by Lee Filas
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

Rocky, Rocky, where for art thou Rocky?

You have returned to the form that you once enjoyed…to the form that made you a star.

Seeing as I touched on one Stone Cold Steve Austin last week, it felt fitting for me to touch on one Rock-E (Johnson) in the new and improved SCJ this week.

We all know the story of The Dwayne. He started off as the “Blue Chipper,” a third generation cant miss prospect. However, the fans didn’t se it that way. Instead, they felt like this kid was being forced down their throat. The chants of “Rocky sucks” began to fill the arena every time he walked out the door. So, following a knee surgery, they turned Rocky Maivia into the Rock, and gave him an attitude that shocked the world. The response – after months of battles – made him a fan favorite.

However, during one of the greatest storylines EVER CREATED by the writers of the WWE, the fan favorite-turning Rock turned into the corporate champion during a Survivor series that saw both Steve Austin and Mick Foley get dicked over by the McMahon family.

However, the fans wanted to cheer Rocky, so for the next 4 years or so, Rocky as people what he was cooking, called himself the people’s champ, and fought against Austin, Triple H and a handful of others.

During that time, Rocky started to make movies that actually made money, a feat that Hulk Hogan himself could never quite figure out how to accomplish. Except, a weird thing started to happen: the wrestling fans began to turn on Rocky on a regular basis. The one-time chanting of “Rock-E Sucks” started to come back last year when he met Hogan at WrestleMania. Those chants continued after he won the WWE title and battled Brock Lesnar following his win during the King of the Ring.

The boo’s grew louder during “satellite” feeds with the Rock, with the chants becoming the loudest at Raw X, prior to last months No Way Out.

So, the fed did what it could only do, it turned Rocky back to heel – something that he excels at. With a screw job win over Hulk Hogan that used the help of Vince McMahon, Rocky became what the fans apparently wanted him to be – an asshole.

This current storyline:

You just knew that something special was going to happen after Eric Bischoff walked out and announced the greatest performer in the history of wrestling was in the building. And the Rock – the revamped Rock who has returned to the thing he was great at – didn’t disappoint. He came out, pissed on a hot crowd of “mother canuckers,” and laughed his way back into the hearts of the jaded Internet marks.

The first night back, he had the crowd reveling in the fact that Rocky Sucks, while also pissing on a guy named Stone Cold Steve Austin. Then, he goofed with the crowd during a 20-man battle royal that he all but should have won. However, the end came when he was tossed over the top rope by Booker T – giving Booker the main event at WrestleMania.

The aforementioned bashing of Stone Cold played out on the main event Monday when Stone Cold returned to Raw for the first time and thanked the crowd for believing in him. However, the sappy return was thwarted by the Rock, who all but made fun of Stone Cold taking his ball and going home, then tried to wake Austin up in announcing that the fans would turn on him, just like they turned on the Rock.

Bischoff comes out to add that extra little bit of heelishness to the Rock by all but offering up Booker’s coveted WrestleMania title shot, then sending two fat guys and a Rico out for a trio of stunners.

Rock came to the ring, threatened Austin , and then tried to sucker punch him. Austin blocked, returned the rights, then almost had the Rock stunnered, but a sneak out. No winner, no loser. Rock got blocked, but so did Austin .

But, where does this all lead – aside from the aforementioned main event at WrestleMania?

The Future:

We’ve seen it all between these two in the past. We’ve seen the two of them throw title belts off bridges in Detroit ; we’ve seen the Rock get attacked following a simple “316” page. We’ve seen McMahon help Austin screw the Rock, and we’ve seen McMahon help Rock to screw Austin .

We’ve seen it all between these two, and in the three weeks leading up to WrestleMania, we are going to see a lot of the stuff we have seen in the past.

We are going to see the two screw with each other on a consistent basis. Next week, Rock faces Booker with a shot at the title hanging in the balance. Austin will most likely come out and help Booker get a win. The following week or soon there after, the two will meet in a tag match that will also involve Triple H and Booker. Other ramifications will include a lot of backstage vignettes including the Hurricane and Bischoff, but will lead up to that massive stare down and a stunner/Rock bottom exchange.

To me, the storyline writes itself. Here you have a well established feud between a heel and a face. It’s a match that people want to see against two guys who are reveling in their new roles in the WWE. They have a well-established history against one another, a history that will be re-examined countless times on Raw television.

It’s a storyline that is a little bit tired, doesn’t leave much to the imagination, but a storyline I look forward to watching in the future weeks. When these two are on, they are really on. And with the hyped return of both men at No Way Out, they are both riding a high leading up to the biggest PPV of the year.

Despite my bitching about Stone Cold’s return last month, being blown over the last month, this is the situation you want him in right now: back on television in front of the fans. And, the Rock’s heel turn is being completed perfectly in giving the fans what they want.

This storyline should be a cant miss for everyone involved. Now, let’s just hope the WWE doesn’t do something to screw it up.

E-MAIL LEE FILAS
BROWSE THE SQUARED CIRCLE JERK ARCHIVES

Lee Filas is a 32-year-old newspaper reporter and wrestling fan from the Chicago-land Area.

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