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By NICK TYLWALK
Special to SLAM! Sports
A weekly
SLAM! Wrestling
Editorial Column
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Goodbye to Rocky
Down the Ramp
By NICK TYLWALK --
For SLAM! Wrestling
There's no doubt that I'm officially enjoying the
farewell tour of one of the most charismatic
performers ever to grace a wrestling ring. Years from
now, we'll be able to look back on 2002 and say we got
to see a star who had the fans in the palm of his
hand, a man who got to the very top of the business.
Honestly, wrestling just won't be the same without
him. And I'm not talking about Hulk Hogan - I'm
talking about The Rock.
Maybe I'm getting a little overdramatic, but I don't
think so. If "The Scorpion King" is a big hit - and
the reviews have been pretty favorable - I'm guessing
that we have less than two years to enjoy Dwayne
Johnson, the wrestler. Call it a hunch. Actually,
call it a bit more than a hunch ever since The Rock's
appearance on ESPN's Unscripted left a very strong
impression that Mr. Johnson would like to make movies
on a regular basis.
Humor me for a second and allow me to state the
obvious. The Rock has everything it takes to be an
A-list action star: good looks, an incredible physique
and the type of screen presence that can't be taught.
Add in the name recognition that he brings with him
from the WWF and Hollywood would be nuts nut to
consider him for summer blockbuster-type roles. His
appearances on Saturday Night Live suggest he could
handle comedic roles, and the People's Champ himself
thinks he could tackle a serious dramatic role with a
decade or so of training. The sky's the limit is a
cliche, but it fits here.
Given all of that, you could hardly blame the guy if
he chooses to walk away from sports entertainment in
favor of plain old entertainment. It's a lot easier
to make your millions in front of the camera (even if
you're doing your own stunts) then taking bumps in the
ring. Call it the Mick Foley lesson, with one
difference being that The Rock didn't have to take
nearly as many chair shots to the head to learn it.
The other big difference is that unlike Foley, and
despite being born into a wrestling family, The Rock
didn't have his heart set on a career in the squared
circle from the time he was a boy. If injuries hadn't
derailed his career, we might only know Dwayne Johnson
from his exploits on the gridiron. Everything we know
about him suggests he respects the wrestling business,
and he might even love it. But was he guaranteed to
be a lifer like, say, a Chris Benoit? I think we've
known for a while now that he wasn't.
There's not really much the WWF can do except enjoy
the ride while it lasts. True to form, they've done
an outstanding job capitalizing on The Rock's side
ventures thus far, and I wouldn't expect that to
change in the future. If I were on the writing team,
I'd think about giving him one more run with the World
Title in the not too distant future. And if "The
Scorpion King" clears $150 million, I'd do it even
sooner.
I know Rocky isn't everyone's favorite wrestler, and
there's probably some people reading this who would
actually be glad to see him go. Personally, I really
only warmed up to him after his heel turn at Survivor
Series '98, and I attribute that more to the booking
of the event than anything else. I doubt anyone would
argue that his in-ring technique has become a lot
sloppier over the last few years.
I also doubt many people can say that The Rock hasn't
made them smile with one or two of his promos. I can
think of numerous times when I was taking notes on a
boring edition of Raw until Rocky injected a bit of
energy into it. His antics with the poor backstage
reporters and his spot-on mocking of other performers
are classic. Since this is wrestling, I'd be remiss
if I didn't mention a couple of great matches he took
part in, including his ladder match with Triple H at
SummerSlam '98 and a number of his bouts with Foley.
It will be hard not to think about all of this when I
go to see "The Scorpion King" on Saturday night. I'll
try not to look at my ticket and see it contributing
to the departure of a WWF superstar, but rather
helping a talented entertainer reach the next stage of
his career.
Previous Columns
April 5 ... Boarding the Hulkamania bandwagon
March 29 ... WWF split finally here
March 22 ... WWF should just relax
March 15 ... WrestleMania, slamdunk or air ball?
March 1 ... WWF return a test for Hall
Feb. 22 ... WWF return a test for Hall
Feb. 15 ... Nick who?
