WWE CCO Triple H recently provided insight into the unusual inception of The Rock’s celebrated People’s Elbow, explaining on the “High Performance” podcast that the move originated as an inside joke. The maneuver, which became a crowd favorite, was initially an attempt by The Rock to amuse The Undertaker during untelevised live events.
Triple H recounted, “It sort of began at live events that weren’t televised, with him trying to make The Undertaker laugh and break character … and he did.” He described the move itself as inherently comical: “The Rock does his finisher, the People’s Elbow, right? It’s the silliest move of all time. He runs twice, hits the ropes, and drops what’s probably the worst-looking elbow on you.”
Despite its playful origins, the People’s Elbow elicited strong audience reactions when The Rock performed it. “That’s not a knock on it … just that it started as a joke… Everybody thought it looked really cool, as silly as it was. Then somebody dared him to do it on TV, and he did it as a spoof. The crowd reacted to it. He did it again, and they reacted even more. And all of a sudden, you realize, like, ‘Wow, I’m onto something really wild here.’”
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The transformation into a signature move was organic, driven by fan reception rather than initial design. “It became a big thing, but it wasn’t designed to be that way,” Triple H added. “It was just [The Rock thinking], ‘Okay, I did this and they reacted, so I’m going to do that more. I’m going to explore that.’”
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