When I first “fell” for Dwayne Johnson, he was known as The Rock, The Brahma Bull, and of course The People’s Champion. I was thirteen, and had one wall of my room dedicated to his image.
Around that time, after much begging, my mom let me order the Pay-Per-View for the then WWF wrestling match between The Rock and…I think it might have been Stone Cold Steve Austin. I was so engaged in the viewing, so excited to see The Rock in what was the “ultimate” fight, and for a moment, it seemed as if he was going to lose. And then, he came back, finishing with The Rock Bottom. When the ref counted to three, I leapt out of my chair, jumped with a holler, and threw my arms up high. I ended up scraping my knuckles on the heavy, ridged plastic covering the light fixture in our basement, shredding the skin and bleeding.
But I was too distracted to care, for The Rock was now the Champion!
I was enamored with The Rock from that point on. Not only did I love his looks (and good gawd, that man has skin like brown butter!), but I loved his sarcasm, his crassness, how he talked about himself in the third person, his made up words (i.e. such classics as Jabroni and Pu Tang pie…), and of course, the People’s Eyebrow, which admittedly gave me “chills” (other adjectives may have been better suited, but not necessarily appropriate for this blog).
And then…and then The Rock left “home”–he abandoned WWFE and RAW. After that, the show just wasn’t the same. I watched one ep, and then I was out. Still, I followed Dwayne Johnson’s career.
Yes, Dwayne.
The WWE owned The Rock. Not to mention that The Rock was just a persona–an illusion. Of course I knew that, but I hadn’t really realized how much was pure character. Dwayne is so removed from The Rock, and it was akin to watching someone new. But it was a someone I liked. Dwayne has a great sense of humor, and has no problems with making fun of himself. He’s good to his fans, and has a promising acting career. Considering The Rock persona, he’s been acting for quite sometime, no?
Within the last year, “The Rock” returned back to the WWE, and I went back to watching it. He was older, leaner, and had a nifty shaven look. All these years, and it was as if nothing had changed. [Well, subtle differences. The Rock would never have smiled as much back then as he does now.] He’s gone again as I write this, of course, but it is my fondest wish to meet him someday.
And gosh, look at that killer smile:
Dwayne Johnson: I fangirl you hardcore.
