Let’s just get this out of the way: The Rock is my favorite pro wrestler of all time.
I’m an attitude era guy. I grew up watching The Rock, Austin, Mick Foley, HHH, Angle, Edge, Jericho and the bunch every Thursday night on a crappy bunny-ear Toshiba TV (back when Smackdown aired on UPN 38). Damn picture always got scrambled during the Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie gravy match. Oh but I remember being in middle school and finally figuring out what The Rock meant when he asked the ladies if they wanted to try his *ahem* strudel. Was The Rock the best technical/pure wrestler? No, not like Bret Hart, Benoit or Guerrero. Did he get huge pops? Sure, but Austin got pops just as huge and sold 1000x more merch than anyone in the business. But in my humble opinion, Rocky was the best all-around entertainer of the bunch. Only Ric Flair and a select few superstars could even hold a candle to his skills on the mic. Dude knew how to work a crowd. Even as heel Rock people couldn’t help but laugh and cheer (cue Rock with guitar at a 'Rock' concert. LOL PUNZ). There are so many killer Rock skits, promos, backstage and in-ring moments it’s near impossible to pick just a few. Regardless, here are 5 of my personal favorites from back in the day.
Rock and Coach: Barry Manilow and Microphone Issues
Rock and Coachman had some of the best interviews. Hilarious every time. I like this one in particular because it doesn’t go exactly as planned, (i.e. mic coming unplugged) but Rock shows off some great improv skills. I die every time Rock sings Copacabana. Rewound that clip 15 times. Even sped it up and slowed it down. Lol’d at every speed.
Rock vs. Jericho: Raw 2000
Jericho was one of the few superstars who could hold his own with The Rock during promos. Give both of them microphones (or just one to fight over) and you get an instant classic. These dudes had some killer promos together (check out the time they double teamed Stephanie… with words, with words, sorry). The back-and-forth of it, stealing each other’s catchphrases and expressions... just two charismatic motherfluffers with poor Michael aka Mitchell Cole stuck in the middle of a testosterone sandwich. Rock rattling off members of Jericho’s family tree never gets old. It’s in Boston to boot! *Throws up gang sign* ![]()
1999 Feud with Billy Gunn: ‘God’ Promo
Laugh out loud funny. Legit giggle-farted at my desk watching this one again. I like to imagine the real God uses The Rock’s catchphrases. God: “Bob…” Billy Gunn: “But my name’s Billy!” God: “IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOR NAME IS!” So good. The way he flips between voices is awesome. Watch this one and take it all in.
Rock vs. Brock: SummerSlam 2002
One of the last great promos by Rock towards the end of his full-time career. It was sad to watch the attitude era die a slow death from this point on, with the final nail in the coffin being WrestleMania 19 Rock v Stone Cold. A piece of the WWE walked out of the building with Stone Cold that night…regardless, another great Rocky promo. It’s amazing how many languages The Rock is fluent in. What a scholar.
Armageddon 2000: Rock v. Angle v. Rikishi v. Stone Cold v. Undertaker v. HHH
Saving the best for last, this might be my favorite Rock promo of all time. The Rock even invents a new word: ‘dangerousest’ (hey, he is human after all… 80% sure about that). But I mean you have Rock absolutely NAILING impressions of all of his opponents followed by some killer insults and that signature Rock snarl. His facial expressions alone give a better promo than Roman Reigns. And of course you can’t have a Rock promo without Rock calling Kevin Kelly an ugly hermaphrodite. The cadence. The crowd reaction. Awesome stuff. All hail the King of the Mic.
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