Where did The Rock Eyebrow Raise meme come from?
The Rock Eyebrow Raise is a commonly used reaction meme of actor and former pro wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson raising his eyebrow. It is typically accompanied by the Vine Thud sound effect.
The meme grew to prominence throughout 2021, first gaining popularity in March 2021 and reaching a peak of usage in September 2021. Users typically use the reaction as a means to convey suspicion, usually in response to some suspect piece of media.
Where did the Rock Eyebrow Raise meme come from?
The Rock Eyebrow Raise meme came from The Rock’s time as a professional wrestler. Yes, before he was being incorporated into every popular film franchise, The Rock was known for what he was cookin’, wrestling-wise. During a career spanning 1996 to 2004, The Rock was a member of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), which has since become the WWF.
Throughout his wrestling career, Johnson would utilize a signature facial expression, raising one eyebrow, lowering the other, and tilting his head.
@spongebob.gamingpants The Rock Raising Eyebrow Meme
♬ original sound - spongebobgamingpants
What is the rock's eyebrow raise called?
Post 1998, The Rock started calling himself “The People’s Champ” as a tribute to Muhammad Ali, and as a result, began referring to the expression as “The People’s Eyebrow.”
Rise of the meme
Even when The Rock transitioned to his monumental acting career, the expression remained, appearing in various blockbusters under various scenarios.
The internet’s adoption of the Rock Eyebrow Raise Meme had auspicious beginnings, however, when the Rock posted an Instagram video addressing rapper DaBaby on October 9th, 2019. At the end of the clip, Rock did the expression. He knows what the people want, as the video gained over 6.3 million views and 1.5 million likes.
A year and a half later, Rock took to TikTok for a video set to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” which features—you guessed it—the eyebrow raise. Again, the post proved absurdly popular, snagging over 10.2 million views and 1.8 million likes in just a couple of months.
@therock Reply to @the.f.b.i_ Welcome to #RockTok ♬ Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
At the end of 2019, The Rock’s Instagram video took on new life in the reaction clip format, notably on November 28th, when Instagram user @pepetheprofessional reposted a meme from user @kloutgoated (long-deleted) that garnered over 7,600 views and 1,600 likes in two years.
The next week, on December 6th, Instagrammer @rustraint reposted a meme from user @siimpstars using the reaction (now deleted).
However, the real rise of the Rock Eyebrow Reaction meme came in 2021, starting in March, when the eyebrow Instagram and TikTok videos both gained steam in edits on TikTok.
YouTube user FAERKING posted the earliest known edit of the Instagram video on March 14th, which saw over 41.8k views. By this time, the expression was paired with the Vine Thud sound. The author of that edit remains a mystery.
The saga moved to Reddit on March 25, 2021, as the earliest known reuploads of the videos appeared both there and on YouTube. A notable post during this time was one that featured a filter applied to the Rock’s face, making him resemble Sus Jerma, a sh*tpost based on streamer Jerma985.
During this phase, the clips were being called “Sus Rock” due to the then-frequent posts of ironic Among Us memes, with his suspicious expression a perfect fit.
The Rock Eyebrow Raise spread
In March and April 2021, the aforementioned video posts spread like wildfire, with countless reposts on YouTube, Instagram, iFunny and TikTok. Speaking of iFunny, on May 3rd, user InternalCancer posted an edit of an older Rock interview clip created by a user whose identity remains unknown.
The reaction’s usage picked up steam in the ensuing months of 2021, when reaction videos appeared in a few 21st Century Humor edits. On May 25th, for instance, Instagrammer @stdabbers posted a meme that gained over 77.8k views and 15.7k likes in five months.
By late July, several TikTok videos began combining the Rock’s reactions for humorous effect. On August 23rd, Memes For Days posted a video combining these reactions together on YouTube.
@vermautmilan When the rock is sus???? #foryou #fypシ #fypage #foryoupage #fy #foru #fyp @therock ♬ origineel geluid - Milan vermaut
Meanwhile, YouTuber WiseTinedManatee posted a video that combined the Rock’s 2019 post with the Thicc Omni-man meme. The unofficial collab proved a hit, gaining 181k views in its first three months.
On September 4th, YouTuber Will AFS followed the trend, posting a Dee’s Big Nuts meme, which has snagged over 9.5 million views to date.
But it always comes back to TikTok, and in September 2021, many of the Rock eyebrow raise videos became widely used on the platform as a reaction, particularly for questionable videos.
Along the way, several dedicated gimmick accounts were created around the format, notably @rock.and.football, whose September 10th, 2021 TikTok saw nearly 415k views and 68k likes in two months. Four days later, TikTok account @the_rockreaction posted an enormously popular video that received over 7.1 million views. Nearly matching it, @r0ckreaction posted a TikTok on September 15t which got over 6.6 million views and 649k likes.
The format continues to be popular on TikTok and YouTube. There’s a lot of power in that eyebrow. TikTok users have even participated in a Rock eyebrow raise challenge.
@elmartino09 #therockeyebrowchallenge #viral #foryou #TimeWarpScan #wwe @therock ♬ original sound - The Rock
@sicilianspecial89 The eyebrow. #therock ♬ WWE: Electrifying (The Rock) - WWE & Jim Johnston
@christinapeterson440 #TheRock #Theeyebrowpose ♬ original sound - Sleep Token
@cyntanner Friday night challenge: who can nail ‘The Rock’ eyebrow lift better? Spoiler: my son won hands down! ???? #RockChallenge #MomFails #FridayFun #FamilyNight #EyebrowGoals #dwaynejohnson ♬ L.Boccherini, Minuet from String Quartet No.5 in F major - AllMusicGallery
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