The Bottom Line: The Rock Says... is both interesting and annoying, but lacks any compelling charm. Still, it's an enjoyable fast read.
Blame the trend on Mick Foley.
Ever since he wrote Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweat, many other professional wrestlers have jumped on the bandwagon in writing a book. Not surprising, following of the heels of Foley, is The Rock Says…, a book written by WWE superstar The Rock, the self-proclaimed, most electrifying man in all of sports entertainment, with writer Joe Layden transcribing his words. At least that’s what the cover states.
This book is unique in its own way because of the legacy that the Rock, or Dwayne Johnson in his real life, follows: he is a third generation wrestler in the family business, following in the footsteps of his father “Soulman” Rocky Johnson and his grandfather “High Chief” Peter Maivia. Form an early age he knew that “wrasslin” was all a show and distinguished between the sport and entertainment. The wrestling and athletics were all real, and it does take a certain talent to do it, but it takes a bigger talent to showcase it properly and keep it entertaining.
Still, even though Johnson grew up in the wrestling environment, football was his first choice as a career. He played for the University of Miami and he paid his dues with some serious injuries along the way. Interestingly, his pro career as a football player came in Canada as a member of the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, though he never got to play on the field. Oh yes, the Rock was making some Canadian coin at the time. It must have been a rude awakening for him.
But as the story goes, wrestling is in his blood. Performing is in his blood. In the end, there was only one thing he set out to do and was determined to accomplish it. With the begrudging help of his father and veteran wrestler Pat Patterson, Johnson trained hard to break into the WWE. The rest they say is history.
It’s almost comical that the Rock came out with a book at the time about his life considering he hadn’t been in the business for that long. Compared to Mick Foley’s novel (and every book about a wrestler will always be compared to Foley’s), this was a very fast and short read.
The story about Dwayne Johnson is interesting, and you can see how the arrogance of the Rock was starting to emerge in his life. He translated that into his ring persona to make him one of the greatest entertainers in WWE history. Notice how I didn’t say wrestler. He is best known for his entertaining and impeccable microphone skills, and that’s a talent that really can’t be taught.
What really annoyed me about this book was the switch between Dwayne Johnson telling the story and the Rock telling his. Oh yes, he makes no bones about the fact that these are two different personalities. As soon as he started describing a match that takes place inside the squared circle, it would be told from the Rock’s point of view. And anyone who knows about the character knows that he refers to himself in the third person. I don’t know how many times I had to endure reading “The Rock says…” whenever this device was used. It was clever at first but quickly soon became annoying. There were times I really wanted to lay the proverbial smackdown on the self-professed “Great One”. I actually found Dwayne Johnson’s story far more interesting than the Rock’s.
The Rock Says… isn’t a stellar book but it does reveal some of the inside workings of a wrestling show that I never knew about, especially from the point of view from someone who grew up in the business. To me, that was far more interesting than how some of the matches were described. I’m sure that if Johnson waited a few more years and wrote about his life now after he has retired from the ring, it would have probably been a more engaging read. It’s funny how the literary world is flooded with old wrestling tales ever since Mick Foley made it acceptable. Now that everyone is an author I’m sure running for office is the next step. Oh wait, that’s been done.
Product Details
ISBN: 9780060392987
Format: Hardcover, 304 pp
Publisher: Harper Entertainment
Pub. Date: January 2000
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