The Three Count: My Personal Opinion on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

4/24/08

By Timothy Kemp
Critic Columnist

It has almost been a month since the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, in which The Rock made his return, after a four year hiatus, to induct his father and grandfather. To be honest, it was awesome to see him back, as it brought back a lot of great memories for me. When The Rock was in wrestling, he certainly was a total package, in that he could wrestle and his skills on the microphone were just through the roof. That man could cut a promo better than anyone else in the history of the business. No doubt! It is only fitting that he would make a transition into being a major Hollywood star.

I believe it was 2002 when he starred in his first real movie, (excluding his minor role in The Mummy Returns), which was called The Scorpion King. At that moment he now had a new passion in life, so I’m sure it was a tough decision to leave the business that he has grown up with. I personally think he is a great actor. He has made a lot of successful movies, and continues to do so. And to be honest, he has already accomplished everything there is in wrestling, so I can understand why he wants to move on to another venture.

Now it is time to show you my ugly side when it comes to Mr. Dwayne Johnson. Could someone please explain to me why he feels like he needs to distance himself from wrestling? I know he is a busy man in Hollywood and I’m sure he has a lot of things on his mind, but for him to say, “I love this business,” and never want to do anything with it for four years kind of seems odd to me. I’m not saying he needs to come back full time, or even part time. If he wants to be retired, that’s fine. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t make a special appearance. Wrestling has been very good time, and made him a star. Don’t you think he owes it back to wrestling and the fans by giving them a special treat every now and then?

It’s almost like a time honored tradition in the wrestling business that when your time to shine is over, that you help build the next generation of superstars. There are so many young stars right now that are struggling to develop who they are as characters, and The Rock has the ability to bring out the best in them. He could do that simply by just interacting with them on special occasions, but the fact that he chooses not to do so is kind of insulting. He became such a star in wrestling, and he gives nothing back.

Some people like to say, “Since the Benoit tragedy, wrestling is a dirty business with the media and being apart of it will ruin your career outside of it.” I personally think that is just ridiculous. Making small, but meaningful appearances in wrestling is not going to hurt someone’s movie career. I don’t think it matters what you do for a living; if a movie is has a good plotline and is interesting to viewer; people are going to see it. What makes a movie a success is the entire picture, not just the actor. All in all, I have all the respect in the world for The Rock, as a wrestler, actor and human being. I just hope he knows how much the wrestling fans miss him, and want to see him back.

Match of the Week: This week a few matches on Monday Night Raw get the award. CM Punk was made to look like a main event player, as he had three great matches with Matt Hardy, Chris Jericho and William Regal in the King of the Ring tournament. Although he lost to Mr. Regal in the finals, he was certainly the star of the night. If you get a chance to see these matches, please do. You’re in for a treat.