mankind should be up here.
In terms of dream matches, with all respective parties in their primes of course, I’d want Rock vs. Michaels & Rock vs. Flair.
the rock was hands down one of the best well-spoken wrestlers in regards to his interviews and promos. he was funny, ignorant and he never seemed like he was acting.
Undertaker/Triple H vs Rock/Stone Cold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71llY8dCCG8
It doesnt matter what you think!!
It doesnt matter what you think!!
=================================
ROFL!
The Rock was blessed with skills in the ring AND on the mic.
Few can cut a promo like The Rock.
Sniffles.
Sheds a single tear.
Continues homework.
Yeah the Rock was entertaining as heck. Only someone like the rock can make the simple elbow drop a spectacle.
The Rock vs. Triple H at Backlash 2000. Double Rock Bottom into the announce table, madness.
No one today in wrestling can hold a candle to The Rock’s mic skills, there’s guys that can out wrestle him but NO ONE can beat the Rock on the mic. Flair and Hogan is debatable.
Just goes to show you how terrible Cena is when trying to get over like Rock is. Hell, even when you were supposed to “boo” The Rock, you knew damn well you were cheering regardless.
“Yay! He said Toronto! That’s where we live!”
Rock was hilarious in Be Cool.
And, yes, a classic wrestler. None of his NOD tag team matches with w/Farooq or Savio Vega made the list DD?
The tooth fairy? No, seriously, the fucking tooth fairy???
Has he no shame, no dignity….What wouldnt this bastard do for a klondike bar. Prettty soon he’ll be auctioning off his ass’ virginity on eBay and donating half the proceeds to charity.
*walks away*
^
?
there is good news.
i recently read that the rock will return to wwe the first week of january as the guest host of raw.
more than likely to promote the tooth fairy, BUT STILL its the rock, on a mic, for 2 hours. first chance to actually pay attention to raw since trish stratus was on there a few weeks ago…..damn she is flawless
When will Dusty Rhodes get some love?
Awesome shit. Total garbage that The Rock lost that match to Triple H. I can neither confirm nor deny if I saw him win the Title back at King of the Ring live in Boston.
Tangent: Top Rock skits/vingettes. Gotta put number 1 him giving Farooq (sp?) a autographed picture of himself. Wow was that amazing.
i ain’t mad at him for leaving, but i quit watching over the last two years, it is not the same. He was by far the star of this generation, and it hurt them that he left. I will watch his terrible movies, and hope one day he will slap the piss outta John Cena.
Emmitt Smith stole that idea when he gave his teammates copies of his autobiography as a Christmas gift.
Yo David, your Top 5 list is cool and all, and I’ma let you finish but The Rock vs. Mankind’s 1999 Royal Rumble “I Quit” match is The Rock’s best match of all-time…THE BEST OF ALL TIME! *shrugs*
I remember watching The Rock and Stone Cold every Thursday on Smackdown… we didn’t have cable so I couldn’t watch RAW. I wasn’t a big Wrestling Fan, I was not wearing ugly WWF/WWE shirts from Wal Mart, but watching Stone Cold and The Rock was the shit back then.
Damn, I tainted alot of family pictures doing the People’s Eyebrow.
we need a top 10 list of the best Rock promos!
LMAO @ SpeakerHead
the X7 promo is THE BEST i’ve ever seen in my life