Crazy how “The Rock” character changed drastically after Wrestlemania 17

[DaHNIC82]

I would rewind a bit further and say after the inVasion angle ended he was pretty directionless. He lost for the Alliance but was inexplicably a face after that, but he had lost all the juice he had during his heel run and was pretty much just cutting WHAT? promos and running lifeless angles and matches till he left the next summer. Nothing he did after Survivor Series 2001 was really any good, much less up to par for the work he had put out in the years prior.

The Heel turn was fine.. He was getting real good heat when he beat up Cole and JR..

But when this happened



Is where he lost all of that Heel heat all together and got those1998 style pops.. Then turning him back heel, having him singing and doing other silly shyt after that sinked everything

 

[Da_Eggman]

He was more cartoonish and comical

 

[NOSaintsFan02]

let Conrad and JR tell it tho it was a dejected audience who didn’t wanna boo Good ol’ Stone Cold

But…this is true.

 

[NOSaintsFan02]

I know op's vid is after wm17 in '01, but it made me think how I always found 02-04 Rock & Austin appearances kind of jarring. They'd both outgrown the company so much by that point it was odd seeing Rock have segments with Hurricane & Eugene, be in a 20-man battle for a title shot that consisted of mostly mid-carders, and even feuding with Evolution cause I consider Batista & Orton a whole generation apart from him. Ignoring his issues with the company, Austin seemed to be just doing random shyt outside of the 3rd Rock match.

For some reason this randomly reminded me of when Austin came back to the company after walking out and he did the interview with RAW Magazine and he was talking about how hurt he was when Rock mentioned him in his return promo after all he and Rock had been through but then when he talked about HHH he was basically like “and fukk that bytch for keeping my name in his mouth; only reason he where he at is cuz he married Steph and me and Rock ain’t full time”

 

[InstantKlassik]

For some reason this randomly reminded me of when Austin came back to the company after walking out and he did the interview with RAW Magazine and he was talking about how hurt he was when Rock mentioned him in his return promo after all he and Rock had been through but then when he talked about HHH he was basically like “and fukk that bytch for keeping my name in his mouth; only reason he where he at is cuz he married Steph and me and Rock ain’t full time”

I bought that Raw magazine in 9th grade i couldn’t wait to get home and read it. I still have it

 

[FunkDoc1112]

What do you mean??


he started to become more animated in his promos and hyper instead of the laid back slower talking promo style.

Basically when he became Hollywood Rock. I don't have an exact moment as I was watching sporadically at that time.

But take a look at his promo style in 98 to 2002..gimme a minute and I'll post some videos.

98 promo



2000 promo

Yeah he also stopped referring to himself in third person as much. I definitely noticed a big change in his style. Even updated his music.

 

[NOSaintsFan02]

I bought that Raw magazine in 9th grade i couldn’t wait to get home and read it. I still have it

There were some other things that went on while I was gone that pissed me off. Like during the smear campaign when I was sitting at the house and had to turn on the TV and see The Rock making a special appearance on RAW. This was during the “Get the ‘F’ Out” campaign, when we had to change our name to WWE — which completely sucks. So all of a sudden, you’ve got Rock out there saying, “You know, if you don’t want to be here, then get the ‘F’ out!” Well genius, I’d already been out and got out. To me, that was the thing that got my ass the most. Here’s a guy who I was a tremendous influence on his career in he ring. He’ll tell you the same thing — and if he don’t, he’s a liar. Anytime he needed advice for a problem, I’d give him the best advice I could. I always helped that guy out — I helped everyone who asked. If you wanted my honest opinion, I’d give it. so anyway, the problem was with me and Vince, it wasn’t with me and Rock. I thought that was the biggest chicken**** thing I’d ever seen done to me, so far in the business, for him to go out and call me out. That’s how he pays me back? That was pathetic.

And the other one — Triple H’s constant reference to me taking my ball and going home. “You want me to pull an Austin?” or whatever. Here’s a guy who needs to stop worrying about me — I”m not even with the company right now. He needs to worry about his own character and drawing big money for the company. “Oh, but the business is in a down cycle.” That’s very convenient. In my view, he’s not where he should be with the amount of TV time invested in him. So, don’t worry about Stone Cold because somewhere along the line, in the transition from being a Greenwich snob to being the toughest guy ever to walk in the ring who walks down the ramp all jacked up spewing water, I missed it. And you know what? When I look back at old films from when I was gone in 2000, that was the year Triple H stepped up huge. That was the year Triple H was a hell of a hand. So knock off 25 pounds and go back to doing that and being one of the best. It’s fukking simple.

Stone Cold Steve Austin 2003 Raw Magazine Interview

Ok so he was definitely a bit harsher on Rock than I recalled but still funny.

Obv since then they've all smoothed it out and now all from that era are all on good terms with each other.

 

[ClutchVon]

I feel like after his feud with HHH in the summer of 2000 is when he started talking more hyper & animated. He still talked slow & chill at times after that, but you could see the birth of the change there.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

I feel like after his feud with HHH in the summer of 2000 is when he started talking more hyper & animated. He still talked slow & chill at times after that, but you could see the birth of the change there.

I think the biggest change is Brian Gewirtz. He got hired in '99 and 2000 is probably when he became more involved in the writing process and that's when he started writing The Rock's promos and started making them more energetic and comedic. Even now whenever Rock comes back Brian Gewirtz is writing his stuff.

 

[InstantKlassik]

He stopped wearing the Versace shirts, 400 dollar sunglasses and started dressing more modest.. Wearing the standard WWE Rock shirts and sweats.. Plus his promo style like another cat said. He seemed to have been just shooting off the hip and less relying on his catchphrases

I remember somebody on here said he started dressing like a gym teacher

 

[DamienWayne]

Became less of a character and more of a guy playing a character

 

[BK The Great]

Wrestling in itself died in 2001. The Ruthless Aggression era was them trying to find themselves again. Last time i was really into wrestling again was in 2014 but then a few years later the fell off again and i completely stopped watching.

 

[HipHopStan]

The Heel turn was fine.. He was getting real good heat when he beat up Cole and JR..

But when this happened



Is where he lost all of that Heel heat all together and got those1998 style pops.. Then turning him back heel, having him singing and doing other silly shyt after that sinked everything

When he beat up Jim Ross, I considered Austin a serious heel, and I won't lie, I legit got a little heated watching him beat on Jim and then have Vince come out and encourage him more added more fuel to the fire. By the time he put hands on Cole though, I considered Austin a crazy comedic heel and even legitimately laughed my ass off watching it. These two beatdowns are night and day to me.

 

[bigde09]

They watered down Rock in 01-02. Cut his hair started talking faster slimmed down. 03 hollywood Rock brought some of that swag back

 

[Lurk Angle]

Rock didnt change that much just went from being a Ali like heel to an almost a macho man/Hogan baby face

His peak run was from 1999-2001 to me

Overall I remember wwe business suffered badly with him leaving in 02

Then came back nearly 10 years later and turned it around goat shyt