Today, he is one of the most successful actors in Hollywood and one of the personalities with the most followers on social media, Dwayne Johnson began to reveal his talent for acting and to gain popularity. while The Rock in the WWE rings is considered one of the greats in the pro wrestling industry, The Great One debuted on Monday Night Raw as a member of Marc Mero’s entourage on November 4, 1996, then still under the name Rocky Maivia.
The following year, Rocky Maivia became The Rock and began to develop the character that would lead him to success that could be measured in the number of titles: ten times world champion, two times intercontinental champion, five times tag team champion and victory of the Royal Rumble 2000. Additionally, it was at its height that the then-WWF won the rating war with WCW, helping Raw dethrone Nitro. At the same time, he entered the field of representation in 1999, eventually leaving the WWE to embrace a career in Hollywood in 2004. However, he returned to participate in some matches between 2011 and 2013.
SummerSlam 1998
Ladder match – WWF Intercontinental Championship :
The Rock (c) vs. Triple H
After winning the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, Ken Shamrock praised the losing finalist, The Rock. That said, 1994 King of the Ring winner, The Rock’s Nation of Domination teammate and Shamrock’s former friend Owen Hart challenged Shamrock to a match between the two. However, 1994 King of the Ring winner Triple H appeared on the scene and challenged Hart and Shamrock to a match between the three King of the Ring winners. The proposal was accepted and Shamrock emerged victorious as he settled on Triple H after interference from The Rock. As a result, a brawl ensued between Triple H’s D-Generation X and The Rock’s Nation of Domination.
On the July 13, 1998 episode of Raw is War, a week after making fun of elements of the Nation, Triple H teamed up with X-Pac to defeat The Rock and Owen Hart in a tag team match . And, during the match, it was announced that The Rock would defend his intercontinental title against Triple H in a best-of-three match at Fully Loaded. At the pay-per-view , The Rock won the first fall after executing a The Rock Bottom , after several interference from DX and the Nation of Domination. However, Triple H came to a tie after Chyna DDT hit the champion on top of a chair. And so the third fall began, Triple H applied a Pedigree to the opponent, but was not in time to advance to the settlement because the 30-minute time limit came to an end, which allowed the champion to retain the belt.
However, the rivalry between the two continued. On the August 17 episode of Raw is War , the DX and the Nation wrestled in a Street Fight which The Rock’s faction won when the Rock used a chair to hit Triple H in the face , causing him to bleed from the mouth. After the match, Triple H challenged The Rock to a ladder match for the intercontinental title at SummerSlam.
Raw Is War (February 15, 1999)
Ladder match for the WWF Championship :
Mankind (c) vs. The Rock
A year after the Montreal Screwjob, at Survivor Series 1998, The Rock became the WWF champion for the first time by defeating Mankind in a somewhat dubious way, as he trapped the opponent in a Sharpshooter and Vince McMahon ordered the bell to be rung without Mankind to give up.
The following month at Rock Bottom: In Your House, Mankind won a title match by knocking The Rock unconscious via a Mandible Claw , but once again Vince McMahon stopped him from claiming the title, claiming that The Rock technically , had not given up.
However, Mankind first became WWF Champion by beating The Rock at The January 4, 1999, Raw main event , thanks to the interference of Stone Cold Steve Austin, in an episode that marked the turning point in the ratings war between the WWF and WCW, with Raw finally dethroning Nitro . However, The Rock regained the title at the Royal Rumble 1999, winning an “I Quit” match, achieving this victory in a dirty way, since while putting the microphone in Mankind ‘s face , Shane McMahon played backstage audio in that Mankind would say “I Quit” without the referee noticing.
However, a few days later Mankind won the championship again by beating The Rock in an Empty Arena match during halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII.
As the WWF Championship was successively passing from The Rock to Mankind and vice versa, at a time when WrestleMania XV was already on the horizon, a Last Man Standing match between the two was scheduled for St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: In Your House. However, that match ended in a draw, as neither responded to the count of ten after a double chair kick. Faced with so much uncertainty, he was scheduled for Raw the day after St. Valentine’s Day Massacre a new duel between Mankind and The Rock, this time a Ladder match.
Backlash 1999
No Holds Barred; WWF Championship:
Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. The Rock
It all started the year before, when Steve Austin became WWE Champion at WrestleMania XIV, something that displeased the company’s owner, Vince McMahon, who didn’t want to have a beer-loving rebel as the company’s main figure. So McMahon began to make Austin’s reign and life hell.
However, the WWF Championship was vacated in September after The Undertaker and Kane both settled in Austin at the same time during a handicap match at Breakdown: In Your House. The following month, Austin refereed a match between Kane and Undertaker to determine the new champion, but ended up attacking both, causing the match to end in no contest .
At Survivor Series , The Rock won a tournament to determine the new champion after the McMahon family framed Austin in the semifinals and Mankind in the finals. However, the 1999 Royal Rumble was already on the horizon and the McMahon family did their best to keep Austin from winning. First, he put him in a Buried Alive match against The Undertaker in which his presence in the Royal Rumble match was at stake , but Stone Cold won. at the Royal Rumble, Austin came in first and it was reported that whoever eliminated him would receive a $100,000 bounty, but Stone Cold survived most of the match until he was eliminated by Vince McMahon at the end.
On the following night’s Raw is War , McMahon handed the bounty to The Rock, who helped him eliminate Austin, and announced that he would not make use of the opportunity he had gained to fight for the title at WrestleMania XV. McMahon planned to choose The Rock’s opponent for the big event, but was interrupted by Commissioner Shawn Michaels , who informed him that WWF rules say that if the winner of the Royal Rumble to give up that opportunity, the title shot would be offered to the runner-up, which in this case was Steve Austin.
Therefore, Austin used this mistake by McMahon to face him in the ring, in a match where the opportunity for the WWF Championship was at stake in a Steel Cage match. Despite interference from Big Show, Austin did achieve the victory.
At WrestleMania XV, Austin beat The Rock to claim the title , but in the weeks that followed, both had memorable moments, with The Rock tossing Austin and the belt off a Detroit bridge into the river. The following week, as a joke, The Rock organized a funeral for Austin, but he used a monster truck . to crush The Rock’s limousine and hearse.
During the Sunday Night Heat before Backlash , Shane McMahon announced that the Austin-The Rock match would have no disqualifications and announced that he would referee himself.
Fully Loaded 2000
WWF Championship :
The Rock (c) vs. Chris Benoit
At King Of The Ring 2000, The Rock won the WWF Championship , which belonged to Triple H , in a six-man tag team match in which The Great One and the Brothers Of Destruction ( The Undertaker and Kane) won the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. ( Triple H , Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon). In that match, The Rock made the victorious settlement on Vince McMahon – if it was another teammate, that fighter would win the title.
On the July 3 episode of Raw is War , WWF Commissioner Mick Foley announced that The Rock would defend the title against Shane McMahon that night. However, the match was interrupted by Benoit, who attacked the champion. A week later, The Rock and Benoit squared off. Initially the victory was awarded to the Canadian, but referee Earl Hebner disqualified Benoit due to interference from Shane McMahon.
Already on the July 13 episode of SmackDown! , Foley forced Benoit to face Eddie Guerrero and Chyna in a handicap match, in which Rabid Wolverine was again disqualified, then attacked Hebner. After the match, The Rock offered Benoit a shot at the WWF Championship at Fully Loaded.
No Mercy 2000
No Disqualification – WWF Championship :
The Rock (c) vs. Kurt Angle
After beating Chris Benoit at Fully Loaded, The Rock defended the title against Triple H and Kurt Angle at SummerSlam and against Chris Benoit, Kane and The Undertaker at Unforgiven. Also at Unforgiven, Angle was defeated by Triple H in a no disqualification match. On the September 28 episode of SmackDown! , Angle and Benoit joined forces to defeat Rock and Triple H in a tag team match . And four days later, on Raw is War , Benoit helped Angle defeat Triple H to become the main contender for the WWF Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view
No Way Out 2001
WWF Championship :
Kurt Angle (c) vs. The Rock
At the No Mercy 2000 pay-per-view , Angle won his first WWF Championship by beating The Rock, despite Rikishi attempting to interfere in favor of The Great One. However, Angle defended the title against The Undertaker at Survivor Series , Rikishi, The Rock and Steve Austin at Rebellion, The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H , Undertaker and Rikishi in a six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon and of Triple H at the Royal Rumble.
Despite the many opponents, the champion and The Rock never lost sight of each other. In an episode of SmackDown! in early January 2001, Angle won a match between the two by disqualification after The Rock attacked him with a chair. Already on the February 8 edition of SmackDown! , The Rock beat Big Show to become the main contender for the WWF Championship at the No Way Out pay-per-view.
WrestleMania X-Seven
WWF Championship – No Disqualification match :
The Rock (c) vs. Steve Austin
The Rock and Steve Austin had previously battled for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XV and Backlash 1999, reigniting their rivalry two years later after “Stone Cold” won the opportunity to compete for the title at WrestleMania X-Seven by winning the Royal Rumble . 2001 match. At the same time, The Rock became WWF Champion for the sixth time by beating Kurt Angle at No Way Out 2001. During the feud, Austin’s wife Debra was trying to return to being manager, but WWF President Vince McMahon ordered her to manage The Rock, despite her, Austin and The Rock’s wishes. Frustrated, Austin said he would hold The Rock and McMahon responsible if something bad happened to his wife.
During the March 12, 2001 episode of Raw is War , Debra attempted to help The Rock free himself from Kurt Angle’s Ankle Lock during a match, but ended up suffering an Ankle Lock herself . Austin immediately rushed to save her, threw Angle out of the ring, and stoned The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner .
The following week, during a handicap match involving The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and William Regal, Austin went to the ring, only to suffer a Rock Bottom from The Rock in response to what had happened seven days earlier. On the March 29 episode of SmackDown! , Debra was released from her manager role by Vince McMahon after failing to stop a brawl between Rock and Austin.
No Mercy 2001
WCW Championship:
The Rock (c) vs. Chris Jericho
At SummerSlam 2001, The Rock defeated Booker T to win the WCW Championship, at a time when the storyline that became known as The Invasion took place , in which a faction of wrestlers representing WCW and ECW faced off against a representative faction of the WWF. , after the WWF acquired WCW and ECW in March and April 2001, respectively. However, The Rock defended the title against Rhyno on the August 27 episode of Raw is War and against Booker T and Shane McMahon in a handicap match at Unforgiven.
On the October 8 edition of Raw, Shane McMahon, who was the owner of WCW, announced that he would team up with Rob Van Dam against Chris Jericho and The Rock. McMahon and Van Dam won the match after RVD made the settlement in The Rock, who was accidentally hit by a chair kick from Jericho. After the feud, The Rock confronted Y2J backstage , but was attacked by Jericho. Three days later, on SmackDown! , Jericho beat Rob Van Dam to become the top contender for the WCW Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view .
Royal Rumble 2002
Undisputed WWF Championship :
Chris Jericho (c) vs. The Rock
During the Invasion storyline , which ran throughout 2001, The Rock won the WCW Championship twice and Chris Jericho took it both times, the second time at Vengeance in December, when Y2J became the first unified champion. Jericho had a very active first month as champion, having defended the belt against Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Steel Cage match and against Rob Van Dam, The Big Show and Kurt Angle. Meanwhile, The Rock beat Booker T to become the main contender and made Jericho fold with a Sharpshooter during a team match in which Rob Van Dam was partnered, while Y2J played alongside Test.
Vengeance 2002
WWE Undisputed Championship :
The Undertaker (c) vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle
At the previous King Of The Ring pay-per-view , Undertaker retained the title by defeating Triple H. However, the match was marked by interference from The Rock, who at one point planted Deadman on the mat with a Rock Bottom. Furious at this interference, Undertaker asked Vince McMahon to match The Rock with the title at stake, and the WWE owner complied, scheduling a duel between the two for Vengeance.
However, on the July 4th episode of Smackdown! , Undertaker and Kurt Angle tied in a match in which the WWE Undisputed Championship was at stake , as the Deadman completed a settlement on Angle at the same time he dropped out. Four days later, on Monday Night Raw , Vince McMahon announced that Kurt Angle would be added to the match on Vengeance, making it a triple threat match . And in the shows that followed up to the PPV , both Undertaker and Angle and The Rock took every opportunity to attack each other.