The way you distinguish the greats from the rest is simply by asking this question.
Q) Are they more entertaining as a face or as a heel?
If the answer to the first is Heel then their just a guy but if the answer to the question is Face then ask.
Q) Are they also so entertaining as a Heel that you want to cheer for them?
If the answer is No then they are just a guy if the answer is Yes then they are a Hulk, Rock, Flair, Taker, HHH or Micheals.
Chris can do it all, The Rock can do it all and make you still want to cheer him.
You can add Eddie Guerrero, Roddy Piper, Stone Cold to that list ... unless you'd rather just put an "etc."
The Rock has been booed before. Don't get me wrong, the cheers are fantastic, but I think people realize now that he's not a wrestling god. I hope Punk beats him because he's also better as a wrestler, and smarter on the mic.
The ONLY times The Rock was resoundingly booed was ...
A) ... when he was Rocky Maivia, and people got SICK of his lame character (similar in some ways to current Cena)
B) ... early in his Nation days, before he won people over with his EXCELLENT promos and "I don't give a ****" attitude
C) ... during one of his "comebacks" following an extended period away making movies, because people were in "HATERS GONNA HATE" mode about him no longer being around on a regular basis
^ And that actually speaks VOLUMES about how much people were entertained by "The Great One".
Also, I disagree with the point about Jericho being better than The Rock. Strictly wrestling-wise, sure, Jericho is better than The Rock (just like MANY guys are better than Stone Cold). Overall entertainment-wise (which WWE is really about), NO ONE IN HISTORY is better than The Rock, IMO.
If I were to make a "Top 10 All-Time" list (limited by the years of my active watching ... early 1990s - present), it would go something like ...
- The Rock
- Shawn Michaels
- Stone Cold
- Triple H
- Hulk/Hollywood Hogan
- Kurt Angle
- Eddie Guerrero
- Undertaker
- Bret Hart
- Randy Orton
- Honorable Mentions: Edge, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, "Dr. of Thuganomics" John Cena, Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Rob Van Dam, The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz