WWE: Why Dwayne Johnson is not needed for good business

If you have paid attention to the title, I didn’t say ‘The Rock’. I just thought about clarifying it in the beginning itself. Recently, I’ve read some articles about how beneficial The Rock’s millionth coming would be, or how it would pan out. I don’t read many articles online, neither do I pay much attention to the dirt sheets. Heck, I haven’t been following WWE, TNA, RoH or any other wrestling promotion ardently as I used to about 5 years ago. But a certain article I read, echoed my feelings about Dwayne Johnson, and I’ll explain what I mean by the title as the article goes on.

To kick things off, this year’s first RAW saw the return of a guy who said he’s never leaving, and then left for a good amount of time. Now, I have nothing against Dwayne Johnson. I’m sure Dwayne the person deserves all the accolades he has received and all the good things that came to him. Also, he has been a wonderful entertainer through the years, giving his millions of fans something to cheer about. Now, moving on to the core of the subject. I’ve heard time and again how The Rock is good for the business, and how the business needs him. I’m all up for the first part, but couldn’t disagree more with the second.

I’ve never hidden my feelings about Dwayne. Frankly, I don’t even care about Dwayne Johnson the person. Not that I have some ill feelings towards him, but I just honestly don’t care about Dwayne. I couldn’t care less about what he has been doing in his personal/movie life. I’ve never seen Dwayne’s movies either, so I can’t say I’m a fan of his work outside of wrestling. Call me a slack or whatever you want, but I never quite understood why he has/had such a huge fanbase; people being loyal to him and dancing around to his words. Dwayne Johnson maybe one of the biggest celebrities at the moment, but The Rock doesn’t deserve my time.

It is always said that the business comes first. We’ve heard time and again how the business is bigger than any single person. To be honest, guys like Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan have done more for the business than The Rock, and only a guy blinded by his fandom would disagree with that statement. Also, these two guys are much bigger than The Rock in the business. I’m not taking a shot at Dwayne, but I’m expressing my opinions, which I also believe are close to the truth. The Rock has bored me ever since he came back for I-lost-count-th time, and his promos have been boring and dull. Let me go on the record and say that The Rock is everything the WWE stands against, albeit it is a hypocritical WWE. The idea of Rock’s promos is simple – Call a guy gay, make fun of what he wears and how he does things, make some poop jokes and leave. When Cena does the same thing, fans hate him. I’ve seen a million times on the internet; the IWC hating Cena for just doing the routine things again and again, but go gaga over Dwayne, oops, I mean The Rock. Wait, didn’t he sometime ago tell the people not to refer to him as ‘The Rock’ any more? So I’m just going to call him Dwayne the pro wrestler and Dwayne the person now. Anyway, so when Dwayne the pro wrestler does it, people drool all over. Why is that? And to be honest, Cena is almost in the same league as Dwayne the pro wrestler when it comes to cutting a good promo, although he can be really bad at times. But why the difference? It’s simple: we just cannot move on.

This brings me to the subject of the article; the business doesn’t need Dwayne the pro wrestler. Not that Dwayne the person needs the business either, but Wrestling has always moved on through difficult situations. Remember when Austin retired? Remember when Hogan faked retirement? Remember the Benoit tragedy? The point is, wrestling business is far greater, and more important than any individual. In some years when Vince passes away, the business won’t go into a shell. It’ll live on; no one individual surpasses the business. But with Dwayne the pro wrestler, people keep forgetting that.

I will admit to the fact that I have gripes over Dwayne the pro wrestler. I never found him entertaining, rather annoying. Yes, some of his jokes were funny, but the rest were dull. If I had to listen to some random comedy and a guy downgrading people, I’d go to a school bully and be amused. What Dwayne the pro wrestler stands for, is what WWE stands against. When you talk about ‘Be A Star’ and the anti bullying campaigns, or the LGBT saga, you cannot make Dwayne the pro wrestler your poster boy of the organisation. If you thought Cena’s comments were not in the right taste when he made homophobic comments against Dwayne the pro wrestler, what do you think Dwayne does? How is it not double standards?

You need to create stars in Wrestling. WCW was a prime example of what happens when you keep going back to the old timers. In WWE, you have heaps of young talent who’re just waiting for the right opportunity. You have the Tyson Kidds and the Wade Barretts ready to take the spotlight. But when you go back to bringing a steroid pumping actor, you’re doing something wrong. Yes, Dwayne brings in money and people, but at some point, WWE needs to think long term. Dwayne will be around for a month or two, and then will be gone for the good part of a year. And things will die down once again. And that is not good for the business. That is why bringing back Dwayne the pro wrestler is not good for the business. If you had no talent in the locker room, I would be all up for some nostalgia. But that just isn’t the case with the WWE. I used to have something against Dwayne for choosing Hollywood over pro wrestling; after all, it defeated the purpose of Hogan-Rock and Austin losing to Dwayne the pro wrestler at Wrestlemania, but I’ve gotten over it.

I tried making sense of Dwayne coming back and saying he’d face the champion at Rumble, and unless Punk retains the title, it doesn’t make much sense. I know they’re planning to do a Dwayne-Cena 2 at Wrestlemania, but I as a wrestling fan would hate the taste of Punk’s run ending at the hands of someone who walked away from the business when it needed him, the only time it needed anyone, back in ’07.

I understand why Dwayne shied away, I do. Unless you’re as gutsy as Jericho, people would cut ties with Wrestling after the Benoit tragedy. But that’s why I have so much respect for Chris Irvine, a.k.a Chris Jericho. And that is why I wouldn’t mind him going away now and again. Albeit he does it to remain fresh, re-invent himself and have a life outside of Wrestling, but he never comes back saying he loves the fans and the business. At least he’s honest about things. Not going away from the topic, Dwayne the pro wrestler has done a lot for the business over the course of a decade and a half, but it’s time WWE forgets the past and moves on to the future. It will be good in the long run for the ratings, the gates, revenues and everything else if WWE focuses more on the current crop of wrestlers. My aim isn’t to knock Dwayne the pro wrestler, but just to make some sense, and to state that the business doesn’t need Dwayne. In fact, it needs to move away from Dwayne.