The Rock "retiring" at age 30 from wrestling

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

He basically finished his full time run at the age of 30 and that's when he started to appear less and less. At 30 he was still in his physical prime and could of gone a lot longer. Could he have done more if acting didn't come into play? It's crazy to think you can retire a legend in wrestling at 30 when back in the day some guys didn't even get a push until they were around that age.

[Deleted]

Honestly I don't really know where Rock would have gone if, say, after Scorpion King the offers dried up and he stuck around full-time. Honestly even a decent ways before he left he was feeling out of place and like something of a hangover from days gone by. I have a hard time picturing Rock being one of the filler bodies in the Elimination Chamber alongside Kane and Booker T or something.

[Aboutreika18]

Aug 18, 2016 13:42:44 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Honestly I don't really know where Rock would have gone if, say, after Scorpion King the offers dried up and he stuck around full-time. Honestly even a decent ways before he left he was feeling out of place and like something of a hangover from days gone by. I have a hard time picturing Rock being one of the filler bodies in the Elimination Chamber alongside Kane and Booker T or something.

I dunno, he did well towards the end of his first run in filler midcard angles like with Hurricane and helping Foley take on Evolution.

And Cena probably would've ran through him during his first title reign in a similar manner to his wins over Angle and Jericho, in WWE's ill-fated attempts to get the crowd on Cena's side.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

I'm sure he would've been used to put Cena and/or Orton over sometime in 04 or 05 when they were trying to elevate them both up to main event status. Hard to think he was done full time at such a young age. I guess the combination of starting fairly young and being on top for a good chunk of time make it deceiving that he was only around regular basis for about 6 years. Ultimate Warrior is the only other top guy that I can think of that had a shorter full time run in the company.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

He went when he needed to go. And he would not be the legend he is now without the crossover appeal he got from getting into movies I think.

[SAJ Forth]

Aug 18, 2016 13:42:44 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Honestly I don't really know where Rock would have gone if, say, after Scorpion King the offers dried up and he stuck around full-time. Honestly even a decent ways before he left he was feeling out of place and like something of a hangover from days gone by. I have a hard time picturing Rock being one of the filler bodies in the Elimination Chamber alongside Kane and Booker T or something.

I do agree. I think he needed to go to movies. I just don't see him in 2006 having the same impact.

[Renslayer]

It's really amazing when you think about the WWE roster in 2002. They had so much depth at Mania time, and once the Fall hit, almost all the big names were gone.

As for Rock, he left at the right time. HHH & Undertaker weren't in his class and he had accomplished everything at that point. Better to protect your health & take on new challenges instead of being stuck on Raw in 2002.

[thecrusherwi]

It's weird just how stale The Rock felt in 2002. He had really only been that character for a little over 4 years at that point and yet it felt like he had been completely exhausted. I don't quite understand why even though I felt it when it was happening.

[Gerard Gerard]

It's pretty amazing that a wrestler can make themselves a legend in 5 years. Even more so when their run on top was around 2 and a half.

[01010010 01101001 01100011]

You know how people talk about Orton now, just drifting about aimlessly for what seems like years? Yeah, that would have been Rock by 2003.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Aug 18, 2016 17:32:24 GMT -5 01010010 01101001 01100011 said:

You know how people talk about Orton now, just drifting about aimlessly for what seems like years? Yeah, that would have been Rock by 2003.

I can agree with that. Crazy to think yo can be a legend in 5 years and can retire on that 

[Injustice45]

The Rock was appearing less and less throughout 2002. I'm not sure on picturing Rocky on the full-time roster in 2003, but it wouldn't be great. Stone Cold felt just as out of place as he did in 2002. I think the simple question is "What else could he do?"

[Mid-Carder]

The shortness of Rock's career has helped him. He's never really outstayed his welcome in any of his returns and it gives him a better legacy.

[repomark]

After Rock lost at Summerslam 02 to Brock an left to do another movie. The crowd had already been turning on him slightly for various reasons - e.g. Hogan nostalgia at WM18 or wanting someone new vs Brock. For a portion of the audience, Rock leaving to make another movie was the final straw.

So when Rock came back in 2003, they completely ran with it and Hollywood Rock was born. His heel work for those three months was some of his finest ever work, and more than addressed any perception he was going stale by completely reinvigorating the character. I would have liked to have seen how the character would have played out had he not "retired" shortly thereafter.

I never felt the Rock was out of place, and he would have continued on top in one guise or another had he not gone off to make movies. Don't forget in his final 2003 "full time" run his last three ppv matches were Hogan, Austin's last match and Goldberg's WWE debut. He was still very much on top when he left.

[Cvslfc123]

It's even crazier to think his last year when he was wrestling the entire time was 2000, the peak of his popularity.

[Mozenrath]

I recall Rock saying in an interview that it wasn't just acting, he left due to not wanting to get seriously injured. I could totally be remembering wrong, though, but that makes sense. He's certainly safer nowadays, I imagine, than if he had not hung up his boots.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Aug 19, 2016 3:43:36 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I recall Rock saying in an interview that it wasn't just acting, he left due to not wanting to get seriously injured. I could totally be remembering wrong, though, but that makes sense. He's certainly safer nowadays, I imagine, than if he had not hung up his boots.

I can see that. Him and Jericho are guys I think of who didn't have a "serious" injury that took them out for extended periods of time

[Surfer Sandman]

Aug 19, 2016 1:15:25 GMT -5 Mid-Carder said:

The shortness of Rock's career has helped him. He's never really outstayed his welcome in any of his returns and it gives him a better legacy.

I don't know.

It seems like every time the Rock returns, the IWC puts on war paint. 

[suave]

The Rock getting JBL's push would be interesting to say the least

[lebuddha]

I just remember buying tickets in June 2002 for Unforgiven that would be 3 months later. Stone Cold, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Shawn Michaels were all on the roster.

And by September they were all gone again.