Top 5 Face/Heel Turns - Part 1

The Rock began his early WWF career as a face, as he feuded with HHH for the Intercontinental Championship. However, the WWF fans did not warm to The Rock with frequent chants of “Rocky Sucks” reverberating through the arena during his matches. Then came a heel turn as he joined the Nation of Domination, having frequent bouts with Ken Shamrock and D-Generation X.

The Rock showcased his mic skills during this time, and soon cut promos often using jargon ranging from the demeaning to the abusive, and the crowd lapped up every promo, as The Great One left them wanting more. Slowly, he began rising from the Intercontinental bracket to become a major contender for the WWF Championship. However, once he won the Championship, he went from being the People’s Champion to the Corporate Champion, joining Vince McMahon’s stable. He and Mankind had numerous title matches, ranging from ‘Empty Arena’ matches to ‘I Quit’ matches, with Mr. Mcmahon bending rules many a time to ensure that the Rock kept the Championship. And once that happened, he was a target for none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin, and these two had multiple bouts which went back and forth in 1999.

The Rock won the Royal Rumble in 2000, and then continued to pick fights with the best of the WWF roster including HHH, Taker, Kane, Benoit, Angle and Rikishi. He faced Austin at Wrestlemania 17 in a No Holds Barred match and was suspended the next night, but came back to lead Team WWF over the Alliance at Survivor Series. In 2002, he faced Hollywood Hogan at Wrestlemania, and left the WWF to film his first movie ‘The Scorpion King’.

But the period after this was most intriguing. On an episode of Monday Night RAW in June 2002, The Rock made an unscheduled return to the WWF as Austin ‘walked out’ the previous week. He got involved in the WWE Undisputed Championship between HHH and Taker at King of the Ring, and made his scheduled return in a July episode of Smackdown!. He beat Angle and Taker in a Triple Threat WWE Championship match at Vengeance, and got involved with Brock Lesnar, who challenged and beat The Rock at Summerslam. That match was in August 2002, and after that the Rock went filming again.

Cut to January 2003, and the Rock made a return to Smackdown, and publicly criticized Hulk Hogan. He went on to state that the WWE was no longer his priority. This turn of ‘attitude’ by the Rock shocked the fans, as for almost four years, the Rock had been the ‘good’ guy.  Also, The Rock challenged Hogan to a second match (just ten months after the epic Wrestlemania match), and just three days before No Way Out (in which Rock-Hogan II was to take place), The Rock cut one of the best promos ever seen, goading Hogan into a false sense of security and spitting on his face.

The Rock won that match and was part of a Battle Royal to determine the challenger for Triple H’s Championship at Wrestlemania 19. The Rock was on commentary for almost the whole match (he slid out through the bottom rope) but was eliminated by last man Booker T.

The Rock decided to wrestle Steve Austin at Wrestlemania as, in his own words, he had done it all in the business except beat Austin at WWE’s showpiece event (Austin led 2-0). The ‘Rock in Concert’ was another night to remember, as more negative heat was generated, also including an upset victory for The Hurricane in one episode.

So, two of the greatest pro wrestlers of the Attitude Era went at it again at the Safeco Field in Seattle. With three Rock Bottoms, The Rock beat Austin, in what would be the latter’s last ‘active’ match. The next night on RAW was the ‘Rock Appreciation Night’, but it was also the night which was Goldberg’s first in WWE, and he celebrated it with a huge spear to the Brahma Bull. The Rock, however, mocked Goldberg’s ring persona, but then went on to lose the match against him at Backlash.

That match would be The Rock’s last match (apart from the 2 on 3 Handicap match at Wrestlemania 20) in the WWF for more than 8 years. It also brought to an end ‘The Hollywood Rock’ who lived the ‘movie star’ life, and was The Rock’s last meaningful run in the WWE.