I played pally in MoP and remember taunting people to keep them in combat.
This comment is not from 5.4 ( WoD ) but that's what I could google for now.
http://www.arenajunkies.com/topic/257791-61-arms-warrior-guide/
Multi R1 WW guide:
http://www.arenajunkies.com/topic/238945-how-to-walk-with-the-wind/ also a 6.0 guide -> read bottom line
"Provoke, This is one of my favorite abilities. Most people see the taunt and think, "Oh it's just PvE." They couldn't be more wrong. Whenever I see a grounding totem down, I taunt. It is off the GCD, has no cost, and destroys it. It also keeps rogues in combat going for stealths or healers going for drinks. It also gets spell reflects and my favorite use for it is to taunt pets. Those pesky hunter pets see me taunt them and chase after me behind a pillar where I then fists of fury it to death. It can also be used to break yourself out of CC, similar to how a priest "deaths" traps, wyvern, or polymorphs, you can provoke a pet to break these CC's as well, but it can be difficult. I bolded this because it is the most underused ability by monks."
"It also gets spell reflects" = can target player.
Since provoke got changed in 6.1 this is almost 100% confirmation that the listed above was the case in 5.4.8 and can be fixed accordingly.
*Edit 28.5.17 Double checked and confirmed by a multiglad WW in discord. Information is not fake provided in this thread.