The redemption of The Rock

When Vince McMahon came out right at the death of the Royal Rumble, the tension in the US Airways Center could have been cut with a knife. CM Punk had just retained his WWE Championship and continued his historic reign, after the lights had gone out and The Rock had been attacked and power bombed through the announce table. It appeared to be the trademark of the Shield, and the tension in the air was palpable, as the crowd waited to see if Mr. McMahon would come good on his promise to strip Punk of the title.

Instead, The Rock told McMahon to restart the match, and heroically, (and somewhat predictably) managed to beat the dastardly Punk, and win the WWE title for the first time in ten and a half years.

Ten and a half long years.

The Rock last held the most desirable gold in all of WWE at SummerSlam 2002, where he lost it to Brock Lesnar. He would feature only intermittently over the next two years, and announced that his contract with the WWE had expired in the fall of 2004. Making the full-time transition to Hollywood, The Rock experienced unprecedented success in the field of acting, becoming the first true wrestler to become a big time movie star. He would eventually also drop the name ‘The Rock’ from his name, and wanted to be credited only as Dwayne Johnson, and in the process, created a completely separate Hollywood identity for himself, one that didn’t rest on his laurels as a wrestler.

Ever since disappearing in 2004, the Rock was seen only a couple of times on-screen, that too via pre-taped videos. He wouldn’t be seen until February 2011, when his return at Anaheim, California, blew the roof off the place. Fans knew that The Rock wouldn’t be seen week-in and week-out, unlike the situation a decade back. This Rock was now one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood, raking in wads of cash (reportedly the fourth highest paid active Hollywood actor).

I never truly believed that The Rock would return ‘home’. The Rock, as a wrestler, only existed in my memory and the countless videos on YouTube. He was a fleeting glimpse in my childhood, a crucial part of my early childhood. Despite not even being ten years old, I idolized The Rock and his attitude more than any other ‘superstar’, and I’m certainly very proud to say that I spent several hours with my friends, each of us doing our level best to imitate The Great One.

Several years went by, and I would eventually stray away from the WWE, returning only in 2009, after four odd years. Realizing that the quality was sorely lacking compared to what I was used to, I would only occasionally watch the product out of boredom, being fascinated with a new guy named CM Punk, and of course the likes of The Undertaker and HBK. When I received a text message from my friend in 2011 saying that The Rock had come back, I scoffed. He was an excellent ‘troll’, before the whole thing went mainstream.

Out of general curiosity, I went over to the trusted YouTube, saw the video of his return, and my mind was blown! The hero had come home – the People’s Champion. It was as if he had never left, such was the intensity and electricity of his return. The Rock of 2011 had nothing to prove. He was a bona-fide movie star, and one of the greatest wrestlers the world had never seen. Like he mentioned that night, he hadn’t come back for the money, not to promote a movie, but for the fans.

The Rock’s first feud was his famous one-year rivalry with John Cena. After laying the smacketh down on Cena’s candy a**, The Rock claimed that he dreamed of a day when he would reach the promised land once again i.e., win the WWE title. Nobody made much of it at that moment, but at Raw 1000, we took him seriously. We KNEW that Rock vs Punk would happen. Now, here we are, three extraordinary weeks after The Rock’s return to Raw, and he is once again the WWE Champion.

For The Rock, it’s been a long road to personal redemption. For all the doubters and haters who said that he didn’t care about the WWE, for all those people who said he didn’t have what it took anymore, and for the people who doubted his passion, The Rock’s victory is an indication that he cares more than ever before. With his jam packed movie schedule, he still finds the time to make more appearances than the likes of Triple H and Brock Lesnar.

Seeing The Rock as champion has a tinge of nostalgia about it, reminiscent of a bygone era. Despite many people now claiming that Rock had ‘buried’ Punk with a clean victory, it isn’t more than utter and absolute bulls***. It had a true big match feel to it, being one of the most anticipated bouts in WWE history. It helped cement Punk’s spot in the higher echelons of WWE legends, and the reaction of the crowd to both wrestlers was exemplary.

Ultimately, I was unsure how to react to it. Past favourite had just beaten present favourite, but I was finally able to come to terms with the Great One’s victory. Losing the title may be just as beneficial for Punk, and you can be damn sure that he will have a lot to say about it on tonight’s Raw. He was able to bring out the intensity in The Rock, intensity that was lacking when the Brahma Bull faced Mr. Fruity Pebbles.

This is probably the last time you will ever see The Rock hold the coveted belt, so be sure to savour it. It seems to be a lock that he’ll hold the title until WrestleMania, but don’t be surprised if he loses the belt before that.

I personally have no complaints seeing The Rock as champion, and a dedicated Rocky maniac would be insane if he/she didn’t feel the same way. Punk will be champion once again, no doubt. But for the time being, no matter how short, we can all bask in the glory of one of the Attitude Era’s heroes’ return to the top of the mountain.