Jingus Posted August 6, 2015 Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 They might pretend like the split reactions are all part of the plan, but I doubt it. I think the office is just resigned to the fact that they can't make everyone cheer their top merch-seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted August 6, 2015 Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 The company resigning to that fact and Cena actively engaging it in his promos are not mutually exclusive. Cena has been pretty good at explicitly speaking to both audiences simultaniously, especially over the past 3 years or so. It is a lot easier for him to do with opponents like Punk, Dragon, and Owens of course, but I think he has generally been pretty good at prodding half the audience and popping the other with the same promo and doing it with prett clear intent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Whoever said Hogan was carried by Rock in that match -- I'd say it was the opposite. Hogan totally showed him up and turned the crowd on him. That was Hulk's match all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 The crowd was already on Hogan's side from the instant that his music hit. He didn't have to do anything to get them to cheer him, they were already doing it. Rock quickly recognized what was going on and heeled out (which was interesting, cuz he'd been a babyface for the past three years straight). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Actually, the story goes that Rock didn't realize that Hogan had upstaged him until after the match was over, so at No Way Out 2003, he didn't let it happen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I don't buy that at all. (Well, the No Way Out match part maybe, that one wasn't very good.) But Rock obviously figured out in a real hurry that he wasn't the babyface at Mania, he changed his entire shtick to go full heel and let Hogan act as the face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Pat Patterson laid out the match ahead of time. I'm not referring to Rock picking up on that he was being booed, but rather picking up on that Hogan made himself look like ten times the star. The match was not about Rock, it was about Hulk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Pat Patterson laid out the match ahead of time.And you think they followed the script 100% with no improvising? I doubt even Patterson would've realized just how over Hogan would be with that crowd. I can't see the office specifically laying out the match with the deliberate intention of making Rocky look like the heel, when he was the biggest babyface the company had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 hogan being as over as he was had little to do with the match itself, i would argue. it was more about being in the right place at the right time. Â to be more specific: toronto was arguably the biggest market for hulkamania WWF outside of the traditional east-coast base. they got WM6, the big event, stacked house shows, etc. lots of fond memories of the hulkster in that building. furthermore, this was right at the time when 80s nostalgia was just starting to become a hot trend - i believe VH1 had come out with I Love the 80s around this time, among many other things. just a perfect storm of conditions for hogan to get the reaction he did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Rock came across, even in winning, as a far lesser star. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Again, I am not talking about Rock knowing Hogan was the more cheered guy. I think anyone could have predicted that. Austin faced Rock at WM X-7 and Austin was the favored guy, but Rock was his equal. Rock faced Hogan and Hogan outclassed him so much in terms of commanding the crowd that Rock looked like the lesser star of the two. The lesser star. Not the heel. The lesser star. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 also i just remembered another issue: IIRC, rock was starting to be seen as a ~sellout~ by a chunk of the fanbase because he was doing movies and actually having success there. that probably played some role as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Again, I am not talking about Rock knowing Hogan was the more cheered guy. I think anyone could have predicted that. Austin faced Rock at WM X-7 and Austin was the favored guy, but Rock was his equal. Rock faced Hogan and Hogan outclassed him so much in terms of commanding the crowd that Rock looked like the lesser star of the two. The lesser star. Not the heel. The lesser star. Eh maybe but this was Hogan's return match for WWE after nearly a decade of being away. The Rock was always going to be old shoes in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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