The Rock Can Make Anything Acceptable
Before he was one of the most in-demand stars in not only Hollywood, but also the entire world, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson found himself lambasted by wrestling fans for being a generic good guy living off his famous predecessors’ names. The future Rock – then known as “Rocky Maivia” – had a terrible session of growing pains in pro wrestling and the WWF/WWE; resulting in the fans turning on him vehemently to the point the company had only one option by turning him into a heel/bad guy.
By letting The Rock be less of an homage to the past and more of himself, his natural charisma began to show; resulting in him becoming one of the most profound people to ever hold a microphone inside a pro wrestling ring (not to mention being a pretty solid wrestler who could work with a variety of opponents and styles).
The catchphrases and cadence of The Rock’s speech became synonymous with top-notch promos in wrestling during the height of pro wrestling’s mainstream popularity. Everyone & their mother knew what The Rock was cooking, when someone should know their role & shut their mouth, and how to just bring it. As the years progress, The Rock continued running his mouth and popularizing phrases a lesser person would be laughed at for saying on a weekly basis.
Stuff like reminding John Cena about his time being a spokesman for “Fruity Pebbles” cereal by nicknaming him “Fruity Pebbles”, using the imagery of enemas to warn people about how far his boot would go up their backsides, and incest – yes, The Rock actually got the fans to chant for incest to insult a group of swamp-dwelling cultists/supernatural beings. The old slogan of “turning chicken crap into chicken salad” doesn’t just work for everyone, but when it comes to Dwayne Johnson everything that comes out of his mouth, no matter how juvenile or ridiculous, is verbal gold.
