This little known story is about how one of the most well known wrestling moves came to be. Oh, you didn’t know?
When you think of The Rock, one of the first things that pops into your head is probably one if his signature moves, The People’s Elbow. Often called, “The most electrifying move in sports entertainment,” the maneuver is indeed a bit ridiculous. The Rock dances over his opponent, gathers speed by bouncing off the ropes two times, leaps over his downed opponent, and suddenly stops to drop the point of his elbow onto the unlucky performer.
How did a move so funny, yet effective and iconic come to be? Well, Triple H told the world in a 2015 interview with the “Arnold Classic Sports Festival” how the move was started.
In 1999, the heart of the Attitude Era, WWE live event ticket sales were skyrocketing. At this point, performers such as The Rock, HHH, The Undertaker, and Mick Foley were appearing at these events. The Undertaker is credited for having the greatest character in pro wrestling history. In 26 years, The Undertaker has never broken character on television.
I mean look at him. He doesn’t look like he’s here to smile. It looks like he’s here to “dig holes and take souls.”
Most of the guys in the locker room at the time were pretty close and worshiped Taker for being able to always stay in character. Suddenly, Foley had a great idea. He and the rest of the locker room agreed that they were going to try to make Undertaker laugh in the ring or break character. It was a live event after all, meaning it wasn’t televised. Performers such as HHH tried to tell Undertaker jokes in the ring. He didn’t crack.
Leave it to The Rock to find a way to break Undertaker’s character.
The Rock invented the people’s elbow and told the entire locker room about it. According to HHH, Foley suddenly “double dog dared” Rock to do it to Taker in the ring. The Rock agreed.
That night, the Rock faced the Undertaker in a singles match. The Rock told the downed Undertaker to just go with the flow. Rock danced above Undertaker, ran off the ropes, and suddenly stopped and dropped the elbow on Taker.
Undertaker laughed. A lot apparently. He was cracking up in the middle of the ring, as the guys in the back celebrated their victory!
So that is how The People’s Elbow came to be. It was a rib. One of the most iconic moves in WWE history was literally invented as a joke.
Here’s what Triple H actually had to say about the incident:
IT’S FUNNY HOW SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE SO SUCCESSFUL STARTED. THE PEOPLE’S ELBOW WAS SOMETHING THAT ROCK STARTED DOING BECAUSE WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE TAKER LAUGH AT LIVE EVENTS. WE WERE ALL TRYING TO COME UP WITH THE GOOFIEST STUFF WE COULD TO MAKE HIM BREAK CHARACTER. I THINK IT WAS FOLEY AT TV ONE NIGHT WHO DARED HIM TO DO IT LIVE. AND WE WERE ALL ON IT. ‘WE DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU TO DO IT.’
ROCK SAID, ‘I’LL DO IT.’ AND THE PLACE ERUPTED.
