Heel Rock: Is Dwayne Johnson’s WWE Heel Run Really Working?
When The Rock returned to WWE earlier this year to stake his claim, technically, to become the “Head of the Table,” fans loved it. We loved the idea of possibly seeing The Rock take on his cousin, the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion, Roman Reigns. After all, the whole “Tribal Chief” thing was only formed as a nickname to set up for an eventual match between the two. However, plans changed a bit for Reigns and his path took a sharp turn. Fast-forward to the week of WrestleMania 40, and instead of Rock/Reigns, we have them as a team. A Heel Rock has emerged once again, but we must ask…is it working?
Is this heel Rock side actually doing anything positive for WWE? While Dwayne Johnson might tell the fans that they sold out television tapings, tout higher ratings, and claim all major numbers are up…is he the reason for this? Obviously, the heel Rock on television is going to take all the credit. He’s a bad guy, it’s what they do. However, it seems that WWE is struggling to know what to do with the man.
They want him to be known as the “Final Boss,” but of what? He claims he’ll make the WWE World Heavyweight Championship disappear and has threatened jobs, but he has no such authority. Triple H has even come out on television to shoot down Rock’s nonsense. Rock then responded by basically taking a shot at The Game, a man who he knows cannot wrestle him. Making any sort of confrontation meaningless between the two, and a major reason potentially for why they have not crossed paths since the WrestleMania XL Press Conference.
We have a character that seems directionless, but it does not have to be this way.
HEEL ROCK IS A PROBLEMATIC ANTI-HERO, NOT A BAD GUY
One could argue that The Rock has often been at his best as a heel. He’s clearly an entertaining person, which is why Heel Rock is usually great. The thing is, that version of The Rock cannot work in the present day. We want him to be the bad guy, so if he is too fun and entertaining, he’ll become too likable, thereby killing his villain status.
It seems that Dwayne is playing this version of Rock like he played the Black Adam character. For those who don’t know, this movie flopped. While it has an interesting story and premise, a large issue with the film is Johnson’s character. They wanted him to be an anti-hero, which can work very well. Characters like Deadpool and Wolverine, even the Incredible Hulk, have been anti-heroes in the past. Yet if you remember, these characters worked very well in comics and in films.
Why? Because they were given something useful. Whether it was a hilarious comedic factor, a cool factor, or just being a lot of fun to watch…they work because they find a way to connect. Black Adam had some cool parts about him, but he was not funny, seemed to get in his own way, and they even had to convolute some things to make sense of the movie. They tried to do too much, rather than make us care about him and what he could do.
The same is happening here. They are trying to make Heel Rock the same entertaining heel he was in the early 2000s, but that is a completely different guy. The characters are not the same, and they are trying to do far too much, far too soon with him.
WORLD-BUILDING WOES:
Johnson was attempting to launch a new DC Universe off of Black Adam’s back. Warner Bros. Discovery decided against this, but that was the idea. Therefore, the whole movie was not meant to be about making a Black Adam movie. It was meant to be the start of a much larger project. The world-building problems there are now coming to WWE.
Dwayne is now playing a “Heel” Rock, a bad guy, a villain who does not care about fans or what they feel.
Yet he’s in Memphis telling people he loves them there. He might attack the crowd in Phoenix, and he might tell the crowd to be quiet whenever Roman Reigns is around. The fans are willing to boo Roman, even if they like seeing him because fans agree he’s supposed to be the villain here. However, the fans refuse to boo The Rock too much.
Why? He’s still trying to be “The Rock.” He’s still trying to be the same guy we all grew up loving to watch and listen to.
The issue is that he’s supposed to be this “Final Boss” authority figure. An authority figure who has yet to use any authoritative power, nor even attempt to do so. He’s also trapped being this Final Boss character while also having to bend the knee to Roman Reigns as his Tribal Chief. Basically, Roman has the top hierarchy here. If anyone is going to act authoritatively, it’s him.
Rock cannot go over his head, so WWE put themselves in a no-win situation here. They are trying to build a world in which Rock is the Final Boss, yet he does nothing to to make sense of this. Therefore, what’s the point of the name? Is he a “Boss” or not?
HEEL ROCK DOES NOT REALIZE HE’S A HEEL
On television, Dwayne Johnson is switching back and forth between being the beloved Rock and Final Boss. When it comes to the action side of things, he’s a total heel without question. We are seeing how good he is as a villain when he’s beating Cody down. During the action, we’re getting a vicious heel Rock similar to the Corporate Rock of the Attitude Era. That was the guy who decided to smash Mick Foley in the head with a chair countless times.
That version of Rock works perfectly here.
However, when he’s on the microphone, he is not the Corporate Rock. He’s basically the lovable Hollywood Rock that did not mind cracking jokes on anyone. Some of the jokes were childish, which he has had to evolve out of in recent years. Rock is also trapped in this mindset of wanting love from fans while also trying to get them to boo him.
When he went out in front of the crowd in Memphis, the dude had some sort of lovefest with them. It was a moment where we were thinking…what the heck is this?
Also, why is he the one making announcements about crowds, television taping sellouts, or the largest gate in RAW history? One could say that he’ll just take credit for it, which makes sense because a heel Rock would do that. Yet he’s still the villain. Somehow wanting to hear the crowd’s positive reactions toward him, but still wants to “act” like a heel.
The only time he seems to get into heel mode directly is when he has someone opposite to force that. This is an issue, and even then we do not know what this character is supposed to be.
HE IS NOT GETTING ANY BACKLASH FROM BABYFACES
While Heel Rock is getting an earful from people like Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes, it directly involves personal things or their upcoming match(es). When it comes to things like Rock announcing stuff to take credit for it, or when Rock makes the claim the Bloodline are the ones making wrestling cool again. You’d think that someone would say, wait a minute, this is nonsense.
In fact, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins might be the people who can stake a claim more than most here.
Not only are they on television weekly, but they’re also at live events, doing press/media, and so much more. The Rock and Roman Reigns have barely been around. Heck, Rock has been around more in 2024 than Roman Reigns has most of 2023. Yet even that is just television appearances since February on a regular basis. If anything, Rhodes and Rollins have been the ones making this “cool” again.
If anything, they are the two big names behind the sellouts, especially the ones neither Rock or Roman have been on.
They can fight back heavily against the claims, yet none of them are doing so. They’ve pushed against the “Final Boss” nickname or they went after Rock as a person, especially Cody. However, they are not fighting against the very things that matter here, the numbers.
Rock is using these numbers to justify his character, which is flimsy in a major way. This very well could be why WWE has tried to give him so much here without the babyfaces targeting him.
UNEARNED PROTECTION:
In one of Cody’s best promos leading up to WrestleMania, he claimed: “You should respect Seth Rollins because he helps to carry YOUR company.”
Cody is trying to make the claim that Rock owns or controls WWE in some form…when Rock simply doesn’t.
Everything about his character is being protected when it honestly hasn’t earned that in the eyes of fans. Seriously, what makes him a Final Boss? Where is his authority being used? What has this heel Rock done to earn both the name itself and everything that comes with that? Yes, Dwayne Johnson is a legitimate member of the TKO Group Board of Directors. That might be true, but anyone who understands how corporate structures work can tell you this does not mean much.
He is a member that holds a vote and has a say in TKO’s business. However, he is one of many people. He cannot just make random decisions on his own or even try to use his power to make matches, affect championships, etc.
If WWE had him doing this, that would be different, but they have not. Why? Because they know fans are not ignorant and understand they won’t buy Rock holding so much power.
HEEL ROCK IS THEREFORE AN IRONIC CHARACTER
As referenced, Heel Rock is fun and entertaining. Dwayne is going back and forth between his Corporate Rock persona and the Hollywood Rock character. He’s also showing up a lot for live crowds. We cannot blame fans for not booing him due to this, because he is still one of the biggest stars on planet Earth.
To get boos, he can use cheap heat tactics. Basically, he can run down the city and the people in it. However, he cannot make things too entertaining. When he does this, he is ruining the heel side. He could have said the random fact about Phoenix being a lead area for crack cocaine and left it at that, but instead, he made jokes using this knowledge. A Heel Rock cannot be the Hollywood Rock of the past, then try to be Corporate Rock after.
This is especially true heading into such an event as WrestleMania.
His “Final Boss” character does not make any sense. As of this moment, it has just been a name. He has threatened stuff related to this side of things and claimed to be the boss of the wrestlers, but that’s it. He has not tried to do anything that would live out his threats. Which is why his character is so ironic.
He is supposed to be some sort of Final Boss when he actually holds no real power. WWE could have made this a bigger part of the WrestleMania storyline. Yet they have allowed things to just happen, without any sort of defense. It’s as if they are letting Rock say whatever he wants, without any real plan behind a lot of it.
To us, this is why the heel Rock character is failing.
