The greatest of all WWF Attitude era superstars was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and not because of what he did but how he did it. Steve Austin may have been more popular and HHH may have had better matches but no one epitomized everything that was good about the Era moreso than the Rock. Even though he has wrestled briefly in the WWF from 1996-2002 and took lengthy breaks between 2001 and 2003, the matches and moments that the Rock left behind have stood the test of time and proven that not only was he one of the most entertaining guys on the mike but he was one of the greatest workers in the ring.
To tell great stories while wrestling is difficult. To cut promos that engage the crowd is an equally unflattering task. To do both, time after time, is the Holy Grail which every wrestling promoter seeks within a wrestler that is capable of electrifying the crowd verbally and gripping them athletically while making a company successful financially. Most wrestlers, even the greatest ones, survive just by image and talk. Not the Rock. The Rock has not just the look and the acting, but also the drive and the passion that makes him a phenomenal worker. No other wrestler has proven his legitimacy both in the ring and on the microphone. Only a handful of people come to mind: Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart; Ric Flair and Curt Henning; Brian Pillman and Steve Austin; there may be more but the important thing here is to establish the company that the Rock belongs in.
Like his contemporaries Austin, HHH and Foley, the Rock had a troubling start in his WWF career. When he debut in 1996, the Rock was pushed as a new sensation and a representative of a new generation of WWF wrestlers. Tailor made as a clean-cut fan favorite and the “Blue Chipper”, the Rock was not given time to improve his in-ring ability, despite a monster push and an Intercontinental title win, and it showed: with the exception of a couple good matches with HHH and Bret Hart, his wrestling was sloppy, awkward and undeveloped, a contrast to what was to come later in his career. As a result, he was hugely booed and jeered by a majority of fans, who randomly chanted the ever classic “Rocky Sucks” and “Die Rocky Die”. Poor Rocky had to smile while the fans heckled him greatly.