The Evolution of The Rock in 6 stages

#4 Part-timer (2003-04)

The Rock brought out a new side to himself in 2003

After an absence of six months, The Rock finally returned to WWE television on the January 30, 2003 edition of Smackdown wherein he derided Hulk Hogan and advised the fans that WWE was no longer his priority.

If Hollywood truly was Rock's sole focus, his performances didn't show that. Rock cut the best and most entertaining promo's of his career as he had a riot playing the new self-absorbed character.

His interactions with the likes of The Hurricane and Goldberg made for some incredible television. However, after less than three months back with the company, Rock accepted an offer to appear in the 2004 remake of the 1970's exploitation movie, Walking Tall.

Following his loss to Goldberg at Backlash 2003, Rock left and would not return for almost a year until a one-off match at Wrestlemania XX, where he teamed with Mick Foley to battle the Evolution team of Randy Orton, Batista and Ric Flair.