--Rock was on David Letterman last night and without directly saying so, strongly hinted he wouldn't be wrestling any time soon, if ever. He talked about how difficult it was to do both wrestling and movies.
--Today's Chicago Sun-Times has a huge article on Rock. It noted he was under contract to WWE through next year. He said he'd return to wrestling only when he can offer it his undivided attention, and boy, I don't know after this movie is the success everyone is predicting, when that would be. Everyone in wrestling should be really proud of his success in such a high-stakes field. From a pure wrestling history standpoint, it is a shame he won't have the longevity as a wrestler that others of his charisma level have had, but it is bigger and better things. The Hollywood buzz is they expect the movie to do $25 million to $30 million this weekend. The feeling a few weeks ago was that this movie would make Rock the next big action star, as has been noted. The buzz is that from people who saw the previews, he already is the next big action star because everyone who impressed with his comedic timing. In Hollywood, Rock has told people he's done with wrestling, although he loves wrestling. One person close to the situation told us, "I find it totally amazing how the opinions have changed in just a few weeks when they all were saying this is a breakthrough or lose it movie for him. Now everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, since the sneak peaks all came out last weekend. But that's how this city works. If you're hot, everyone loves you. Have some flops, and nobody will talk to you."
Well, this is the only decision he can make. He's my second favorite wrestler, so I'll miss watching him do what he does best IMO, but I hope he becomes the biggest star in Hollywood. I guess the only question is whether he's done enough to make the WON HOF.
By the way, Storm's gimmick includes 1.) telling the audience to shut up, and 2.) occasionally making everyone stand for the Canadian national anthem. You know they don't know what to do with a wrestler when he's making fans stand for a national anthem. It's like waving a white flag and saying, "This guy has no personality -- we give up."
I think he'll continue to appear in wrestling sporadically for at least another year. If he doesn't, he loses his core audience, which is wrestling fans.
No matter how much money he draws in movies, he'll still be considered a wrestler (especially is he's billed as "The Rock"), and I don't think his movie career will ever be stable enough to survive a huge bomb.
If he does make a bomb, I would suspect that he would have trouble finding good roles, and could end up having to return to wrestling, even if for a short time.
I don't want the guy to fail. Honestly I don't see how he can. He's got a great look, a killer smile, he's charming as hell and he's quick-witted. He's got scads of options. But if he can't pick the right films, he'll be in the ring faster than those flops go straight to DVD. Either way, he'll be fine.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Matt TrackerTwo words: Suburban Commando.
Two more: Mr. Nanny.
Two more more: Thunder Beach.
Let's not clean out his locker just yet.
I don't want the guy to fail. Honestly I don't see how he can. He's got a great look, a killer smile, he's charming as hell and he's quick-witted. He's got scads of options. But if he can't pick the right films, he'll be in the ring faster than those flops go straight to DVD. Either way, he'll be fine.
The difference between Mr. Nanny and The Rundown is that The Rundown is being universally praised and The Rock is being touted as a decent actor and action star. Hogan was never taken seriously as an actor and his movies all sucked. Hogan's wrestling charisma did not translate to the big screen. Rock charisma is magnified by his presence on the big screen. The Rock will wrestle one last match at WrestleMania XX and that will be it....until he makes a bomb and Hollywood abandons him.
He may be done with full time wrestling, but whenever Vince needs to pop a buy-rate and/or Rock needs to promote a movie, McMahon will be opening his checkbook for Rock. (See also: Foley, Mick)
Originally posted by Matt TrackerTwo words: Suburban Commando.
What's wrong with Suburban Commando?
"Which one of you assholes told Prairie Farms I was getting an enema?!"-Norman Darter
I agree with waffleking. Nobody really retires, EVER. Especially somebody like The Rock. He'll most likely never be a full-time wrestler ever again, but if you think he'll never wrestle another match, you're wrong. He'll make his cameo at Mania XX, and maybe stop by every 6 months or so to cut a promo or something. Rock will never fully "leave" the WWE, he's part of the family.
EDIT: You know, there was something I caught while watching WrestleMania XIX. When Rock beat Austin, he seemingly broke character. You could see him truly being emotional...on more than one occasion he went over to the fallen Austin and said something to him and patted him on the stomach. He even jumped in the crowd to embrace his family, and took a real long time to leave. Anybody know what that was about? I was thinking at first that maybe he knew before anybody that Austin was wrestling his last match, and was appreciative that Austin gave the job back on the way out....but I don't know. Maybe Rock knew it was HIS last Mania? I guess we'll have to wait till March. My money's still on both him AND Austin fighting...but if not, I guess that was the story at XIX.
Originally posted by CajunManNo HHH for 2 months either. That means with no Rock or HHH on RAW, Goldberg and Austin have to hold down the fort.
Ratings may actually go up.
Yes, God forbid they might have to actually *gasp* elevate someone!
Seriously, Both Rocky and Hunter are great performers, but The WWE will make due without them. Even if Hunter left permanently it would not be the end of the world. It's not like they have never lost a big star before.
Yes, God forbid they might have to actually *gasp* elevate someone!
Don't worry, there's still the McMahon family.
Seriously, Both Rocky and Hunter are great performers, but The WWE will make due without them. Even if Hunter left permanently it would not be the end of the world. It's not like they have never lost a big star before.
Wait, so you're saying that HHH leaving would be a bad thing?
"When this bogus term alternative rock was being thrown at every '70s retro rehash folk group, we were challenging people to new sonic ideas. If some little snotty anarchist with an Apple Mac and an attitude thinks he invented dance music and the big rock group is coming into his territory, [that's] ridiculous." - Bono, 1997
I am not making any value judgements whatsoever. My personal feelings about HHH are irrelevent to my premise. All I am saying is, that much like the departure of Hogan and Savage, and to a lesser degree Nash and Hall, the WWE will go one as it always has, no matter who is on the roster. If HHH or Rocky leave, some will be happy and some will be sad but the WWE wil keep on touring and making television just as they have always done. And eventually they will appear in a "Where are they now?" edition of [gratuitous plug]"Inside The Ropes"[/gratuitous plug]
Perhaps if the wrestling business picked back up, Rock would be interested in doing more then WrestleMania each year. When he's already making 12-15 million a film, there's no incentive to go back to wrestling.
You guys know Hollywood, all he needs is two or three money making movies and he can command that asking price even if all his other movies tank.
Rock's greatest asset as a wrestler was his timing, IMO. Both on the mic and in the ring. His work wasn't the greatest but he had the best timing, which made up for it. Same thing with his promos. It's not shocking that it's translated to the big screen.
And I don't think anyone needs to worry about Triple H making it big in Hollywood unless he's looking for a career as Goon #2 or Big Muscle Guy #4.
The thing with Hogan, who was mentioned a few posts back, is that the only decent movie role he had was his 10 minutes in Rocky 3. Every other movie he had a leading part in failed. Like MonteCarl said, Hulk was never taken seriously as an actor. Rock looks to be the first wrestler to become a sucessful leading role actor ever if the good reviews translate to a big box office number.
In regards to comparing The Rock and Hulk Hogan's movie careers...
Has anyone stopped to consider that Hulk Hogan is like 6'8", bright orange, bald and sounds like he has a.. something-or-other stuck in his throat?
That works great for wrestling, but Hogan could be the greatest actor of all time and still be limited in his possible roles do to his looks. The Rock, however, is completely capable of playing the role of a human being.
No guarantee that he'll become a megastar, of course, but the odds are in his favor. I, for one, can't wait to see a Rock/Jackie Chan pairing.
And I agree with the other people that say Rock will be back for Wrestlemania XX. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he had one of the uppercard matches.
Originally posted by Matt TrackerTwo words: Suburban Commando.
Two more: Mr. Nanny.
Two more more: Thunder Beach.
Let's not clean out his locker just yet.
I don't want the guy to fail. Honestly I don't see how he can. He's got a great look, a killer smile, he's charming as hell and he's quick-witted. He's got scads of options. But if he can't pick the right films, he'll be in the ring faster than those flops go straight to DVD. Either way, he'll be fine.
Oh now come on. Thunder beach is the funniest film I've ever seen.
Warrior Quote: "Presuming initial consensualness, where exactly do we draw the lines of our judgment pinning down the responsibility and accountability inextricably attached to each human life? "
Actually, if you ask me, Rock's greatest attribute as an actor is his ability to sell the movie. Catch him on the talk show circuit, or hell, just listen to those vignettes they've been airing for like the last month. He's engaging even when he's just talking to the camera. He has the rare talent of being able to make you believe that the movie he's made is worth your time and $8.50, even if it's not (Scorpion King, I'm looking in your direction).
You guys have no idea what you're talking about in regards to Hogan/Rock movie career comparisons. First of all, all his movies made money. Maybe it was 15 dollars, but they didn't lose tens of millions of bucks. Secondly, try to understand if you would that Hogan was never put in the position that Rocky was. Hogan's movies were all B movies. No Holds Barred and Suburban Commando were not like the Scorpion King and The Rundown, they didn't have huge studio support. Wrestling, when Hogan made his movies, was still a taboo subject which hadn't been outed and people weren't exactly waiting with open arms for Hogan's success. I'm not making excuses for him because he would have failed as an actor anyway, in my opinion, but that being said let's not pretend he and Rocky had anything resembling an equal shot. Rocky has several more tools.
Now, if Rock IS leaving, it's pretty ballsy of him to go on RAW not three nights ago and say he "can't wait to come back". In any event, I won't be mad if he leaves. It's not so much that he's "sold out", it's that there's nowhere left to go. He's done it all, won every title, been on the heel and face sides of the fence. It's hard to stay motivated to be in a tough business like wrestling when there's aboslutely nothing left for you to do that you haven't done before. The only thing that Rocky could possibly miss is performing in front of a live crowd. I can personally say, having performed live (acting and music) and having made a movie (small indy film) that the immediacy of live performing is about 50 times more exciting than saying the same lines 20 times a day. But that's just me...maybe I'd feel different if the movie didn't suck and the music and acting I did involved chairshots.
"Whatever I just posted above is what your mother said in bed last night."
Walking Tall is scheduled to open in April 2004, so I'm not sure if that will conflict with Mania plans or not. If his schedule allows, I would expect him at Mania. Otherwise, it could be a long time before we see him again.
He’ll be back, but I don’t know if he’ll be an active wrestler or not. Maybe a match or two to keep the ring rust away, the occasional house show appearance, and probably at least a couple stints as a special guest referee. He has shown a strong sentimental devotion to the company – remember when he came back last year after Austin left? He didn’t have to do that, but he did it anyway.
That said, I wish him all the luck in the world. From everything I’ve heard, all of this literally couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.
Universal, anticipating a huge success with the well-received action/comedy THE RUNDOWN opening this weekend, has officially signed Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to star next in their 2005 tentpole action flick SPY HUNTER.
The project was announced some time ago when Universal formally acquired the rights to the game and mentioned that Rock was attached to star. Only now though has the deal been formalized and gotten the greenlight to begin.
The project is based on the popular Midway video game that features a tricked-out car cruising along the streets and getting into all sorts of trouble. The film obviously needs to be more than just a car driving down a road avoiding oil slicks so they've concocted a plot that has The Rock starring as an ex-fighter pilot hunting down spies with his G-6155 Interceptor.
Rock has had a long history with Universal, making THE MUMMY RETURNS, THE SCORPION KING and now THE RUNDOWN with the studio.
Mr. Rock is currently filming WALKING TALL for MGM with Johnny Knoxville co-starring. Filming is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2004.
No director has been hired yet but the script wsa written by 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas who just can't tear themselves away from movies with fast cars.
Hell, Green Bay had to build a whole new facility to get the WWE back...for a TV taping. After a Raw in '97 (where Sunny shot her Super Soaker ads in the concourse), the WWE figured out that the 5,000-seat Brown County Arena equaled sh*tty gates.