The following letters are in response to Friday's Powell's Blog: Should Rock feel obligated to give back to WWE?

There are just two things I wanted to say about The Rock. First of all, I’m not a big wrestling DVD buyer but I will but the WrestleMania DVD if it has the unedited speeches from the HOF ceremony because I read the Rock was up there for an hour doing his thing. Any wrestler who thinks he should have been up there solely to induct his family is nuts. I was pumped up watching him roast those wrestlers for 10 minutes on TV and I would love to see the 60-minute unedited version.

It would’ve been a huge letdown if all he did was make a speech about his family. He did what his fans wanted, whether it was written by him or not. The only thing any wrestler should be upset about is that watching him do his catchphrases and electrify the crowd just spotlights the fact that their isn’t any current wrestler as entertaining.

Secondly, I would love to see the Rock come back and wrestle but anybody who looks down at him for not coming back as often is also nuts. I don’t see much difference between this and the recent George Clooney/"E.R." situation. Next year is "E.R.’s" last season and producers want all original cast members back for an appearance and George politely said no thanks. The Rock and George Clooney both got their start on TV shows, left, and went on to become huge movie stars. Even though we don’t get to watch them every week on TV, we’ll have to just enjoy one or two movies each year.
 
Alan Powell
Cambridge, Ontario

Powell replies: Nice analogy, Alan. I bet George would come back if they held a "Facts of Life" reunion special. OK, maybe not. As for the DVD, WWE will release the Hall of Fame ceremony and WrestleMania 24 on separate DVDs. I'm with you when it comes to not being a regular wrestling-related DVD buyer, but I'll go out of my way to pick up the HOF DVD. I think that could be a really hot seller for WWE this year with Flair and Rock delivering a combined three hours of material, assuming WWE doesn't edit their comments.

***

It isn't like Brock Lesnar and the UFC, where his short WWE fame simply got people talking, and now he's in another sport. The Rock's whole selling point as an actor is that he's The Rock. No one says, "Hey, there's Dwayne Johnson from Doom." They say, "Hey, it's The Rock from pro wrestling."

The Rock is one of the most beloved and famous wrestlers in history. You would think he would make an extra appearance or two, and still allow wrestling fans to get a sense that he's still one of them. It isn't just the WWE who made him a star, but the fans as well. And it isn't just WWE officials who the Rock should be thanking, but wrestling fans as well.
 
It's ridiculous to think that we're lucky the Rock doesn't bash wrestling. If he did, he'd be insulting himself because no matter how many movies he does, he's The Rock first, and Dwayne Johnson second, to most of his fans.

Jason

Powell replies: This isn't a question of whether Rock is grateful to WWE or wrestling fans. He clearly is. The previous reader mentioned George Clooney and "E.R." If you're a fan of that show, you might think it would be cool if Clooney returned during the final season. You might even think he's a jerk for not returning. But he's not obligated to return, nor is Rock obligated to answer the call every time WWE wants him to make an appearance. They launched his career, but that doesn't make him a slave to their demands. He made the company millions and continues to speak highly of his experience.

Rock is clearly grateful to the company and the fans or he would not have appeared at the Hall of Fame. I don't think we're lucky that Rock doesn't bash wrestling. I think WWE is lucky Rock didn't badmouth WWE because he could have turned on them after the Benoit family tragedy, especially if he wanted to distance himself from pro wrestling once and for all. Let's face it, he wouldn't be the first wrestler to say negative things about the company. Plus, there are ways to rip the company without actually ripping the business, the wrestlers, or the fans.

***

I completely agree with the statements you make in any other type of job experience. However, you should know wrestling is an entirely different breed of cat. First and foremost, they need the legitimacy a huge star, like Rock has become, that used to be one of their own can give them. We all know that wrestling is very low on mainstream respect, they do, too. So when one of the boys finally makes it big time in Hollywood thanks to his wrestling career, the least he could do is throw them a bone or two, you know.



Second, I would say that, without his "The Rock" character, his road to Hollywood would have been, well...different, perhaps even impossible. If only for the fact that his first movie parts were mainly adaptations of his Rock character, whether it was in wit or in the kick-ass, take names approach, so The Rock has played a very large part in his current success. So for Hollywood advisors to ask him to step away from wrestling is hypocritical as it was his wrestling persona that attracted them in the first place.



The occasional "I love this business" just doesn't cut it anymore. He now has channels through which he could inform people, people that matter, about the business, and at least try to get them to appreciate the fact that it's big business, and that every other company that does similar figures, in ratings as well as revenue, at least gets respected for that fact alone, with the accompanying media coverage, so why not wrestling? Wrestling is a business just like Hollywood. It might fall on deaf ears, but hey, at least he would have tried.



Okay he hasn't turned against them, but, a little more effort would become him. Not to say he hasn't been classy in many of his interviews when wrestling is brought up, but as you wrote, sometimes it sounded a bit forced. Taking that extra step would make him the wrestling ambassador that is needed to get that same respect they (the mainstream media/Hollywood) are willing to give to him.

Should he feel any obligation? No, but the way I see it, if he truly loves wrestling as much as he claims, it would have been natural to continue to promote wrestling and try to get the business some respect. If he feels any form of obligation than one must strongly consider if the love is still there. If not, no problem, but just don’t feed me a line you think I want to hear. A true class act wouldn’t have thought about it twice, it would have been second nature.

Gerald Jordan

Powell replies: First, Rock just gave them roughly 90 minutes of material at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. If that's not throwing the company a bone, then I don't know what is. Second, the advisers are doing what they feel is best for their client. It's easy to understand where they're coming from given the Benoit family tragedy, the steroid controversy, and the company's sometimes questionable content. And as one industry source told me, Rock blowing off the advice of people he pays to help guide him through his career would be similar to a client blowing off his lawyer's advice.

And I certainly understand why WWE wants Rock to appear on their shows. Again, though, this is the same company that let his contract expire and didn't even give him the courtesy of contacting him before they did so to tell him what was coming. They claim it was a clerical error. If so, it's likely the biggest clerical error in the history of the company and the person responsible should have been fired on the spot.

I think Rock gives the company credibility or legitimacy with his success regardless of whether he appears on their television shows. Everyone knows where he came from, and his success is good for WWE, it's film division, and the wrestlers who are interested in following in his footsteps.

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