Why Is The Rock Now the 'Not-so-Great One'?

Few people would be befitting of the nickname "The Great One." The Rock, however, made it a tag of his own, and it fit him perfectly. But is the Brahma Bull still as good as he once was?

The Rock is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. The third-generation star made his name in the all-entertaining "Attitude Era," becoming an iconic figure in WWE. Since his return to Raw this year—on Feb 27th—he has been uncharacteristically below par. His promos are no longer as exciting as they once were.

For instance, his near 20-minute long promo on the Feb 27th Raw nearly put me to sleep. Rather than concentrating on addressing fans, he looked more concerned about getting terms to trend on Twitter and getting the crowd to chant phrases and slogans.

The cable rating for the episode, a disappointing 3.1, did not do him any favors, considering how heavily WWE had hyped his first return to TV in 2012. Having appeared on Raw since then, ratings have remained below average, by WrestleMania season standards.

Last year's Survivor Series, which featured The Rock's first match for seven years, failed to live up to WWE expectations, doing just 260,000 buys—only a six percent increase from the 2010 edition. Is The Rock no longer capable of drawing?

Rock's WrestleMania opponent, John Cena, has also been getting a clear upper hand in their verbal exchanges so far. At his peak, few would win a one-on-one war of words tussle with him. Today's Rock doesn't "rock" quite as he used to. He is not as charismatic or as passionate as he used to be.

The Rock was hugely popular from mid-1999 to late 2002, and deservedly so. While he can't be considered a great technical wrestler, he captivated audiences with his fancy signature moves like the Spine Buster, Belly-to-Belly Suplex, Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow. The latter maneuver, dubbed the most electrifying move, was truly magical and could draw a crowd reaction like no other.

He was very charismatic, too. Seeing him walk down "The People's Ramp" was enough to send shivers down fans' spines. Being just a boy at the time, I used to jump out of my seat whenever his music hit and chant Rocky...Rocky...Rocky as if I were part of the live crowd.

His ability on the microphone was perhaps his strongest point. He was second-to-none. He had several exciting catchphrases, too. From "know your role" to "it doesn't matter what you think" to "if you smell what The Rock is cooking"—the list is long. His unique style of referring to himself in the third person was captivating, too.

But why then is today's Rock a disappointment?

Has Hollywood, where he has thus far enjoyed mainstream success just like in WWE, changed him? Is he (for storyline purposes) deliberately holding himself back so as to give John Cena the edge? Or, at 39, is age catching up with The People's Champion?

Those are the questions that are lingering through fans' minds, queries that maybe only "The Great One" can answer.