RAW's 20th Anniversary Discussion Thread - January 14, 2013 from Houston, TX (#1025)

[Guest Edgehead]

I did not care about the Rock Concert at all before RAW and, after the Rock Concert, I wondered why they even bothered doing it at all. Did they really have to have The Rock do his best singer impersonation for him to insult Paul Heyman and Vickie Guerrero? Sure, the Vickie insults were pretty funny, but that doesn't mean that we had to have this whole concert setup for it.

Whole concert setup! It was Rock sitting infront of a mic holding a guitar. How much setting up did it really take??

 

To say The Rock has lost his former 'shine' is a major understatement. In my opinion, he just does not have what it takes to entertain in a WWE environment anymore. Sure, he can "electrify" most of the live crowd, but to the rest of us, it's just a boring annoyance.

 

Speak for yourself. I thouroughly enjoyed it & I know plenty of other people did too

[Guest Jimmy Redman]

I love how that is phrased too. "Sure, Rock is a total superstar and makes most of the audience wet themselves in excitement, but for the half dozen of us who dont like him...!"

[Guest Ciaran The King]

Really? I didn't really rate the Heyman stuff, but the song to Vickie is already up there as one of my moments of 2013. Straight up hi-larious.

 

It just didn't do it for me, they have been ripping into Vickie now for years now so it just seemed old hat

Edited January 17, 2013 by Ciaran The King

[Guest Jimmy Redman]

Watching Vickie trying so hard not to crack was my favourite part of it.

 

I feel as though, and already did before their interaction on this show, that there is so much potential in Rock and Vickie speaking. She can basically be his Cole/Coach for the '10s, the constant object of his comedic affection. She tries to GM him and boss him around, tries to get revenge for him making fun of her, and she keeps falling into his catchphrase traps and keeps getting verbally torn apart. Fun for all the family.

[Guest Laffy]

Jimmy I agree the only part of RAW I keep rewinding and watching again is the song to Vicki. I just love it also Vivki and the Rock really have good chemistry so I say keep it going. As someone previously wrote i love the comentry part to the song as well as the applause. good stuff.

[Guest The Beltster]

To say The Rock has lost his former 'shine' is a major understatement. In my opinion, he just does not have what it takes to entertain in a WWE environment anymore. Sure, he can "electrify" most of the live crowd, but to the rest of us, it's just a boring annoyance.

It would be a wise idea to stop smoking crack, ASAP.

 

With all the shit WWE, TNA and wrestling in general put out every single week, you're picking the Rock....THE ROCK!...as the guy who doesn't have what it takes to entertain people :lol

 

Jesus f*cking Christ, he's so far above every other performer on the planet in 2013 its not even funny. I don't know how a lot of you guys' standards have suddenly become so high seeing as most of you enjoy the lame duck bullshit that's on TV every week, but all these people questioning the Rock amazes me in its pure stupidity.

[Guest Jayfunk]

totally agree its a mark of the times that the rock can go away for years and come back and still be the best

[Guest John Hancock]

Or it could just be a mark of the Rock being really good...

[Guest Jayfunk]

or both

[Guest Jack]

The Rock is the most entertaining and charismatic wrestler I've ever seen. He might not have everyones preferred promo style but he ranks well above the likes of Flair, Piper, Austin etc., in terms of entertainment value. He's such a natural. He could go to any period in wrestling history and outshine anyone on the roster with the sort of promos he can deliver.

 

It's certainly no reflection on this era that The Rock stands out. This era is a poor one, yes, but the fact The Rock stands out doesn't prove it's a poor one. The Rock's promos were exceptional in the Attitude Era when you had many great talkers in WCW, ECW and the WWF.

[Guest Jamster26]

It does highlight the gulf in class between Rock and today's generation though.

[dsrchris 190]

It does highlight the gulf in class between Rock and today's generation though.

 

That's Jacks point though (well, as far as my understanding anyways), The Rock would stand out from the crowd in pretty much any era you care to drop him into, he was above and beyond almost everyone else during the Attitude Era. He's in that same category as Hogan and Austin, where there's no point in comparing them to anyone else because their success far surpasses pretty much anyone from any era. Guys like Rock, Austin, and even Hogan generally only come along once in a blue moon, we just happened to fall lucky during the Attitude Era and have them all involved in wrestling at the same time. It could be (and has been) literally years before anyone comes along who could match that kind of success.

 

EDIT: I guess what I'm trying to say is if you use guys like Rock, Austin, or Hogan as some kind of barometer/measuring stick for success in wrestling, then you're going to be constantly disappointed.

[Guest The Beltster]

Guys like Rock, Austin, and even Hogan generally only come along once in a blue moon.

Even Hogan?! Eeeeeeven!

 

Dislike.

[dsrchris 190]

Even Hogan?! Eeeeeeven!

 

Dislike.

 

:lol

 

Sorry dude, thought you knew I wasn't a Hogan fan. That being said, it's pretty hard to dispute that at one point he was the BIGGEST thing to ever hit wrestling, and without him then there probably would be no WWE today. Like I say, you can't really compare his achievements to dudes like Ziggler, or Punk for that matter. The only person anywhere near comparable to the Hogan/Austin/Rock echelon is maybe...maaaaaaybe John Cena, but even I think he doesn't exactly measure up to the hottest stars during the companies two biggest boom periods.

[Guest The Beltster]

Cena isn't even close.

 

Hogan/Austin are 1 and 1a choose which is which and I don't think either is wrong, Rock a slightly distant 2. Then there is the cliif everybody else falls off of :lol

[Guest Fatherof10minis]

Cena didnt change the landscape like hogan in the 80s and austin in the 90s. Hogan and Austin raised the bar 10 fold, while Cena has just managed to keep the bar from breaking in half. I agree he is the franchise guy for possibly the last 8 years but he hasn't made any real positive changes to the industry.

[DC 536]

I'm just watching the show now and after watching the Barrett v Orton match, I feel this is how Ziggler should've been booked post-MitB.

 

Wade comes back with a new impact strike and even though he loses some matches, his new finisher is pushed from the off and everyone hit with it is down for the count (with Orton doing a great sell-job this week). This, for me, should've been Dolph and the superkick too.

[Guest Jimmy Redman]

I think we could write a book about the ways Dolph should have been booked.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

Has Orton turned into the most unselfish main-eventer in WWE?

[Guest Jimmy Redman]

Depends on how strictly you define "main eventer". He's not exactly a main eventer at the moment, he's in the upper-midcard gatekeeper role, which is precisely why he's doing so many jobs.

 

Not saying he isnt good with doing jobs though.