Actually Rock is the most successful wrestler to come out of WWE.
Measuring sticks in wrestling on susscess are Hulk Hogan and Flair. The Rock is the only wwe star to check every box of susscess in an out the ring and beyond wwe.Depends on how you define success. Jesse Ventura became a governor, and RVD retired rich and doesn't work anymore.
I'm glad it was held in the land of smarks. May not have got that magic elsewhere.I literally just got chills watching the clip of Hogan hulking up on Rock all these years later. That match was magic.
Measuring sticks in wrestling on susscess are Hulk Hogan and Flair. The Rock is the only wwe star to check every box of susscess in an out the ring and beyond wwe.
As a worker, yes. As a draw, fuck no!The Rock didn't seem too tough in a lot of his matches. When he wrestled HHH in a ladder match HHH took all the big bumps and Rock didn't take much punishment in comparison even though the match was competitive and fairly even. In his matches with Foley, The Rock barely took any bumps at all. Mick did all the hard work. This seems like a trend with The Rock - his opponents usually did all or almost all of the painful bumps and The Rock just took little bumps. Then his finishing move was just a standing elbow drop. Compared to what the other main venters were doing for finishers, it was pretty weak. I think his mic skill was what made people think he was great. He talked a good talk but he didn't back the talk up and for a guy who was always calling other wrestlers "candy-asses", The Rock really seemed squeamish about taking punishment.
The top tier, I give to Hogan, Savage, Shawn. They defined the business and their age in the business.
Second tier I give to Rock and Austin. They defined their own era, but had short time at the top.
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HBK ahead of Austin and Rock? Put down the crack bruh
He was more over and had more longevity than Austin. When Austin and Rock came in, they came into the D-X Era that Shawn Michaels defined. As a reminder, the other show had the nWo, and WWE had a bunch of people nobody cared about such as Los Bariquas, Test, Albert, and "The Brood". Austin was able to thrive because Shawn had set the mood for Austin's character to take off. By the time Rock came around, pro wrestling actually needed him right then at that time, and luckily, he came to form and rose to the top. When Shawn left, Austin and Rock each had less than 5 years at the top - but to be fair, Shawn's constant injuries and losing his smile took some of his years away, too.
I place Shawn above Rock/Austin not on terms of "who's the biggest star", but on "star of their respective eras". One thing that permitted Austin to thrive was Shawn leaving and not competing for the top spot. That's also partly what created the void that The Rock capitalized on. Unfortunately, Eddie passed before he could truly rise to that level - he was on the way, he was meteoric. If he had just another 2 years, he would have probably been equal to The Rock.