Balistik Blabber

Welcome to the 4^th edition of “Balistik Blabber”! Great holy chair shot I can’t believe I’m still churning these things out! Before anything else, let us all give a BIG round of applause for the WWE for being able to restore order after the chaotic outcomes of the Main and Supplementary WWE Draft! Seriously, I never thought they could do it and solve some of their issues at the same time; at least temporarily… you know that thing with Michael Hayes? Oh, never mind! Move along! Move along! Nothing more about that!

Starting this week onwards, let us take a look at the many talents who have left the “almighty” WWE and are still in their own significant spotlights of fame be it small or big time. I will start with names of course, followed by a short segment about their achievements and then get to my personal opinions and analysis of each guy or gal. Who to pick?.. Who to pick?..

Of course! Who better (no, not Kanyon) to start such a venture with none other than…

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

How can we not forget “The Great One”? “The Brahma Bull”? “The most eeelectrifying man in sports entertainment”? Right after his not-so-cool debut with all the rage of his famous wrestling heritage, he gets booed by the crowd… something I will never really understand to this day. I have never really thought much about it then because I was like, what, 10 years old?.. but I had never seen a new guy booed so badly like that… but eventually, after a lot of effort he won the audience over with his revamped character changes ranging from the arrogant heel “Corporate Champion” to the face favorite “People’s Champion”. Of course, going against the boss is one sure fire way of becoming a favorite, but he did so with pizzazz unlike Stone Cold or The Undertaker who both always get to the fighting with less talk. “Rock” always added funky one-liners, jokes about pie and turning people sideways to stick various polished material up their rear ends. Equipped with this unusually entertaining talent using a microphone together with his mat skills, athleticism and crazy antics, he really did electrify the WWE. From the mid 90’s to 2004 he fought with the biggest names in the business earning title after title including the silent achievement of becoming the sixth WWE “Triple Crown Champion” (but only separately) as well as forming the unlikely alliance with Mankind to form the infamous “Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection” tag team. This partnership eventually lead to the creation of the similarly illustrious “This is Your Life” segment wherein either “Rock” or Mankind would bring out various people from their pasts usually ending in various forms of comedy, much to the delight of the crowd. It is said that this skit brought ginormous (no, it’s not really a word… yet) ratings for WWE during those days. “Rock” also created and/or innovated the use of various terminologies and phrases like “jabroni” (“jobber”) and “laying the smack down” (eventually used as the title for WWE’s second main show). Wow, those really were the days! I sure miss them! To this day, I know not any WWE superstar who could match his crazy talk, and no, talking and making broadcasts like a boxing announcer does not count.

After his last appearance in Wrestlemania XX (in a losing effort against then Evolution) in 2004), he has decided to stay clear away from the ring and focus on his big screen career which is still improving with each new movie he stars in. Fans would know right now he stars alongside funnyman Steve Carell in the big screen remake of the old television show “Get Smart”. I still don’t know how on earth it beat the opening gross of both “Iron Man” AND “The Incredible Hulk”!

Dwayne has gotten a lot of heat for leaving the business despite being in the pink of health (that means he is healthy) and for other reasons we do and don’t know until he writes a biography (which will sell big for sure, both kayfabe and not. The last one I heard is from John Cena in this interview:

(http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/article1173845.ece)

See now, it’s pretty funny saying you do not have a problem with the guy but you are pissed at him choosing want he wants for a career. If anything I believe Dwayne, at least, really gave his all during his 8 years in the business even though it was to gain enough fame to make him a movie star. I do not think anybody would take all that punishment just so that he or she would get noticed to be in the movies… or I could be wrong… sounds more like something a person who wants to become a stuntman would do. As always, if you have no problems with a guy then why bother with the side comments? Besides, it’s his choice in life not yours. Dwayne also contributes to a lot of charities too and in some ways, still gives back to his fans by way of his movies. With all of this activity to for the less fortunate, it’s crystal clear that money is definitely NOT the issue. Besides, even if you take away his superstardom and money (which I doubt is possible, but this is a “what if” type of statement), there’s always be the family to ask for help. No, it wouldn’t be embarrassing to ask help from mommy if you were ROYALTY! That’s right, “Rock” comes from a REAL royal family! When I heard of that years ago I was like “whoa” too, but it is true! If you want to know more about Dwayne’s HUGELY EXTENSIVE family, look up the legendary Anoa'i family in any of your favorite Wikipedia style websites. For those who do not know about this family, you may be shocked to find out who “Rock” is related to hehehe!

You may hate him for life for “betraying” your trust and fandom by leaving the ring for good but Dwayne Douglas Johnson should always be remembered for the undeniably HUGE contributions he has given to sports entertainment. Even many of today’s WWE superstars try to put a little bit of “The Brahma Bull” into their performance most especially Randy Orton. Orton really pulls a lot of crazy body language selling whenever he gets beat up, much like “Rock” used to do in the ring. For a lot, one of Dwayne’s most unforgettable sells is when he took that Stunner from “Stone Cold” and flopped across the ring like a wheel off its wagon those many years ago. It was such a crazy moment, Yukes immortalized it into one of the many Stunner move variations in the “Smackdown VS Raw” video games series.

In conclusion (somehow, I’ve always wanted to say that like this), we all know he’s going to come back sooner or later. It maybe after 20 or 30 or more years but we all know he’ll go back. It’s not like he left the company in bitterness or something like that... Besides, how else will he get that Hall of Fame induction? Trust me, I’m not a big “Rock” fan like a lot of people but I guaran-damn-tee it… that one day… Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be back… in the WWE… and we the millions… AAAND millions of his fans… will all cheer out loud and chant his name once again: “Rocky”! “Rocky”! “Rocky”!..

Even in our old, hoarse and croaky voices.

Thanks for reading, Akira Kagami signing off and I hope you’ll still be here next time with me for our ex-WWE talent talk!

Views: 1,602

COMMENTS

Comment # 1

Nice work man! I look forward to reading more of what you have to say. KEPP IT UP!!!

Posted by Hida Kozan on Friday, July 04, 2008

Comment # 2

Loved that last paragraph for some reason.

Nicely done! (b' ')b

Posted by Saint Joey on Friday, July 04, 2008

Comment # 3

can you smell what te rock is cooking?

Posted by shadow kage on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 4

all i can say is... boo. i h8 the rock, he is a good wrestler, mostly for the reasons of abandoning WWE. good article, didnt read much tho cuz it was about the rock. Next time do 1 on SCSA and i might pay attention.

Posted by glide fan on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 5

I smelt what Akira was cooking up in that article and it was definately not some rudey hooty Jabroni nonsense, it smelt damn good and if any of you candy asses out there disagree then you need to get the prickly pear out of your candy ass and smell-lel-lel-lel-lel-lel ............
what Akira got ........ Cooking.
:P

P.S (sorry got excited about the prospect of the rocks return and overdid the reply, good article man :P)

Posted by Yuri on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 6

you should thank vince not dwayne the sell out jhonson
vince made the rock with out vince no rock SO THANK VINCE
rock is a has been just like mick foly and vader and hogan
and flair he turned his back on the bussiness that made him

Posted by NICK HOGAN on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 7

yes it is right Good work akira

Posted by rakash on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 8

I will agree that the Rock was a great in ring competitor :P
no I didn't read it all I am tired atm lol but I have neva liked him :P

Posted by ME on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 9

Nice article on Rocky. BUt, here is my news: I am hosting a wrestling show involving selected wrestlers that volunteered
to be heard. The show is TWG it will be on youtube. I got 28 wrestlers so far.

Posted by Rowdy D on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 10

To comment #7, That's a pretty fair comment about thanking Vince actually. But how much control does Vince have over the performance his stars give him? Following your logic we should by now have seen many many superstars that are of the same caliber, if not better, then The Rock, Foley, Vader and Hogan. While I respect your opinion and see what your saying about thanking Vince, I can't help but disagree about by how much we should be thanking Vince. So thanks Vince for giving Rock his chance but thank you Rock for being the Great One that you are.
As far as turning his back on the business that made him, man, I can't see how alot of peeps feel this way! The Rock rose to the pinnicle of the Wrestling Entertainment Industry by being the number one products number one product. When he quit he was what mid-late 30's?? Most pro-athletes are retired from there prospective sports by then anyway! Quitting while on top makes sense to me, maybe Rock has more dignity then others who flogged the poor old horse dead then dry then to dust before conceeding it was time to retire. I watched a Kevin Nash fight last week on TNA and it was just sad, Nash is obviously wracked with knee or some form of leg problems, the guy can hardly move! All I am saying is that maybe Rock saw more for himself then late night ice baths and painkiller injections just to get by.
About time we had another big name action star that can actually act anyways.
Steve Carell and The Rock Tag teamed Hulk and Ironman and kicked there Candy Jabroni asses, strike up another notch for the Great Ones belt, can you smell it?

Posted by Yuri on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 11

Neat!!!..I Totally Agree!!

Posted by ''The Supreme Casanova'' Robert Bourne on Saturday, July 05, 2008

Comment # 12

I have to both agree and disagree with you here.

I agree that The Rock had his moments, but he was at his best as a wrestler before he started wasting so much time with random stupidity and was actually wrestling. The People's Elbow was horrible and I blame it for the existence of worse moves, like The Worm. How can a move take so long that a fan can go get popcorn and then have the recovery after be attributed to the amazing conditioning of the person that was hit? It could be given for the nap they took while waiting maybe... Anyway, when his workout regime of Eyebrow Lifts and Tongue Calisthenics along with his restaurant list of pie, strudel, and whatever he happened to be cooking became more important than his matches, it was time to move on. Thankfully, he did. As an actor, he's far better than he was as a wrestler when he finally retired. He's doing the same thing he was in the wrestling ring, and he's not having to pause to throw in a match every once in a while to explain why.

Yeah, he'll be back, but hopefully it'll just be to thank the fans when he is in the Hall of Fame and then he walks away again. He's the best actor to come out of the wrestling ring, and it would be nice if he stayed that way.

Posted by Kodiac on Sunday, July 06, 2008

Comment # 13

I agree that the rock is the product of vince rocky miva is dwayne jhonsons product and who cares he should just stay away forever because jon cena whould beat the rock easly in 5 mins
flat EVERYONE SAY IT THE ROCK TURNED HIS BACK ON HIS FANS AND THE BUSSINESS THAT MADE HIM! ONE FINAL NOTE
stay away rock wrestling dont need you

Posted by nick hogan on Sunday, July 06, 2008

Comment # 14

So, you Rock haters... you'd rather everybody in wrestling stayed in wrestling until they were dead? Either from a bad accident because they're so far past their primes they can't concentrate any more... or from old age. That seems better to you? Is that why you're so critical of somebody who left the business before he was washed up? Because you WANT to see a pro wrestling business full of people past their primes? Heck, Flair left wrestling. Are we going to rip on him because he didn't keep going? Everybody in wrestling, leaves wrestling, one way or another. At the right time, before you get stale, to persue another career successfully? Doesn't seem like the worst way to me. Good article and good for Rocky. But I do disagree when you say he'll be back in the WWE, I doubt that.

Posted by Jane Ross on Sunday, July 06, 2008

Comment # 15

I never held it against the Rock that he went onto do movies instead of staying in wrestling. He has a family, he probably prefers the go onto the set for a few hours, make more than enough money to keep his family happy, and get to spend time with his kid. I mean really, would keep a job that ripped you apart all the time and turn down easier work that paid better? I think not.

Plus looks at it this way, WWE is both sports and entertainment. The Rock reached an age where retirement was smart (unlike Elway, Akemen, and Farve who staid in till all their credit died). And as far as entertainment goes, should everyone always stay where they are? Should Jennifer Love Hewwit still be in a bath tub selling barbies? (ok, dont answer that one) or Seth Green still doing little commercials? (That'd mean no Robot Chicken and great roles he went on to play either!) No. Thats the entertainment business for you. You start off on something easier to access, work hard to get as high as you can in that part and get noticed by the big dogs. Dwayne played it just right, and really I say thank him for the memories.

Posted by Dante S. Inferno on Sunday, July 06, 2008

Comment # 16

the man

Posted by mussab on Monday, July 07, 2008

Comment # 17

i love the rock! Peoples ElboWWWWWWWWW!

Posted by Surabaya on Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Comment # 18

at least ric flair didnt stop wrestling 2 shoot movies. Rock stopped and he could have had at least 1 or 2 more years in him.

Posted by glide fan on Sunday, July 13, 2008

Comment # 19

Ahaha yea I tought it was cool as well, when I found out The Rocks mother was from Samoan Royalty.

Im not gonna blame him for going on to acting instead of continuing his WWE career. I mean much more money and much less fame.

Oh and comment 7# id like to see you go to WWE and see the injuries you could risk and saying Flair turned down the buisness. He has been wrestling for over 30 freaken years dude. Everyone has to retire at some point or do we all just call them sell outs.

But I tell you what, seing 1 last match with The Rock in WWE would be great. Hell WWE would of made a smarter choice of giving The Rock that 20 mill to appear on wrestlemania instead of Floyd Mayweather.

Posted by The Dominator on Monday, July 14, 2008

Comment # 20

i love forever

Posted by andre on Saturday, August 29, 2009