The Rock: What's really cooking?

With thousands in attendance and the millions watching at home the 14/02/2011 (14^th February 2011) edition of RAW was something special for fans of the ‘Attitude Era’, for Dwayne Johnson movie fans, and for die hard wrestling fans worldwide. Just as the expectation was dying down, the infamous words of “CAN YOU SMELL.. WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING” blasted out in Anaheim, California, and out came the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. After seven long years away from the WWE, “The Great One”, “The People’s Champion”, The Rock returned to Monday Night RAW. It was a moment which got wrestling fans talking once more, because possibly the biggest name in sports entertainment history graced the squared circle once more. The Rock came out to a thunderous ovation and cut a lengthy ‘old school promo’ which the crowd ate up. During his promo The Rock said he was “back home” and “never going away”, and of course it was announced that he would be the first ever host of Wrestlemania at this year’s grand event.

The Rock gained his popularity in the WWE/F and is known for being one of the best, if not the most charismatic wrestler of all time. Rock is a nine-time World Heavyweight Champion, a seven time WWE/F Champion, a two time WCW World Champion, five time WWF Tag Team Champion, a two time WWF Intercontinental Champion, and was victorious in the 2000 Royal Rumble. The Rock’s last match was at Wrestlemania XX (2004) when he reunited with Mick Foley as the Rock N’ Sock Connection. Foley and Rock however lost to Evolution (Randy Orton, Batista, and Triple H). Since then The Rock has only made occasional appearances in the wrestling world, and his last previous appearance was a pre-recorded promo for the 10^th anniversary of SmackDown, 2^nd October 2009.

Outside of wrestling, The Rock likes to refer to his real name ‘Dwayne Johnson’, primarily to distance himself with the wrestling audience and to advance his acting career, which despite not being bad is nothing compared to his time in the WWE. Johnson has stared in big hits including “The Scorpion King”, “Tooth Fairy”, “The Other Guys” and recently released film “Faster”. In addition, Johnson has a lead role in the new, upcoming fast and furious film “Fast Five”, where he plays good guy agent ‘Luke Hobbs’ on a mission to stop Vin Diesel and his cast of car tinkering adrenaline junkies. It’s a stark contrast to Steve Austin’s acting career to say the least, with Johnson teaming up with Disney for ‘Tooth Fairy’ and other PG related films, whilst Austin is thriving in the world of Action movies, playing to his pro’s, and not his cons.

But has The Rock bettered himself for leaving the WWE seven years ago and becoming an actor? Wrestling fans will say no, but others will say The Rock had nothing left to achieve in wrestling. If Johnson was still in WWE today would we still care about him as much? Maybe not. Would WWE have ever become PG? Of course. The bottom line is the desire to see The Rock now, especially by more mature fans is huge, and the cry to see something more ‘Attitude Era’ is evident. This was made more evident by the ‘Old School’ Monday Night RAW, which was a hit with the older demographic of WWE fans.

What puzzles some wrestling fans is the manner that The Rock left WWE which questions whether he is truly committed to wrestling anymore. The WWE made The Rock into the biggest sensation since Hulk Hogan and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.  But after he left the WWE, was he ever credible about the WWE? Some may question. To fans it appears The Rock lost sight of what made him famous and the millions of people worldwide who followed his career in the WWE, and he turned his back on it all once it was getting good, all in order to make a few dud children’s films. It just doesn’t justify hardcore Rock fans about why he left, in their eyes The Rock was best left at home, doing what he does best, which is cutting the best promo’s and performing the most over-rated finisher in wrestling history (The People’s elbow for those that didn’t already know).

Furthermore, unlike Austin or Hogan, The Rock has never had a final hurrah in wrestling (I don’t think Hogan ever will now). Austin had his against The Rock at Wrestlemania, but it has planted a seed in the head of wrestling fans that The Rock isn’t quite finished with wrestling. It’s like the final chapter in his book hasn’t quite been written. Just looking at the physique of The Rock it isn’t hard to work out: He’s still got it. He could still perform to a level that an Austin or Hogan could not. Not only is he capable in the ring, but he’s still got it on the microphone. Laying the SmackDown to Cole, ridiculing John Cena and belittling The Miz, it’s all clear; The Rock has a place in the WWE, he always has, and he’s still as good as ever.

The Rock’s return is just what WWE and wrestling as a whole needs. The Rock is a figure to get the attention wrestling needs again to propel it into a new era, but whether Dwayne Johnson the person sticks around is another matter. In the wrestling world where charisma falls short and the younger stars only have a few mentors to turn to, maybe The Rock is about to set the bar higher than before, and ready to break the ceiling of potential for wrestling stars once again. Younger stars might stand up and pay attention to the might and grace which is in the ring and learn a thing or to. For The Rock, let’s hope that he is truly ‘back home’, and is ‘never going away’.

Robert Austin

“In Ring Issues”

TNA ‘Maximum Impact Tour 2011’: London, Wembley Arena. 29/01/2011 - Review.

This blog is different from others.  Instead of dwelling on some of the ‘In Ring Issues’ in the professional wrestling industry, I’ve taken this time to write about the recent TNA house show I attended, during the companies 2011 Maximum iMPACT Tour. I was fortunate to have ringside seating, and sat two rows behind TNA President Dixie Carter. In a way this is talking about an ‘In Ring Issue’ because for me, there were a lot of issues on the show, especially with a lot of newer stars TNA have employed, Matt Hardy primarily. I’ll talk about each match individually, but I’ll hit one right out the park by saying that I had no expectation for TNA to give me or the crowd good matches based on what was on offer, to make an even bigger blow Alex Shelley wasn’t there due to his injury, no AJ, no Joe, no Angle, no Daniels, not a lot of the TNA stars that made the company.

Match 1; X-Division Championship – Triple Threat

Kazarian © v. Shannon Moore v. Chris Sabin

X-Division matches are usually fast, entertaining and better than the rest of the show, and to an extent it was, but it wasn’t what I’m used to seeing from these three. Sabin stole the show in the match and was the obvious hard worker. Kazarian had major heat which is good from the man who formerly portrayed Suicide. The crowd was hot for Shannon Moore, but it wasn’t a great match, but still good, and actually kept the attention of the crowd. Kaz won after the reverse Pile-driver on Shannon Moore.

Winner: Kazarian

Match 2; Mixed Tag Team Match

Madison Rayne, Tara & “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero v. Angelina Love, Mickie James & Matt Morgan

Were the Knockouts put over in this match? No. Were they just seen as sexual meat? Yes. Was there much action in the ring? No. Was Angelina’s entrance amazing as usual? Yes. Was I excited to see Mickie James? No. Why were The Pope and Morgan not in their own match? No one knows. However, did this match go down well with the crowd? Surprisingly yes. Madison and Tara had extreme heat which was good to see, but it was clear for all to see that Angelina was carrying the match. Seeing Tara was a good surprise, but the whole match was based around tagging in Morgan and finishing of the big, bad Pope. At one point Mickie was on the top rope and she then stood on the shoulders of Morgan and done a cross-body onto Tara and Madison. But for the rest of the match? Well that’s all that really happened. Morgan eventually got the tag and killed Dinero with the Carbon Footprint. Morgan was WAY OVER with the crowd.

Winners: Angelina Love, Mickie James & Matt Morgan

Match 3; Invitational Match

Jeff Jarrett v. Johnny Moss

Before the show started Jarrett cut a really good promo on the big screen about Immortal running the show, and it went down really well with the crowd, who soaked up all of Jarrett’s heat. Jarrett said he was going to teach England’s own, Johnny Moss a lesson in wrestling, and that’s what happened. Moss looked impressive, however he only got a few offensive manoeuvres into the match, because for most the match it was Jarrett grounding and pounding Moss. However Moss was over with the crowd and actually looked like winning at one point, but Jarrett won with the Stroke. It was an entertaining, fresh match which felt like ‘TNA’.

Winner: Jeff Jarrett

Match 4; TNA World Tag Team Championships

Beer Money © v. Magnus & Mark Haskins

The minute Magnus and Mark Haskins came out I knew who would be jobbing, considering I then knew who the opponents were. Beer Money are always entertaining and never, ever disappoint, but the whole match seemed inevitable, saying that it was a great match. Magnus and the very, very impressive Haskins were acting as heels which made sense considering the fame of Beer Money in England. Beer Money won with the DWI. Good match, with Beer Money really involving the crowd any chance they had.

Winners: Beer Money

** Twenty minute intermission, JB kept saying the loudest fans will go backstage. **

Match 5; Genesis Rematch

Rob Van Dam v. Matt Hardy

Goes without saying that the only worthwhile moment in this match was the entrance of RVD. Wembley literally exploded. Matt came out to a big pop, but was over well as a heel, and despite looking like a fat Raven he connected well to the crowd. However the match was boring, slow and Matt just didn’t know how to wrestle RVD, then again all RVD done was his signature kicks and the five star frog splash, not even half as good as the Genesis match.

Winner: Rob Van Dam

Match 6; First Time Ever

Ric Flair v. Doug Williams

Without a doubt the best match of the night. Before the match JB said tonight a legend will face off with a future legend, and Doug got a big pop. Dou came out first to a HUGE reaction, the crowd loved him. Flair though came out to a massive reaction. The match was so much better than anything on show, so props to Flair and Doug, for Doug to put himself over, and for Flair to do it twice as much makes you realise that all the talk Flair does, he can still back it up in his 60’s. The biggest surprise was Flair actually winning, but the crowd wanted it, so the crowd got it. It was an honour to see Flair live in the flesh, which is more than what I could say about the two men in the next match.

Winner: Ric Flair

Main Event; TNA World Heavyweight Championship – Singles Match

Mr. Anderson © v. Jeff Hardy

What was apparent from the beginning was how Mr. Anderson wasn’t completely over with the crowd. Jeff came out to a bigger face pop, but played up to being the so called ‘Anti-Christ of Professional Wrestling’. For the actual match it was too slow and predictable. Like TNA main events there was a run in by Matt ‘Fat’ Hardy, but Anderson prevailed with the stroke. The most entertaining bit from Anderson was his post-match talk. My brother spent half the match looking at the floor, taking photos of his shoes, it just didn’t compare to anything I’ve seen from TNA main events in the past, with the previous year boasting AJ Styles v. Kurt Angle for the World Title.

Winner: Mr. Anderson

House Shows are supposed to represent what the promotion is airing on television at that present time, and well this is spot on with the current TNA product. Not very good, but it has its moments. Yes the house show was fun, enjoyable and value for money on the whole, the decline in quality compared to the two previous years. It was obvious the amount of change TNA had in 2010 and that was present in the house show. The Hardy’s, Ric Flair, Mr. Anderson, Rob Van Dam, Shannon Moore, Mickie James were all new to the card this year, and it was good seeing home-grown stars such as Johnny Moss and Mark Haskins (Who was really impressive) get on the tour. However, the night was full of too much showboating and not enough wrestling. There wasn’t any high risk and it seemed like a lot of the stars were tired, so from an in ring standpoint there was not a lot to talk about. Also TNA threw together some matches which never really went down to well. Overall it was nothing compared to what I’m used to with TNA, and it goes without saying, seeing “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair live at any age is something pretty special.

Robert Austin

“In Ring Issues”