@@RyanPrindall Bryan should have come out at number one, and he should have eliminated Big Show and Kane. The final three should have been Roman, Bryan, and Rusev, with Roman winning but in a way that wasn’t total BS
I always thought it should've come down between Roman and Bryan as the final 2 then let them have a small five-minute match like Taker and Michaels in 07 where Roman beats him in the last second to win. @@LukeLeonettiUA-cam
It's "Yabba Dabba", he's making fun of The Flintstones when Fred says "Yabba Dabba Doo", to make fun of the way Cena dresses (his shirts look like the Fruity Pebbles cereal that Fred, is on the box of).
Rey Mysterio’s misfortunes would be a great video with all the betrayals, attacks by bigger guys, and home evasions over the holidays. Even when Rey is happy bad things happen.
@@craggylotus Dominik and Rhea attacked Rey on Thanksgiving at his house in front of his family. Try to do the same on Christmas at Rey’s parents house but Dom got arrested instead and that’s how we got Dirty Dom.
@@Kaltagstar96because ur emotional. No different to something out of the sopranos or breaking bad which is apparently what wwe are trying to replicate today and failing
Rock quipped on commentary about his displeasure at facing midcarders during a title match between Mankind and Triple H in 1999. "Who is booking this crap? The Rock against Billy Gunn, the Rock against Gangrel, next week they're gonna have the Rock lay the smackdown on the Brooklyn Brawler for sakes! Naturally, the Rock feels slighted!"
I actually remember one of the RAW’s where Rock fought Gangrel and beat him then cut a work shoot promo saying how facing Gangrel was complete bullshit. He most definitely didn’t like the way he was booked in ‘99.
Also - yes the Rock vs Mankind match from RR99 was awful and it shouldn't have happened but I always think of the poor people sitting around the Foley family and those people having their experience ruined by the Foley family (rightly) crying hysterically at the match. A bad situation all around.
The Golden Egg still blows my mind. Who would ever care, especially when it was never followed up on? Pretty much confirmed Vince was full on Alzheimer’s/CTE, if the previous at least 10 years didn’t already.
Another thing that makes no sense with Rikishi’s heel turn Is that if his reasoning was to keep The Rock from playing second fiddle to Austin, then why would you actively keep costing Rock, the title?! Made no sense at all
I would also add Wrestlemania XXVII when Rock hosted the event. Particularly, his involvement in the main event WWE Championship match. Costing John Cena by giving him a Rock Bottom (granted, it was justified for Cena attacking him on RAW days earlier) and then Rock Bottoming The Miz after the match and stood tall at the end. Reminder: Rock was the host of Wrestlemania and he kind of took the spotlight away from John and Mike (though Miz did suffer a concussion near the end of the match).
Come on, No one really cared about The Miz. All people cared about was John Cena and The Rock. The Miz was basically in the same position Y2J was for Wrestlemania X8, the 3rd wheel.
@@mattm7798 The Miz never had a chance, because no one really saw him as a main eventer, least of all the company if you look at how he was booked as world champion.
I just came here to see if him trying to get "Cookie Puss" over against CM Punk was here. Kind of disappointed it wasn't, that might be the most cringe Rock moment for me. But I guess it was forgettable: people wanted to forget that. lol
You cannot mention Rock/Bulldog without showing the clip of the best People’s Elbow ever. He hit that slide by complete accident and it looked so good. Too bad that was not intentional.
Having in your contract that you can’t lose a fight in a movie just proves the bigger the muscles and alpha mentality, the more fragile the ego and confidence you have in yourself
I mean, all these guys are fragile babies, that's why we've seen backstage nonsense from half the big names ever in the lockerroom. Refusing to lose a fight everyone knows isn't real is so insane you have to be surrounded by people who also think like that
A lot of people seem to forget that The Rock's run as a full time wrestler, only lasted for 6 years. It's easy to think it was longer than that, because he's given us so many great moments to remember him for, from that short time period when he was around. For example, Rock is the reason why Smackdown is a TV show (because it's named after his catchphrase). So while he hasn't always had great moments, the great ones that he left behind will last forever.
Arguably not even six years. He debuted at Survivor Series '96 and took his first major hiatus to film The Scorpion King after Wrestlemania X-7 in 2001. That's about four and a half years.
True, from late 1996 or IIRC late 2002 or early 2003. And people forget after Rock turned face after WM15 in 1999, by mid to late 2000, Rock's babyface run was getting pretty stale.
Id argue Jericho was elevated while working with the Rock in 2001. Jericho wasn't on the same level at the time as the rock but by working with him i think it benefited him which lead him to getting the WCW Title and eventually the Undisputed Title. While his reign sucked he wouldn't of gotten that high if he didn't work with Rock along the way. Also im shocked in the honorable mentions there wasnt Rock's Sharpshooter being awful lol
LOL right, he beat Rock and Austin in the same night(albeit by cheating), and had one of the worst first title runs ever. Whoever thought the world champ should be an afterthought in the HHH Steph feud was an idiot.
Honestly, If Rock had overthrown the main event of WrestleMania 40 I think it would be in contention for the top spot. Everyone was livid after that SmackDown segment where Cody 'gave up' his opportunity to face Roman
Totally because it made absolutely no sense. I remember thinking "wait, did Cody seriously give up his shot at a rematch with Roman...just because the Rock said he wanted to be at the head of the table?" I mean that line got a great pop, but the "story" was Cody beating Roman, not the the Rock beating Roman. Good on HHH and others for doing a quick pivot.
@@doc7569 Not everything in wrestling is scripted and it's already been revealed HHH didn't want Rock/Roman at WrestleMania 40 and they legitimately pivoted because of the fan support for Cody. You seriously think they had Cody give his title shot to The Rock just to piss everyone off? LMAO
I loved Adam Blampied's reaction in his re-booking of "who ran over Austin" storyline: "It was revealed that the man who ran down the rattlesnake, the man who tried to kill "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was............. the dude with the butt."
I never understood the problem ppl had with that reveal. It made perfect sense. Sure, Rock had success while Austin was there, but his popularity absolutely exploded in 2000 without Austin there. World titles, video game covers, movie roles. Hell, dude was even invited to speak at both the Dem and Repub conventions. He was finally the top guy...thanks to his cousin taking Austin out.
I just had this conversation with someone. Bruce Pritchard revealed that the rock was pissed in the summer of 99 until the rumble 2000 bc he felt he was being moved down the card & sacrificed for the hhh push (& he was) so he basically buried every mid carder they stuck the rock with ( Gunn, Jericho, bulldog, Al snow) & the entire lower card talent in a rumble 2000 promo
@@frankf684 I would, given he has no common sense. When it comes to business, he is a genius. But, just regular common sense, he is a wet match in a dark cave.
With Gunn, it was clear they were trying to elevate him to Rock's level, but Billy just didn't have the promo skills to hang with the Rock. It didn't help that Rock completely buried Gunn in promos, which someone like Austin or HHH could overcome because they could cut great promos back, but with Gunn, Rock(or someone in creative) should have recognized Gunn's lack of great promos and told the Rock to build up Billy. Some forget by mid to late 2000s, the Rock's babyface run was getting old, and we had to suffer thru another 2 ish years of it before Rock left for Hollywood. Having him return a few years later as a heel against Goldberg was actually a breath of fresh air.
That's true, but there was also no reason for him to shit on the entire mid-card and make them look beneath him...especially when you consider how his midcard run went pre-Rock.
@@mattm7798the burial is annoying, but they easily could’ve kept Gunn with Road Dogg as Gunn’s mouthpiece. It would’ve been viewed the same way anyone would hype up their friend. RD could’ve easily matched Rock’s charisma.
I'm getting kind of sick of the "We didn't know then what we know now about head injuries" excuse. Yea, we know just HOW bad they are now. But I still can't fathom how anyone thought "head/brain injury" wasn't severe.
I agree, everyone has always known. It just became a big deal recently. To pretend that we hadn't always known head trauma caused problems is laughable.
Once Rock went Hollywood, he wasn't the same, and everything he did was forced. It's like his natural charisma disappeared, and he was trying to get reactions versus things just happening organically.
18:58 There's an idea for a video all the times the WWE have tried and failed to redo this is your life. If course that means having to rewatch this is your life Bayley and i wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Yes, you missed a major one, though its effects were not felt until later. "Who in the blue Hell are you?" When Rock said that to Booker T, Sting was watching from home, and made the final decision that if *that* was going to be how WCW wrestlers were going to be treated on WWF television, then he wasn't going to be on WWF televission. We missed out on a few dream matchups from the later 90s in that moment. Again, I have no illusions that that line to the last WCW champ (in WCW) was concocted by McMahon, but The Rock did say it.
Like most of us ... I love watching old WWE matches, Steve Austin vs The Rock at Mania, Mick vs Trips in that legendary Street Fight, but there is one feud i avoid like the plague ... That picture with Mick and his kids is just heartbreaking. Haven't watched that match in ages and probably never will.
Yeah doesn't mean @Brian Zane has to lie about The Rock apologizing to Mankind cuz both The Rock and Mankind said that the Rock apologized right after the match when they we're backstage
Same here. I have to cover my eyes, and I'm not the only one who felt this momemt to be disturbing, and some fans back then were uncomfortable in that moment in the late 90s. Also, I agree that Rock has apologized to Mick from other wrestling videos, e.g., Wrestling Bios.
1999 was indeed a YEAR for The Rock. He came into his own as 1B to Austin’s 1A. He was SO OVER that if you put him against anyone outside of the main event talent, they sunk under the pressure. People think it was Cena who was known for burying people, but The Rock did it without trying in 1999.
At the time, I loved Rock vs Mankind at Rumble '99. I was also 14 years old. Years later I saw Beyond the Mat and, with the rest of wrestling/sports fandom, learned how horrible concussions are and haven't been able to go back and watch it again.
I'm quite glad that 'The Rock Buries The Midcard' was put in here because it must have been almost a curse to interact with The Rock if you were a midcarder, you could be IC or US Champ and The Rock would still verbally shit a brick down your throat and you could do fuck all about it.
@@TheRealAhoy no they shouldn’t be in the main event with the rock if they can’t keep up???!!! You’re just deliberately stifling your own show at that point if you’re handicapping the rock to get someone over
@@GiddyGiddyGosh None of you know what managing wrestling talents and wrestling companies is like and I wish you'd stop acting like people who are so experienced they get infuriated at their experience being questioned lmfao
@@GiddyGiddyGosh The Rock is bulletproof, him putting over a midcard champion instead of burying the shit out of them isn't going to hurt him. ESPECIALLY in the Attitude Era.
Everyone over looks Rock burying guys because he's so likeable but he has done it so often that if it was almost anyone else the fans would call him out on it. You could say it's ''not his fault'' in the sense it may be unintentionally but if that's the case he is still at fault for not learning from past mistakes or learning the psychology of the business.
WrestleMania 27 really should have been on here. While by no means the worst part of the show (Thanks, Michael Cole!) all those damn backstage “comedy” segments were _brutal,_ even without the added baggage of Sheamus/Bryan getting knocked down to the preshow.
I don't know why people keep blaming the rock for Billy getting buried and depushed when he just sucks. It only took him 30 years in a different company to be interesting.
It wasn't Rocks fault. They say he did the same with Booker. Usually using Sting as a reference, he was like "who in the blue hell are you?" The Rock was like that with everybody, he used to say "who is this roody poo?" initially though. Everybody new, whether they came from WCW or not, got that off of him. Also, it was the attitude era, people got smeared in promos multiple times. Rock doing it to Booker or Billy though is "too far" though for some reason 😂
@@TheRealAhoyI feel the same way about the Foley chair shot incident. How is it Rock's fault? If the FINISH was Mic gets hit with the chair, goes down, and Rock sticks the mic to his unconscious face, then why the hell did Foley KEEP GETTING BACK UP? How can the match end if he never stays down?
4:01 Rock, if you really had respect for "your boy, Tajiri", you should know that Yoshihiro Tajiri is Japanese. I'm a Japanese-American and a fan of The Rock since I was a teenager. However, it wasn't funny when Jerry Lawler referred to Taka Michinoku as "chinese" (at the Royal Rumble 2000) and it damn sure wasn't funny when Rock referred to Tajiri the same way!
Considering how many wrestlers are involved with Japanese promotions, I'd think wrestlers would have some familiarity with the difference between Japan and China... Maybe I'm giving everyone too much credit though.
@@kenterminateddq5311 This also brought to my mind the WWF episode of the early 2000's game show Weakest Link. I love Trish Status, but she gave an absolutely horrible answer to "What is the capital of Japan?" Her answer was... Hong Kong!
Wrestling is the only thing where the fans hate the idea that someone gets something out of nepotism, only to then support someone whose entire career is because of nepotism
Good Lord, you're not kidding with how skinny Rock was in that Diva Search segment. Looking at him then and picturing how enormous he is now, it's like they're two entirely different people.
Saying "we didn't know about concussions back then" is ridiculous. Concussions have ALWAYS been known about, but nobody cared about them until athletes started killing themselves or others from brain damage.
To be fair, Billy Gunn getting a main event "push" when he's got the charisma of a nervous best man about to piss himself at his pals wedding probably did us a solid
The Rock and Stone Cold are 2 wrestlers who completely reinvented themselves. There needs to be a list of wrestlers who totally rebranded and reinvented themselves into stardom.
Neville was also injured going into WM32, and he was supposed to win the opener so we got Ryder shooting his shot backstage to replace him and getting the IC belt. The injuries on that show ate so much of the depth beyond the main event.
I've changed the rules, this is now a pie eating contest. - Terry Funk
Long live Funker
You're full of spit.
FOREVER
somewhere Carlito is going "oh, so it's okay when The Rock does it?"
"Oh, so it's 2003 when The Rock does it."
Dishonorable mention to The Rock's Pie Song that they included on a WWE CD
Vol. 5 baby!!!
That shit was hilarious tho 😂
I love pie
That "song" gave me and all the pies baked that year AIDS
Brian has an episode on that.
Rikish running over Stone Cold for the Rock makes sense now. He was protecting the Bloodline before it was thing.
You know Rikishi wasn't the main guy. It was Triple H.
Ya ok
@@KadeemG61 That's what he wants people to think.
LONG TERM STORY TELLING
He did it, for da Rock
3:47 “I’ve changed the rules, it’s a pie eating contest now!”
I read that in Brian’s Terry Funk impersonation voice. 😂
OK, if The Rock couldn't save the Diva Search, surely Terry Funk would be the only one with a hope in hell of saving it?
@@venomousnate7263 yes!! 😂😂😂
That Christie hemmie pie thing was hot tho.😏
Bet Everytime the divas search or contest happened parents always did the bathroom break thing till it was over 😂
6:25 I GUARANTEE you that WWE told Dwayne that the crowd wasn't going to boo him. That is a look of "you have got to be kidding me"
Well to be fair, they weren't booing him, they were booing the guy who was not Daniel Bryan. They would have boo'ed almost anyone but Bryan that year.
@@mattm7798Bryan had no business winning that rumble especially when he was coming back from neck surgery mind you
@@RyanPrindall Bryan should have come out at number one, and he should have eliminated Big Show and Kane. The final three should have been Roman, Bryan, and Rusev, with Roman winning but in a way that wasn’t total BS
I always thought it should've come down between Roman and Bryan as the final 2 then let them have a small five-minute match like Taker and Michaels in 07 where Roman beats him in the last second to win. @@LukeLeonettiUA-cam
That's the look of Vince just fucked me again 😂
“When The Rock says Yaba you say daba” was so cringe for me lol
Had he said "Yabba Dabba doofus," it would have at least rolled better. Cena did look like a Fred Flintstone Fruity Pebble Yabba Dabba doofus
It's "Yabba Dabba", he's making fun of The Flintstones when Fred says "Yabba Dabba Doo", to make fun of the way Cena dresses (his shirts look like the Fruity Pebbles cereal that Fred, is on the box of).
2011 Rock hurt as much as seeing him battle Cena twice
Rock concert in 2012 was dogsh*t. The recent one was a lot better but nothing beats the 2003 original.
Turned Wrestlemania off after that.
Could’ve done Rocktober, just saying
🤯 maybe next year
Pop for the Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime" reference!
Same as it ever was.
Michael Cole: The dog 💩 the dog 💩 the dog 💩! 😂😂
Finish! The! Poop!
IF YA SMEEEEEEEELLLLLL, WHAT THE ROCK! IS FULL OF!
"The rock had his huge stack of pancakes, and ate it too"
Really good writing
I was at Wrestlemania 32. Longest night of my life 😂
"Then I said to Christy Hemme, "Damn, your ass really is hungry!'"
I'm pretty sure Brian did this list for da Rock
@@koneheadcokehead4981 he did it for da peepol
@@mrterp04I did it for da….awww shut your mouth ya thong wearing fattie!
@@mrterp04he did it for da kontant
No, Rikishi did. 😂
XDD
Dwayne's head grew more than Barry Bonds
The consequences of a balanced breakfast and plenty fruits and vegetables
Most of this isn't his fault
@@EssexAggiegrad2011Snitsky???
@@chrisonydotcom2317 Proceeds to punt a baby (doll.)
Rey Mysterio’s misfortunes would be a great video with all the betrayals, attacks by bigger guys, and home evasions over the holidays. Even when Rey is happy bad things happen.
Batista
Not to mention all the procedures on his left knee
@@belhariryhis left KNEEEEE
he dodged a house? was it a Wizard Of Oz reboot?
@@craggylotus Dominik and Rhea attacked Rey on Thanksgiving at his house in front of his family. Try to do the same on Christmas at Rey’s parents house but Dom got arrested instead and that’s how we got Dirty Dom.
18:02 The Rock gave the rub to both Hurricane & Booker T in his brief 2003 run. But the booking failed them both
He also put over Kurt Angle and Jericho as legit world champs.
You gotta do worst of HHH
Hell, you can divide it into 2 parts
Maybe even 3
@@Piemanthe3rd One for each era of Triple H?
Nah you can’t do this nowadays. Man can do no wrong, even reign of terror appears to be cool these days for some people
@@slammydunk9787Hard disagree. HHH has done some rad stuff in NXT and since he took power, but Reign of Terror still sucked
Katie Vick
Rock's best WWE moment: christening Bill Goldberg "Whisker Biscuit" in 2003.
LOL i remember that at backlash 2003 the rock to goldberg = " ya whisker biscuit balled headed BITOCH!!!! . cues crowd going rocky rocky rock LOL
Sting was right to not go to WWE while Rock was there.
Shocked that the Nation of Domination & Chyna segment was not in the list which JR even apologized during the segment. Great heel work though.
Yeah, Rock forcing Chyna to kiss Mark Henry was creepy and evil.
That certainly hasn't aged well, has it been scrubbed from Peacock/the network?
@@jamessteel9016 you can still watch it and even if it didn't age well, scenes need to be kept
Honestly, a lot of the Attitude Era, looking back on it in 2024, really doesn't hold up well.
@@Kaltagstar96because ur emotional. No different to something out of the sopranos or breaking bad which is apparently what wwe are trying to replicate today and failing
Rock quipped on commentary about his displeasure at facing midcarders during a title match between Mankind and Triple H in 1999.
"Who is booking this crap? The Rock against Billy Gunn, the Rock against Gangrel, next week they're gonna have the Rock lay the smackdown on the Brooklyn Brawler for sakes! Naturally, the Rock feels slighted!"
I actually remember one of the RAW’s where Rock fought Gangrel and beat him then cut a work shoot promo saying how facing Gangrel was complete bullshit. He most definitely didn’t like the way he was booked in ‘99.
When you mentined the British Bulldog, i immediately howled "INTO THE DOG POOP! THE DOG POOP! THE DOG POOP!" What a stinker of a feud.
Facts
"Roman's happy go lucky smile"...
More like "faking it till I make it" smile.
Also - yes the Rock vs Mankind match from RR99 was awful and it shouldn't have happened but I always think of the poor people sitting around the Foley family and those people having their experience ruined by the Foley family (rightly) crying hysterically at the match. A bad situation all around.
The Golden Egg still blows my mind. Who would ever care, especially when it was never followed up on? Pretty much confirmed Vince was full on Alzheimer’s/CTE, if the previous at least 10 years didn’t already.
The Golden Egg is something that I find hilarious just out of how stupid the booking is. I pop every time the egg gets mentioned.
Only reason I remember from Red Notice movie
@@Sp_Oon Huge pop!!! *Undertaker voice*
I remember someone photoshopping the egg to be the Lament Configuration from Hellraiser in Vince's hand, that got a pop out of me.
Another thing that makes no sense with Rikishi’s heel turn
Is that if his reasoning was to keep The Rock from playing second fiddle to Austin, then why would you actively keep costing Rock, the title?!
Made no sense at all
Huh? You mean AFTER Rock said he wanted nothing to do with him? You really need this explained to you?
I guess you could say that Rikishi being behind the huge wheel of a large automobile was a once in a lifetime occurrence.
Trying to get "How's your lips" over as a catchphrase.
If ya smeleeeleleelle look at the tongue look at the tongue
@@bubbleraydiddly3334 Ecch.
I notices why the footage looks weird. A total change of color hues and saturation to evade copyright claims. Intelligent choice, Brian.
Ava Raine’s dad mocks Colton and Austin Gunn’s dad
Fine list and all, but I think we can all agree that the actual #1 spot should go to every time he put someone in the Sharpshooter.
LOL or takes a stunner
I've never seen anyone with a functional pair of arms do a worse Sharpshooter.
Even though his opponents were the ones meant to sell the pain of being in the Sharpshooter it always looked like Rock was the one in pain.
You missed a big opportunity to dedicate this month to the rock. You would’ve called it Rocktoberfest
I would also add Wrestlemania XXVII when Rock hosted the event. Particularly, his involvement in the main event WWE Championship match. Costing John Cena by giving him a Rock Bottom (granted, it was justified for Cena attacking him on RAW days earlier) and then Rock Bottoming The Miz after the match and stood tall at the end. Reminder: Rock was the host of Wrestlemania and he kind of took the spotlight away from John and Mike (though Miz did suffer a concussion near the end of the match).
Come on, No one really cared about The Miz. All people cared about was John Cena and The Rock. The Miz was basically in the same position Y2J was for Wrestlemania X8, the 3rd wheel.
Yeah, not a Miz fan, but felt bad his WM match was overshadowed by a completely different feud his opponent was in.
@@mattm7798 The Miz never had a chance, because no one really saw him as a main eventer, least of all the company if you look at how he was booked as world champion.
Beating Punk at Royal Rumble 2013
Those PG guys should never beat the legends
I just came here to see if him trying to get "Cookie Puss" over against CM Punk was here.
Kind of disappointed it wasn't, that might be the most cringe Rock moment for me. But I guess it was forgettable: people wanted to forget that. lol
You left out the time he lost the main belt to X-Pac at mania with special guest ref Matt Hardy, when me and my cousin played N64.
You could've had Rock, Austin, Hogan, Piper, and Savage in that diva search segment and all of them combined couldn't have made it look good.
Randy Savage: "The Macho Man is a lot of things, uh huh. But he ain't being no sissy judge in this Diva Search, uh huh."
Hopefully one of the divas wouldn't have corpsed around Macho.
You cannot mention Rock/Bulldog without showing the clip of the best People’s Elbow ever. He hit that slide by complete accident and it looked so good. Too bad that was not intentional.
The slide being unintentional makes it better
1! 2! It doesn't matter if the rock counts to 3!!!
Being unintentional and making it look so smooth and cool is even better. It just oozed charisma without even trying.
Having in your contract that you can’t lose a fight in a movie just proves the bigger the muscles and alpha mentality, the more fragile the ego and confidence you have in yourself
I mean, all these guys are fragile babies, that's why we've seen backstage nonsense from half the big names ever in the lockerroom. Refusing to lose a fight everyone knows isn't real is so insane you have to be surrounded by people who also think like that
Technically speaking he did lose in both The Mummy Returns and Doom lol
@@RyoUrawa777Lol he had no pull then
I mean I can understand from a business standpoint. Like if you lose your value goes down . Unless it's booked in a certain way😊
@@TimTrendy-bj5fq Good point lol
Props on getting the Matt Morgan OVW reference in there.
The less said about Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan tag team in TNA the better 😬
@@claymathewselevator8121 The less said about Joey Ryan period the better.
A lot of people seem to forget that The Rock's run as a full time wrestler, only lasted for 6 years. It's easy to think it was longer than that, because he's given us so many great moments to remember him for, from that short time period when he was around. For example, Rock is the reason why Smackdown is a TV show (because it's named after his catchphrase). So while he hasn't always had great moments, the great ones that he left behind will last forever.
Well written, great points
Arguably not even six years. He debuted at Survivor Series '96 and took his first major hiatus to film The Scorpion King after Wrestlemania X-7 in 2001. That's about four and a half years.
Also the reason why the word Smackdown is in the dictionary!
True, from late 1996 or IIRC late 2002 or early 2003. And people forget after Rock turned face after WM15 in 1999, by mid to late 2000, Rock's babyface run was getting pretty stale.
Imagine if he'd had the career taker did, imagine the rivalries he could have had with batista, cena, punk, Orton, and so many more.
I mean honestly not even God could save the diva search though i'm pretty sure they would of tried to do that
Would have
You talking about HBK’s tag team partner?
@@zlinedavid 🤣🤣
You know you’ve watched a lot of Wrestling With Wregret videos when Brian holds up the eight fingers and you do it the same way he does. 😂
12:17 talking heads reference 😂
Id argue Jericho was elevated while working with the Rock in 2001. Jericho wasn't on the same level at the time as the rock but by working with him i think it benefited him which lead him to getting the WCW Title and eventually the Undisputed Title. While his reign sucked he wouldn't of gotten that high if he didn't work with Rock along the way.
Also im shocked in the honorable mentions there wasnt Rock's Sharpshooter being awful lol
LOL right, he beat Rock and Austin in the same night(albeit by cheating), and had one of the worst first title runs ever. Whoever thought the world champ should be an afterthought in the HHH Steph feud was an idiot.
Honestly, If Rock had overthrown the main event of WrestleMania 40 I think it would be in contention for the top spot. Everyone was livid after that SmackDown segment where Cody 'gave up' his opportunity to face Roman
It’d be the top spot, no question
Totally because it made absolutely no sense. I remember thinking "wait, did Cody seriously give up his shot at a rematch with Roman...just because the Rock said he wanted to be at the head of the table?" I mean that line got a great pop, but the "story" was Cody beating Roman, not the the Rock beating Roman. Good on HHH and others for doing a quick pivot.
I guess you didn't know wrestling is scripted and they wanted everyone to be livid after smackdown... you got played. Lol
@@doc7569 Ummmm, no, because that makes no sense in storyline. Within 1 week Cody gives up his shot at Roman and then changes his mind.
@@doc7569 Not everything in wrestling is scripted and it's already been revealed HHH didn't want Rock/Roman at WrestleMania 40 and they legitimately pivoted because of the fan support for Cody.
You seriously think they had Cody give his title shot to The Rock just to piss everyone off? LMAO
I loved Adam Blampied's reaction in his re-booking of "who ran over Austin" storyline:
"It was revealed that the man who ran down the rattlesnake, the man who tried to kill "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was............. the dude with the butt."
I never understood the problem ppl had with that reveal. It made perfect sense. Sure, Rock had success while Austin was there, but his popularity absolutely exploded in 2000 without Austin there. World titles, video game covers, movie roles. Hell, dude was even invited to speak at both the Dem and Repub conventions. He was finally the top guy...thanks to his cousin taking Austin out.
@@KoolKeithProductionsBut triple h telling Rikishi to do it instead had the rock who became so in the spotlight turn heel then triple h joins him
I just had this conversation with someone. Bruce Pritchard revealed that the rock was pissed in the summer of 99 until the rumble 2000 bc he felt he was being moved down the card & sacrificed for the hhh push (& he was) so he basically buried every mid carder they stuck the rock with ( Gunn, Jericho, bulldog, Al snow) & the entire lower card talent in a rumble 2000 promo
When I saw the title of this video I thought it would end up being 8 and a 1/2 hours😂
I love these best/worst superstar moments videos, Brian. Keep up the great work!❤❤
With most of these, I go by the old acronym A.B.V: Always Blame Vince. I say this because given how inept and horrible the man is.
Inept?You can hate the guy all you want but he was not inept.having no skill is not howd I’d describe Vince
@@frankf684 I would, given he has no common sense. When it comes to business, he is a genius. But, just regular common sense, he is a wet match in a dark cave.
The usage of Ass Man is just *magnifique*
In a way, you can say…..It’s Got It All
The best thing about twice in a lifetime was the video package using the song "Letters From The Sky"
Most of these could be blamed for bad booking. Let's be real, there was no reason for Rock to be in the mid card in mid 1999
With Gunn, it was clear they were trying to elevate him to Rock's level, but Billy just didn't have the promo skills to hang with the Rock. It didn't help that Rock completely buried Gunn in promos, which someone like Austin or HHH could overcome because they could cut great promos back, but with Gunn, Rock(or someone in creative) should have recognized Gunn's lack of great promos and told the Rock to build up Billy.
Some forget by mid to late 2000s, the Rock's babyface run was getting old, and we had to suffer thru another 2 ish years of it before Rock left for Hollywood. Having him return a few years later as a heel against Goldberg was actually a breath of fresh air.
That's true, but there was also no reason for him to shit on the entire mid-card and make them look beneath him...especially when you consider how his midcard run went pre-Rock.
@@mattm7798the burial is annoying, but they easily could’ve kept Gunn with Road Dogg as Gunn’s mouthpiece. It would’ve been viewed the same way anyone would hype up their friend. RD could’ve easily matched Rock’s charisma.
I always thought it was punishment for Rock being reckless against Mick Foley.
@@mikem10481 that kinda make sense
6:24 Rock's face here is going to stick with me forever.
Correction: Austin, HBK, & Foley battle the League of Nations at WM32
Stone Cold did beat up Xavier Woods afterwards
@@claymathewselevator8121 I do remember that. Ty for reminding me
I'm getting kind of sick of the "We didn't know then what we know now about head injuries" excuse. Yea, we know just HOW bad they are now. But I still can't fathom how anyone thought "head/brain injury" wasn't severe.
I agree, everyone has always known. It just became a big deal recently. To pretend that we hadn't always known head trauma caused problems is laughable.
"He scrambled his brains!" being a common line from commentary when someone got hit, people always knew it was bad.
Right! You mean hitting someone in the head with a steel chair can cause literal brain damage...I am shocked said 1997 me
Yeah that is laughable.
I can't fathom that people 25 years ago didn't know multiple strong blows to the head could be dangerous.
Shut up
One of your best videos yet! I love any stories that add extra context to matches.
I remember at the time it happened someone pointed out that Rikishi wasn't dyeing his hair blonde yet at the time Austin was run over.
6:40 What sunk Roman Reigns was his "sufferin succotash" promo. That's when fans turned on Roman.
8:40 At least Erick Rowan can say that he got a match with the Rock at Wrestlemania
and it was one of the better things in that WM
Yeah but both his friends are dead
Once Rock went Hollywood, he wasn't the same, and everything he did was forced. It's like his natural charisma disappeared, and he was trying to get reactions versus things just happening organically.
His “natural charisma” was forced.Dudes been fake since day 1
18:58 There's an idea for a video all the times the WWE have tried and failed to redo this is your life.
If course that means having to rewatch this is your life Bayley and i wouldn't wish that on anyone.
This is your life John Cena was abysmal too, so much so that Cena was burying it as it happened.
Yes, you missed a major one, though its effects were not felt until later.
"Who in the blue Hell are you?"
When Rock said that to Booker T, Sting was watching from home, and made the final decision that if *that* was going to be how WCW wrestlers were going to be treated on WWF television, then he wasn't going to be on WWF televission. We missed out on a few dream matchups from the later 90s in that moment.
Again, I have no illusions that that line to the last WCW champ (in WCW) was concocted by McMahon, but The Rock did say it.
It’s a good day when the ZMan talks about The Great One ❤
Like most of us ... I love watching old WWE matches, Steve Austin vs The Rock at Mania, Mick vs Trips in that legendary Street Fight, but there is one feud i avoid like the plague ... That picture with Mick and his kids is just heartbreaking. Haven't watched that match in ages and probably never will.
I found an error, Steve Austin mick foley & HBK beat up the league of nations
God that I Quit match is still uncomfortable to watch.
Yeah doesn't mean @Brian Zane has to lie about The Rock apologizing to Mankind cuz both The Rock and Mankind said that the Rock apologized right after the match when they we're backstage
Same here. I have to cover my eyes, and I'm not the only one who felt this momemt to be disturbing, and some fans back then were uncomfortable in that moment in the late 90s. Also, I agree that Rock has apologized to Mick from other wrestling videos, e.g., Wrestling Bios.
@@artry93you cover your eyes?no you don’t.
No it’s not,quit being sanctimonious
1999 was indeed a YEAR for The Rock. He came into his own as 1B to Austin’s 1A. He was SO OVER that if you put him against anyone outside of the main event talent, they sunk under the pressure. People think it was Cena who was known for burying people, but The Rock did it without trying in 1999.
I'm loving that light green filter used over a lot of the footage.
That billy gunn promo is the greatest thing ever 😂😂😂
At the time, I loved Rock vs Mankind at Rumble '99. I was also 14 years old. Years later I saw Beyond the Mat and, with the rest of wrestling/sports fandom, learned how horrible concussions are and haven't been able to go back and watch it again.
People knew about concussions,they didn’t care.
Thanks for the video Brian
I'm quite glad that 'The Rock Buries The Midcard' was put in here because it must have been almost a curse to interact with The Rock if you were a midcarder, you could be IC or US Champ and The Rock would still verbally shit a brick down your throat and you could do fuck all about it.
Ahem. You're supposed to beat your opponent in wrestling, in the ring and promos.
@@TheRealAhoy no they shouldn’t be in the main event with the rock if they can’t keep up???!!! You’re just deliberately stifling your own show at that point if you’re handicapping the rock to get someone over
@@GiddyGiddyGosh None of you know what managing wrestling talents and wrestling companies is like and I wish you'd stop acting like people who are so experienced they get infuriated at their experience being questioned lmfao
@@GiddyGiddyGosh The Rock is bulletproof, him putting over a midcard champion instead of burying the shit out of them isn't going to hurt him. ESPECIALLY in the Attitude Era.
The weird Raw after mania with Cody was very awkward and should be an honorable mention imo
Maybe that’s why Erick Rowan attacked Roman Reigns later on 😂
Brian made this video for The Rock. He made it for the -patreons- people.
Rikisi's use of Samon hertiage could have gone somwhere. But they didn’t have guts to push it through. 13:07
Everyone over looks Rock burying guys because he's so likeable but he has done it so often that if it was almost anyone else the fans would call him out on it.
You could say it's ''not his fault'' in the sense it may be unintentionally but if that's the case he is still at fault for not learning from past mistakes or learning the psychology of the business.
Likeable?The roid is an asshole
WrestleMania 27 really should have been on here. While by no means the worst part of the show (Thanks, Michael Cole!) all those damn backstage “comedy” segments were _brutal,_ even without the added baggage of Sheamus/Bryan getting knocked down to the preshow.
Wow, that segment with Tajiri aged like curdled sour milk. EESH! 😬
I don't know why people keep blaming the rock for Billy getting buried and depushed when he just sucks. It only took him 30 years in a different company to be interesting.
It wasn't Rocks fault. They say he did the same with Booker. Usually using Sting as a reference, he was like "who in the blue hell are you?"
The Rock was like that with everybody, he used to say "who is this roody poo?" initially though. Everybody new, whether they came from WCW or not, got that off of him.
Also, it was the attitude era, people got smeared in promos multiple times. Rock doing it to Booker or Billy though is "too far" though for some reason 😂
Stop exagerating
@@TheRealAhoyI feel the same way about the Foley chair shot incident. How is it Rock's fault? If the FINISH was Mic gets hit with the chair, goes down, and Rock sticks the mic to his unconscious face, then why the hell did Foley KEEP GETTING BACK UP? How can the match end if he never stays down?
That wrestlemania 32 moment should be number 1. It was 4am uk time and The Rock was doing all this crap.
Deh! RIP Bray Wyatt ❤
4:01 Rock, if you really had respect for "your boy, Tajiri", you should know that Yoshihiro Tajiri is Japanese.
I'm a Japanese-American and a fan of The Rock since I was a teenager.
However, it wasn't funny when Jerry Lawler referred to Taka Michinoku as "chinese" (at the Royal Rumble 2000) and it damn sure wasn't funny when Rock referred to Tajiri the same way!
Considering how many wrestlers are involved with Japanese promotions, I'd think wrestlers would have some familiarity with the difference between Japan and China... Maybe I'm giving everyone too much credit though.
@@btr3k Yep but I don't think Dwayne has worked for a Japanese promotion but I could be wrong.
@@kenterminateddq5311 This also brought to my mind the WWF episode of the early 2000's game show Weakest Link. I love Trish Status, but she gave an absolutely horrible answer to "What is the capital of Japan?" Her answer was... Hong Kong!
@@btr3k Trish was bad in the Weakest Link but at least she wasn't as bad as Booker T lol.
THE CROCK
That was Triple H with a fake eyebrow
@@ricardonb6375 no shit Sherlock
The only good thing that came from Twice in a Lifetime was that promo and its song that was uses. That hits hard.
“The dog poop. The dog poop.”
The Dog Poop, The Dog Poop, The Dog Poop
Was that Michael Cole's best call as a commentator or what?
“The dog poop! The dog poop! Rock bottom…into the dog poop 💩!
11:01 Damn Vlad tell us how ya really feel about him! 😂
HE GOT SLAMMED INTO THE DOG POOP! THE DOG POOP! THE DOG POOP! POOP!
Taz would've been on the floor dying of laughter
Wrestling is the only thing where the fans hate the idea that someone gets something out of nepotism, only to then support someone whose entire career is because of nepotism
Good Lord, you're not kidding with how skinny Rock was in that Diva Search segment. Looking at him then and picturing how enormous he is now, it's like they're two entirely different people.
Before boulder Rock ate 2004 one, with roids
Saying "we didn't know about concussions back then" is ridiculous. Concussions have ALWAYS been known about, but nobody cared about them until athletes started killing themselves or others from brain damage.
Rock’s chair-shots may had a major role in foley’s retirement the following year
To be fair, Billy Gunn getting a main event "push" when he's got the charisma of a nervous best man about to piss himself at his pals wedding probably did us a solid
Cool video as always Brian 💯
The noise you made before mentioning the Wyatt's fucking sent me to the moon 😹😹
The Rock and Stone Cold are 2 wrestlers who completely reinvented themselves. There needs to be a list of wrestlers who totally rebranded and reinvented themselves into stardom.
Neville was also injured going into WM32, and he was supposed to win the opener so we got Ryder shooting his shot backstage to replace him and getting the IC belt. The injuries on that show ate so much of the depth beyond the main event.