Breaking The Walls Down - The Rock’s Star Power Submitted by Chris Dailey on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 10:12 PM EST
Breaking The Walls Down
Hello all and welcome back to another edition of Breaking The Walls Down. The Royal Rumble is upon us and it’s always a perennial favorite. The question remains, will it keep us from falling asleep while watching it? We shall see. Onto Bits and Pieces.
Bits and Pieces
O.K., so I’m getting a lot of flack for being Eagles fan right now. Most of my friends wouldn’t know sports if it walked up and smacked them in the face and said, “Here I am! Hello, I’m Sports”, but I get ridiculed none-the-same. And, that’s fine. Mark my words, I still believe in the Eagles. I’m still going to get pumped and crazed for every single game. Nothing will stop that. But, acquiring a nice free agent like DARRELL JACKSON wouldn’t hurt, considering WE NEED A STAR WIDE RECEIVER.
What the heck is going on with cruiserweights? Does anyone know? I sure don’t.
Am I the only one who is finding it hard to even get motivated to watch WWE programming anymore? I don’t watch Smackdown anymore at all (I read the spoilers and that’s it) and I try to watch RAW, but it’s getting really difficult sometimes to even flip on the channel. Either I’ve become way too used to wrestling or the product has become stale. I think it’s a combination of both.
I miss not watching CZW. Since they aren’t on Saturday nights anymore in my area, I don’t stay up late at night to watch them or even bother to record them. It’s a shame, as they are a good company. I’ve heard that “Sick” Nick Mondo has possibly retired. That would be a shame, as he was my favorite in that federation. He was awesome.
I watched Confidential this past Saturday night and they showed the Mick Foley vs. Terry Funk match from 1998. Geesh, I can’t believe it’s been over five years since that match. I remember that match as if it happened a year ago. The years since I’ve graduated from college have really gone by quick and I don’t know where the time has gone.
Anyway, onto the column.
The Rock’s Star Power
The rumors are quiet and the posts are now infrequent. The Rock is talking less and less about being uncertain as to when he will return to wrestling. The talk is now more geared towards being excited to come back. Why is this happening? Is it because he is due back soon for Wrestlemania XX? Perhaps, but I believe it involves a much larger picture than that.
The Rock loves to entertain. I truly believe that. Who doesn’t? I know I like to get people smiling and laughing it makes for a good time. However, right now it seems like The Rock isn’t garnering as much attention as he once did. Why is that? To answer that, we have to look closely at The Rock.
One, The Rock is forever tied to professional wrestling. When the WWE is experiencing a boom in ratings, it will reflect in box office ticket sales for The Rock. When the WWE is experiencing ratings that are down, it too affects the box office tickets sales for The Rock. This can’t be blamed on the WWE not promoting The Rock’s movies, because when we do tune into WWE programming, we’re blasted with advertisements for his movies. But, outside of the WWE, we see as much advertising for The Rock’s movies as we would any other movie. This isn’t good for The Rock. He hasn’t solidified himself as a big movie star yet. He isn’t on the level of Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks. Unfortunately, he’s not even close.
But, at the same time, he’s not bad at all, or even close. So, where does that leave him? It leaves him in that middle-ground. An area where many actors currently are. The Rock has put out a handful of movies that, for all intents and purposes, weren’t bad at all. I haven’t seen his latest movie, The Rundown, but I heard it was pretty good. But, maybe The Rock’s early movie success came from curiosity rather than belief in his acting skills.
Many people wanted to know if he’d flop in the box office like Hulk Hogan has. After his first couple of movies, people noticed he didn’t, but they also noticed that he was still The Rock and that’s how they would always know him. They first saw him in the WWE ring and that’s where they will always remember him. The Rock is in danger of having happen to him what many actors don’t want happening to them, tight-casting.
I firmly believe that The Rock’s fans have tight-casted him into the role of a professional wrestler. The Rock is forever linked to the WWE’s ring and it will be hard for him to erase that stigmata. And, to make it even harder on The Rock to erase that perception of himself, the same people that were telling him to keep a safe distance from the professional wrestling world, are now telling him to warm back up to it.
What’s The Rock supposed to do? Can he really be the next Bo Jackson or Deon Sanders for the entertainment industry? Can he successfully balance both an acting career and a professional wrestling career? I think he can, but the real question remains, will his star power, his drawing power, lessen as the state of the WWE lessens? I believe the answer is yes. I don’t think The Rock has to choose either profession, but I think it would be wise for him to stay close to the WWE. I know that may not sound right, especially since the company is in a state of decline, but for The Rock’s sake, he needs to stay close to the WWE. I think it’s time for The Rock to take on a full-time presence with the WWE once more. Then, when the WWE gets back on track, so will The Rock’s acting career.
