The Rock's heel run in 2003 (a few questions)
 

Did you like the way they did it right around early 2003?

When he was a face, for years, I was dying to see him turn heel, expecting a huge drastic turn, but instead, from what I gather, it seems like it went down gradually

Now fill me in here, I wasn't watching WWE TV the day he made his return (I think it was via Titantron). Was he booed instantly, or was it really a gradual heel turn? Did he start acting heelish? Was he officially heel once Hogan was announced as his opponent for No Way Out?

DISCUSS BRAH!

He was booed kinda like Cena a few years ago. He was a face but he got booed, I'm guessing because he left WWE for acting.

His Heel run was brought on by the mixed reaction he got from WWE Fans between his summerslam 02 match and his return in feb '03 at no way out, when he defeated Hulk Hogan in a Wrestlemania X8 rematch acting as Mr. McMahon's "special representative". The Heel run was brought into full gear after this intro the next night on RAW by a battered and bruised Eric Bischoff, and proceeded to run down the crowd and cut an epic heel promo.

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He didn't get booed nearly as much or as frequently as Cena in the last year or two of his face run. He got booed every now and then (against Hogan at WM18 and Lesnar at Summerslam 2002). Cena usually gets a mixed reaction in most cities.

From what I remember of The Rock's heel turn....he just showed up on the titantron while Hogan was in the ring. He just started acting like a heel right way. Can't remember what he said but it was definitely heelish. I wish they would have had him turn in a more impactful way. Like attacking Hogan or something.

Pretty sure his heel turn started at the some sort of awards show, where he showed up on a titantron and got boo'd to hell. But the video was obviously pretaped, and he just kept going on as the face he was when he had left.

Then of course he came back and things progressed form there.

Personally, I loved his heel run from '03. He was brilliant in every aspect. The opening video leading into his titantron, his min feud with Hurricane, the promos, everything.

I prefered their No Way Out match compared to X8

Sylvyn Grenier had the huge rub, but didn't ride the wave after that

yeah, his new Hollywood TitranTron/theme was his best. It was nice and slow and less hype

I thought the opening was great for building heat, though at the time, that's the last thing the Rock needed. I wish he would've stuck around and kept the gimmick going a little longer.

We live in Toronto yay shut up!

:lol:

My God, the Rock was brilliant:'(

the rock was booed and hated far more then cena this helped fuel his epic heel run

I remember he was still a face when he accepted an award via titantron on the 10th anniversary Raw show.
That was in January 2003. During his acceptance speech he kept going on a face promo tirade. The fans started chanting boring and booing.
So that's when face Rock jumped the shark. Thankfully they capitalized on it.

:shifty:

2003 Rock was the best.

I got the impression that the Titantron appearance fueled the heel turn. As if he was "too good" to turn up in person to accept the award.

Rock was a heel from the get-go during his return in 2003. I loved the segment he had with Hulk Hogan where he played the funny face for the first part, only to spit in Hogan's face and run away like a coward at the very end.

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My favorite incarnation of The Rock, personally.

A message to John Cena: THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD ACT AS A HEEL!

Cena is face

I know I meant if he ever turned heel

the promos that the rock cut during his 2003 run are light years beyond anything that anybody else has ever done. as an entertainer he was truly in a league of his own at that point.

...The Rock's 2003 heel turn was gradual...

...here's the first time he appeared on the Titantron:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9hU1Jmkm94

(Embedding disabled)

There some fans were booing him, but overall, they didn't know what to make of him.

Then little by little he started to confront the fans and make it obvious he was going heel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sLBI...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFdoM...eature=related

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Correct that's exactly what happened. The WWE thought everyone still loved him but when his video was played at that awards show he was booed mercilessly by everyone presumably for leaving wrestling, it was awesome. So the WWE still having some sense back then jumped on the idea and ran with it creating the whole "I'm to good for wrestling now that I'm in Hollywood" persona.

That might be one of the best promos ever. He basically gives the fans the choice on whether to fully turn him or not, then when they do h makes fun of them for chanting along to his catchphrase and admonishes them fr it saying that now that he's a heel they can't do that. Brilliant

Do people consider that tron promo to be a face promo? WOW.

That wasn't the promo I was talking about in my earlier post. The tron promo I'm talking about was pre taped and played for Raw's X anniversary special awards show. He came on, cut a promo as face, and got boo'd to hell.

I can't seem to find the damn video I'm talking about on youtube, but I swear that's where it started with the booing.

Ah. OK.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5w...-part-3_people

Can't find just the speech but it's here at the 10 minute mark.