The Rock debuted for WWE in 1996 as a vanilla babyface before slowly evolving into a shockingly charismatic heel. From there, he quickly became the most must-see star in the company, rivaling fellow Attitude Era star Stone Cold Steve Austin. Eventually, his stardom led to even bigger and better things, like a career in Hollywood, which he embarked on while also still periodically wrestling for WWE.
While it wasn’t necessarily a long career, The Rock certainly had a storied career, with some great highs as well as cringeworthy lows. The career achievements are pretty well known at this point, so let’s take a look at some of The Rock’s most embarrassing moments.
10 His Debut
Fans who have been smelling what The Rock is cooking for too long may have forgotten just how uncool he was when he debuted at Survivor Series 1996. Back then, he was a smiling babyface blue-chipper named Rocky Maivia with a goofy haircut and even goofier entrance gear.
Fans quickly took a dislike to the newcomer, and eventually, the arena filled with chants of “Rocky sucks” and “Die Rocky Die.” Rocky didn’t die, but would eventually turn things around with a heel turn and become a megastar.
9 His Last Match
It’s easy to forget that The Rock’s final match ever wasn’t his rematch against John Cena, but rather one against Erick Rowan -- while announcing the arena’s attendance number -- at the surprisingly weak WrestleMania 32.
The whole thing was a six-second squash -- the shortest in WrestleMania history -- with The Rock quietly retiring with an official announcement in 2019. It’s a shame that this was considered an official match, as The Rock could have Rock Bottomed Rowan without the bell ringing and with similar results.
8 The Roman Reigns Moment
In 2015, Roman Reigns might have been at the height of his controversy, as the breakup of The Shield in 2014 resulted in Reigns getting a big singles push. All of that came to a head in the finale of the 2015 Royal Rumble, where Reigns eliminated a series of heels to earn his WrestleMania title shot against WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
The crowd hated this, and booed incessantly, even as The Rock -- a nostalgic favorite at this point -- took to the ring to celebrate with his cousin and give the all-important co-sign. It’s shocking how this attempt to get the fans on Roman Reigns’ side completely backfired, and at The Rock’s expense.
7 “Cookiepuss”
Months after defeating John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock returned to WWE for the 1000th episode of Raw and found himself in a title feud with a newly heel CM Punk.
Unfortunately, The Rock found himself somewhat out of step going up against a star who became one of the hottest things in wrestling over the past year and had established himself as the company’s best talker. Rocky tried to insult Punk by trying to get the ice cream-based insult “Cookiepuss” going, but crowds failed to bite.
6 Divas Search Pie Eating Contest
If there’s anything that ages poorly in WWE, it’s stuff involving their treatment of female talent, then given the unfortunate brand of “Divas.” In the early to mid-2000s, the company conducted a talent contest called the Diva Search, which involved women competing in demeaning onscreen activities.
One such demeaning onscreen activity -- during the second Diva Search in 2004 -- involved The Rock coming out, taking part in some moderate-to-severe sexual harassment, and then hosting a sexually suggestive pie-eating contest in a segment that lasted about 20 minutes.
5 The 2011 Return Promo
In 2011, The Rock -- after a seven-year absence from WWE -- made his triumphant return to Raw and cut an absurdly long promo where he set up his rivalry with John Cena that would kick off with the finish of WrestleMania XXVII and trashed The Miz.
The embarrassing thing here, however, is that The Rock straight-up made a promise to the cheering crowd to “never, ever go away,” a promise that did not age well considering he went away two years later.
4 Promo Notes on His Wrist
On the road to WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock and John Cena exchanged loads of insults in countless promos in anticipation of their main event dream match. While fans were more enthusiastic about Rock than Cena, it was during the 2/27/2012 episode of Raw when Cena interrupted a Rock promo and pointed out that Rocky had notes for his promo written on his wrist.
It’s unclear if it was an unscripted moment or if it was just engineered to be an unscripted moment, but The Rock -- once considered one of the great talkers in pro wrestling -- didn’t look good needing to “cheat” to cut a promo.
3 Once In a Lifetime, Part Two
WWE fans were happy to see The Rock return and put John Cena in his place at WrestleMania XXVIII, as evidenced by the fact that the show was (at the time) the highest-grossing WWE PPV in history.
The promotion couldn’t help but book a sequel, but the long, convoluted road it took to get there -- Rocky winning the WWE Championship and Cena winning the 2013 Royal Rumble -- felt so contrived that it killed the buzz for a rematch.
2 Getting Injured at WrestleMania XXVIII
The Rock’s last full match was his rematch against John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII, a slow-paced bout that lacked the hype of their first match and ended fairly predictably with Cena winning the WWE Championship.
The quality of the match isn’t the worst part -- for many fans, it’s the fact that the Rock ended up tearing several tendons -- so bad that he required surgery -- despite his light wrestling schedule.
1 Booed Out Of The Building At SummerSlam 2002
In 2002, The Rock defended the WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam and -- shockingly -- lost. It was a strong main event, with Lesnar winning his first championship in the company, and the top one at that.
Despite Lesnar being the heel and Rocky being the face, the crowd vehemently booed The Rock, knowing that he was leaving the company to become a movie star. This would facilitate a fun heel turn, but it seemed like a real embarrassment for The Rock at the time.