Might be time to bring back Hollywood Rock.
That’s not gonna happen because the man simply doesn’t have “it” anymore.
The Rock (babyface or heel) is dead. What we see now is DJ trying to play as
The Rock, but he can’t remember—or what is more likely the truth—simply refuses, to have an actual personality anymore.
When Cena appears, he’s still Cena. Austin‘s still Austin. Hoegan is still a hoe.
But The Rock ain’t
The Rock no mo’.
When DJ shows up nowadays, what does he do? He walks out, does that Brock bounce, and shows he has goosebumps. That's not cool (
at all), and I never recall seeing him doing anything like that back then.
Speaking of cool, he damn sure doesn't dress "cool" anymore either. He dresses like a
has-been never-was ex football player, turned bitter cop on his day off (aka Hobbs).
Even though I thought the vest & leather pants he wore during his Hollywood Rock phase was silly, it made sense because *
I* believed that the character believed it was "cool".
The last time I can recall DJ looking cool while performing was
Pain & Gain.
(The versace shirts with the bad ass beard)
But that guy is gone, what we see now is someone who plays it safe because of his Q-score. What we see now is an out of breath, hot water bottle dressed in blue lives matter garb that does a half hearted amateur nostalgia bit that the people go crazy for, because of what he used to be.