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Rock going off script on Monday's RAW


RCS1988

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I don't like fans trying to get themselves over, even though I think in this case they were just trying to have a good time more than anything and managed to get over in doing so. But I also don't like the company taking action to shut it down, even when it is intentional. It's annoying sometimes, but let it be annoying. Vince likes to go on and on about how much he supports free speech.

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The fans have every right to do whatever the hell they want, as long as they're not jumping the barrier and literally trying to be part of the show. Who gives a shit if they do smarky chants or whatever? They're the ones who paid money to be there.

 

Meanwhile, I've got zero sympathy for the WWE on this. Their modern attitude is the worst kind of hypocrisy, insisting that We Always Listen To What The Fans Want while usually doing the exact opposite of that and intentionally refusing to give the fans what they want. They're still trying to act like it's a carny kayfabe world, and the simple truth is that world is dead and gone.

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As always, Rock came back for a week and looked like a bigger star than anyone on the roster thanks to his charisma. Part of that comes from being able to ad lib and have his own distinctive voice. I can understand why, in WWE logic, they wouldn't want him to encourage fans to draw attention to themselves to the detriment of the show but how many other people on the roster would be able to even handle that situation comfortably? John Cena probably but that's about it. Obviously they aren't going to learn any lessons from this but I thought Rock acknowledging those guys was a nice touch and another small reminder of how much more fun it can be when everything isn't so damn regimented.

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I suspect at least part of Xavier's promo was off script too, as he was able to respond specifically to a lot of things Rock said. Much to his credit, he didn't look out of place at all out there doing a dueling promo with Rock. In 2011, that was the feeling much of the time and this time it wasn't. They have something special with Woods, although I worry about him when New Day runs its course and Creative gets bored with coming up with stuff for them.

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I was there live and when Rock addressed those guys it ended up reverting the attention back to the show. During Kane-Bray and the start of Rock's promo the fans were chanting "Randy Savage" the entire time. The fans in question got moved to the opposite side of the hard cam which caused an uproar at first because people thought they were being ejected. Rock going off script to address them ended that spell and there was only one very minor, maybe three seconds long, "Randy Savage" chant the rest of the show. The Rock knew that bringing those guys into the segment would eventually end their involvement in the show. That's because he knows what he's doing unlike the rest of the roster when similar situations occur.

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I suspect at least part of Xavier's promo was off script too, as he was able to respond specifically to a lot of things Rock said. Much to his credit, he didn't look out of place at all out there doing a dueling promo with Rock. In 2011, that was the feeling much of the time and this time it wasn't. They have something special with Woods, although I worry about him when New Day runs its course and Creative gets bored with coming up with stuff for them.

 

Xavier is a great personality. It comes across in his video game channel on YouTube too. He would be perfect as a corner man for Big E if he gets a singles push and/or a Heenan type where babyfaces fight through his goons to get to him. In fact, there's about two years of angles there with him being Big E's manager and then turning on him to do the heel manager routine against him.

 

I wonder if this segment actual leads to them doing something with Rock at Mania. That would be a hell of a sign of faith from the company that they actually see them as serious stars.

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I can kind of piece together what happened, but not with much help from this thread. What exactly went down? Guys dressed up and the bored crowd was paying attention to them? What did The Rock say?

 

Yeah, the crowd were chanting for these guys (dressed as Savage, Hogan, Taker and Rock I believe) so WWE moved them off the hard camera side of the arena. When the chants persisted during Rock's promo, he said that he was going off script and went out and bantered with them a bit before getting back in the ring and continuing where he left off. It would be no big deal other than for the fact that the company are complete control freaks who hate entertainment.

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The fans are just celebrating their fandom. Seems incredibly stupid for WWE to take offense to that stuff.

 

They never miss an opportunity to romanticize the Attitude Era, how over everyone was, and how hot the crowds were - but a crucial piece of that puzzle was allowing the fans to express themselves (the signs, the chants) and more importantly - the INTERACTIONS.

 

I know the catchphrases and sing-along style promos reached a point of overkill eventually, but early on? The fans were eating that stuff up.

And it's practically come full circle. Some of these fans are BEGGING for interaction. They want to be included. They want to be involved with the show.

 

When they're outright ignored or bored to tears, then yeah. They "hijack" or cook up chants to entertain themselves. Why not cut it off at the pass and address it head-on?

 

That's all Rocky was doing. The guy's a pro. He's from a time, a place, and an era that EMBRACED that stuff. There's a reason those guys were so over. They weren't standing in the ring, reciting monotonous dialogue for twenty minutes.

 

Rocky's got a lot on his plate. I could easily see him rolling his eyes at this and just being passive aggressive enough to let WWE know they can fuck off if they expect him to "dial it back" whenever he shows up to give them a rub.

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