The Rock: The 10 Defining Moments of The People’s Champion

9. Joining the Nation

After 7 months of being the smiling babyface among loud boos Rocky went away with an injury only to come back and doing the best possible thing, he turned heel. Aligning himself with the Nation of Domination and firing back at the fans this was the first time we saw some true personality from him. It would be here that he would begin the transformation from Rocky Miava to The Rock.

In the following months he would become Intercontinetal champion and would lay the foundation for his feud with Steve Austin.

8. If You Smell What The Rock Is Cooking

While a random backstage skit doesn’t seem that important on paper. A much more subtle version of the 316 promo in that it gave birth to the Rock’s best catchphrase. Giving a interview as if he was running for president prior to his title defence against Ken Shamrock this was the first time he would use the phrase “If you smell what I’m cooking”.

While he used other catchphrases he’d used before in the interview this is probably out of all his catchphrases the one most synonymous with The Rock. It’s the line that closed every promo and became part of his entrance music. When you think of the Rock that line along with the eyebrow are what immediately come to mind.

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