History Awesome / DwayneJohnson

* From late 1999 to early 2000, Wrestling/TripleH had pretty much been dominating the WWF Championship, and with his then-{{kayfabe}} marriage to Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon at the end of 1999, was pretty much running everything (Wrestling/VinceMcMahon "left" the stage after ''Armaggeddon 1999''; he wouldn't return until a few weeks before ''[=WrestleMania=] 2000''). Any and all of the major WWF superstars, from Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin to Wrestling/TheBigShow to Mick Foley were beaten and done away with. A month before ''[=WrestleMania=] 2000'' at ''Wrestling/{{No Way Out|Wrestling}}'', he retired Mick and the returning Vince screwed The Rock out of the title at the biggest match-up of the year. Finally, at ''Wrestling/{{Backlash}}'' in April 2000, Vince did EVERYTHING he could to keep The Rock from winning the belt back. Nevertheless, with a lot of tenacity and a little bit of help from an Austin cameo, The Rock overcame everything to FINALLY get the belt off Triple H, in what was The Rock's first championship reign as a {{face}}. With Austin being sidelined due to a kayfabe hit and run (he was getting a RealLife neck surgery), The Rock was ascended to become the "hero" of the company.

* Actually ''beating'' John Cena CLEANLY at [=WrestleMania=] 28 after an entire year of promos and anticipation. [[spoiler:John Cena, being John Cena, eventually no-sold that one via storyline, too, but Cena's efforts have been widely seen as revisionist history outside of Cena's own fandom.]]

* "Smackdown", a word he (allegedly) came up with all on his own, is in both the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary]] and Miriam-Webster's Dictionary. Just let that sink in...

* "Smackdown", a word he (allegedly) came up with all on his own, is in both the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary]] and Miriam-Webster's Dictionary. Just let that sink in...

* "Smackdown", a word he came up with all on his own, is in both the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary]] and Miriam-Webster's Dictionary. Just let that sink in...

** In many ways, the entire "Rock and Sock Connection" storyline not only served as a [[CrowningMomentofAwesome CMoA]] for both men, but its heartbreaking ending when they lost the tag titles was a greater [[CrowningMomentofAwesome CMoA]] in itself, for Mankind's betrayal of the Rock and his leaving the ring served to change The Rock from a self-righteous character into the true People's Champion.

* His ladder match with Wrestling/TripleH at SummerSlam 1998 for the Intercontinental Title. At Wrestling/WrestleMania XIV, Rock was wrestling in the midcard for the Intercontinental belt, and Triple H was in Shawn Michaels's corner during the main event. This 26 minute match helped change the way ladder matches were fought and catapulted both men to the main event. Rock got his chance at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries'', and Triple H's time came at [=WrestleMania=] XV. This also shows just how much the IC title was worth in those days.

* "Smackdown", a word he came up with all on his own is in both the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary]] and Miriam-Webster's Dictionary. Just let that sink in...

** And not just a moderate success, either. In 2016, he was literally [[http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rock-highest-paid-actor-2016-8 the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.]]

* Is the only man to beat HulkHogan, StoneColdSteveAustin, and JohnCena at Wrestlemania.