Awesome / Dwayne Johnson

• For a year, Rocky Maivia was massively pushed as a babyface. However, the fan reaction was very negative to the point he was seen as a Creator's Pet. Rocky returns after an injury and turns heel, joining the black supremacist group The Nation of Domination. Rocky opens his Face–Heel Turn promo with this.
  "Die, Rocky, Die." That's the gratitude I get from you pieces of crap? For all my blood, my sweat and my tears?!
• His ladder match with Triple H at SummerSlam 1998 for the Intercontinental Title. At 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 Survivor Series, and Triple H's time came at WrestleMania XV. This also shows just how much the IC title was worth in those days.
• Anytime he and Mick Foley team up, it's going to be a Crowning Moment of Awesome. Their first team-up against Undertaker and the Big Show where they pulled off a double People's Elbow certainly counts as one.
  • In many ways, the entire "Rock and Sock Connection" storyline not only served as a CMoA for both men, but its heartbreaking ending when they lost the tag titles was a greater 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.
• From late 1999 to early 2000, Triple H had pretty much been dominating the WWF Championship, and with his then-kayfabe marriage to Stephanie McMahon at the end of 1999, was pretty much running everything (Vince McMahon "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 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to The Big Show to Mick Foley were beaten and done away with. A month before WrestleMania 2000 at No Way Out, he retired Mick and the returning Vince screwed The Rock out of the title at the biggest match-up of the year. Finally, at 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 Real Life neck surgery), The Rock was ascended to become the "hero" of the company.
• Though he got screwed out of the title (by Vince again, no less), his match with Stone Cold at WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 was considered their best in their long-running rivalry.
• His match against Hulk Hogan in the "Icon vs Icon" at WrestleMania X8 in 2002 will no doubt go down as a classic.
  • It's a shame that some people wanted the title match to close out Wrestlemania, and not that match.
• During his four-month kayfabe suspension imposed by Vince after WrestleMania X7 (Johnson was busy filming The Scorpion King), the InVasion storyline was in full swing, with Vince running the WWF, and Austin as the crown jewel of Shane McMahon and Stephanie's WCW/ECW Alliance (Austin having made a Face–Heel Turn by defecting to the Alliance). Vince lifts The Rock's suspension, but he knew this doesn't necessarily mean he'll return to the WWF. Who will the Rock join? Shane and Vince each make their case: the former establishes precedence of Vince screwing The Rock over and over again via WrestleMania, while the latter gives a truthful response, coming from "the devil that you [The Rock] know, as compared to the devils you don't [Shane and Stephanie]". Ultimately, Vince demands The Rock gives the people what they want: he plants Vince with the Rock Bottom. All seems doomed until Rock shakes Shane's hand and pulls him into a Rock Bottom, followed by the People's Elbow. The Rock gets on the mic, having not said a single word up until that point, and announces where his loyalty lies:
  The Rock: "FINALLY, THE ROCK HAS COME BACK... to the WWF..."
  • Near the end of the storyline, The Rock joined Austin in the ring, the first they'd done since WrestleMania X7. Both are the top stars of their respective factions, the world champions of each others' factions, with an ocean of bad blood between them. What do they do? Sing a duet of "Margaritaville". To end the promo, The Rock gave him a Rock Bottom.
• Valentine's Day, 2011: The Rock is revealed as the host of WrestleMania XXVII, getting a pop louder than any other pop in years. He proceeds to bash Michael Cole, mock John Cena, and completely tear down the PG image today's WWE has been building. And it. Was. GLORIOUS.
  The Rock: After seven...long...years...finally...FINALLY, THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO ANAHEIM! Which means, FINALLY THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW! Which means, FINALLY, THE ROCK HAS COME BACK...home.
• His appearance on the May 2, 2011 episode of RAW. Not only did he electrify the arena, he gave Cole a well-deserved verbal and then physical beat down.
• On the November 14, 2011 episode of RAW, he managed to get "Boots To Asses" and "Cena's Lady Parts" to trend on Twitter solely because he said they would. Talk about Popularity Power.
• Survivor Series 2011, where he teamed with John Cena to defeat The Miz and R-Truth, and as a result, managed to get the Madison Square Garden fans to blow the roof off of the joint. Capping the night off with hitting Cena with a Rock Bottom was the perfect icing on the pie.
• He somehow found out about Osama Bin Laden's death before everyone else. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is that awesome.
• His promo in 2/27/2012. No, not the one that aired.
• Actually beating John Cena CLEANLY at WrestleMania 28 after an entire year of promos and anticipation. 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.
• Is the only man to beat Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and John Cena at Wrestlemania.
• A real-life example that could also qualify for a CMOF, Dwayne was shooting scenes in London as FBI Agent Luke Hobbs for The Fast and the Furious 6, arresting suspects as the cameras were rolling when he saw a gang of burglars attempting to break into some padlocked crew vans carrying expensive film equipment. Flashing his FBI badge and wearing a bulletproof vest and combat trousers, Dwayne rushed toward and yelled at the would-be thieves, who saw Johnson coming and hightailed it off-set empty-handed. Sources said that Dwayne looked like a legitimate action star during the whole thing. Here's to hoping it makes the outtakes when the movie goes to DVD.
• Pinning CM Punk and winning his eighth WWE title at the Royal Rumble after being ten years out of wrestling.
  • Part of it is after The Shield interfered, Mr. McMahon was about to strip Punk, but the Rock asked the match be restarted: he wanted to get the title on his own terms. And he did.
• Reports have come in that Rock suffered a brutal injury at WrestleMania 29, apparently suffering a hernia, as well as tearing his abdomen and abductor muscles clean off his pelvic bone- in the middle of his WWE Title match with John Cena. He gave another 15 minutes to finish the match, giving Cena the clean win, even raising his hand afterward.
• WrestleMania XXX has him making a surprise appearance with Stone Cold Steve Austin and joining Hulk Hogan on-stage. The Rock, Stone Cold, and Hulk Hogan on-stage together- 'nuff said!
• WrestleMania 31 has him interrupting a self-serving speech by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who were both taking full credit for the success of the event and Triple H rubbing salt in the wound by gloating about his victory over Sting earlier in the event. After verbally owning both of them, Stephanie tells Rock to leave the arena, stating that he would never actually hit a woman (at least not in this era). Rock would proceed to tease leaving, but actually walk out to Ronda Rousey, who was sitting in the front row at the event. Rock would proceed to invite Ronda into the ring, tell Stephanie that he found someone who had no problem hitting a woman. After some trash-talking between everyone, Rock exchanges blows with Triple H, Rousey then judo-throws him out of the ring, and grabs Stephanie like she's about to lock her into an armbar, before tossing her out of the ring as well. WrestleMania moment indeed.
• Achieving success as both a wrestler and as an actor is an accomplishment not many wrestlers can pull off.
  • And not just a moderate success, either. In 2016, he was literally the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.
  • As of July of 2018 he is the highest grossing actor OF! ALL! TIME!
• "Smackdown", a word he (allegedly) came up with all on his own, is in both the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. Just let that sink in...
• Cutting the most hype Superbowl intro of all time.