Rating all of The Rock’s matches on PPV after becoming “The Rock”. It happened slowly over some time and I’m not sure exactly when the name change happened, so I’ll randomly start with his first most notable PPV feud as “The Rock” – against Austin for the IC Title.
*Not including traditional Royal Rumble or Survivor Series matches or the “specials” such as Rebellion, Global Warning, Insurrextion, etc (instead replaced by few of his most notable TV matches).
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1997
- Steve Austin(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Intercontinental Championship (D-Generation X) **3/4
1998
- The Rock(c) vs. Ken Shamrock – WWF Intercontinental Championship (Royal Rumble) **1/4
- The Nation vs. Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson, Chainz, Skull & 8-Ball (No Way Out of Texas) **1/2
- The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock* – WWF Intercontinental Championship (WrestleMania XIV) *1/4
- The Nation vs. Faarooq, Ken Shamrock & Steve Blackman (Unforgiven) *
- The Rock(c) vs. Faarooq – WWF Intercontinental Championship (Over the Edge) 1/4*
- KOTR Semi-Final Match: The Rock vs. Dan Severn (King of the Ring) 1/4*
- KOTR Final: The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock (King of the Ring) ***
- 2 Out Of 3 Falls: The Rock(c) vs. Triple H – WWF Intercontinental Championship (Fully Loaded) ***1/4
- Ladder: The Rock(c) vs. Triple H – WWF Intercontinental Championship (SummerSlam) ****1/4
- Steel Cage: The Rock vs. Mankind vs. Ken Shamrock (Breakdown) ***1/2
- The Rock vs. Mark Henry (Unforgiven) *
- Deadly Games First Round: The Rock vs. Big Boss Man (Survivor Series) DUD
- Deadly Games Quarter Final: The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock (Survivor Series) **1/2
- Deadly Games Semi Final: The Rock vs. The Undertaker (Survivor Series) *
- Deadly Games Final: The Rock vs. Mankind – vacant WWF Championship (Survivor Series) **3/4
- The Rock(c) vs. Mankind* – WWF Championship (Rock Bottom) ***
1999
- No DQ: The Rock(c) vs. Mankind – WWF Championship (RAW: Jan. 4) ****
- I Quit: Mankind(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Championship (Royal Rumble) ***1/2
- Empty Arena: The Rock(c) vs. Mankind – WWF Championship (Halftime Heat) ****
- Last Man Standing: Mankind(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Championship (St. Valentine’s Day Massacre) ***1/4
- Ladder: Mankind(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Championship (RAW: Feb. 15) ***3/4
- The Rock(c) vs. Steve Austin – WWF Championship (WrestleMania XV) ***3/4
- No Holds Barred: Steve Austin(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Championship (Backlash) ****1/4
- The Rock vs. Triple H (Over the Edge) *1/2
- The Undertaker(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Championship (King of the Ring) *3/4
- Strap: The Rock vs. Triple H (Fully Loaded) ***1/2
- The Rock vs. Billy Gunn (SummerSlam) **1/2
- Six Pack Challenge: The Rock vs. Kane vs. Triple H vs. Mankind vs. Big Show vs. British Bulldog – vacant WWF Championship ***1/4
- The Rock vs. British Bulldog (No Mercy) *
- Triple H(c) vs. The Rock vs. Big Show – WWF Championship (Survivor Series) **1/2
- New Age Outlaws(c) vs. Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection* – WWF Tag Team Championship (Armageddon) **1/2
2000
- The Rock vs. Big Show (No Way Out) *1/2
- Elimination: Triple H(c) vs. The Rock vs. Mick Foley vs. Big Show – WWF Championship (WrestleMania 2000) **3/4
- Triple H(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Championship (Backlash) ****
- Iron Man: The Rock(c) vs. Triple H – WWF Championship (Judgment Day) ****1/4
- Triple H(c), Vince & Shane McMahon vs. The Rock, The Undertaker & Kane – WWF Championship (King of the Ring) **
- The Rock(c) vs. Chris Benoit – WWF Championship (Fully Loaded) ****
- The Rock(c) vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle – WWF Championship (SummerSlam) ***1/4
- The Rock(c) vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane vs. Chris Benoit – WWF Championship (Unforgiven) ***1/2
- No DQ: The Rock(c) vs. Kurt Angle – WWF Championship (No Mercy) ****1/4
- The Rock vs. Rikishi (Survivor Series) **3/4
- HIAC: Kurt Angle(c) vs. The Rock vs. Steve Austin vs. Triple H vs. The Undertaker vs. Rikishi – WWF Championship (Armageddon) ****
2001
- Kurt Angle(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Championship (No Way Out) ****3/4
- No DQ: The Rock(c) vs. Steve Austin – WWF Championship (WrestleMania X-Seven) *****
- Booker T(c) vs. The Rock – WCW Championship (SummerSlam) ****
- Handicap: The Rock(c) vs. Booker T & Shane McMahon – WCW Championship (Unforgiven) ***
- The Rock(c) vs. Chris Jericho – WCW Championship (No Mercy) ****1/2
- The Rock(c) vs. Chris Jericho – WCW Championship (Vengeance) ****
2002
- Chris Jericho(c) vs. The Rock – WWF Undisputed Championship (Royal Rumble) ****1/4
- The Rock vs. The Undertaker (No Way Out) **1/2
- The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania X8) ****
- The Undertaker(c) vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle – WWE Undisputed Championship (Vengeance) ****1/2
- The Rock(c) vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE Undisputed Championship (SummerSlam) ****1/4
2003
- The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan (No Way Out) *
- The Rock vs. Steve Austin (WrestleMania XIX) ****
- The Rock vs. Goldberg (Backlash) **3/4
2004
- Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection vs. Evolution (WrestleMania XX) ****
2011
- The Rock & John Cena vs. The Awesome Truth (Survivor Series) **3/4
2012
- The Rock vs. John Cena (WrestleMania XXVIII) ****
2013
- CM Punk(c) vs. The Rock – WWE Championship (Royal Rumble) ****1/4
- The Rock(c) vs. CM Punk – WWE Championship (Elimination Chamber) ***3/4
- The Rock(c) vs. John Cena – WWE Championship (WrestleMania 29) ***
2016
- The Rock vs. Erick Rowan (WrestleMania 32) DUD
Overall rating
1997: 2.75 (1 match)
1998: 1.98 (16 matches)
1999: 3.21 (14 matches)
2000: 3.30 (11 matches)
2001: 4.21 (6 matches)
2002: 3.90 (5 matches)
2003: 2.58 (3 matches)
Years as semi-active: 3.11 (7 matches)
Overall: 3.13
Worst year
According to my ratings, mathematics have come to the conclusion that 1998 was The Rock’s worst year in terms of his matches.
While there’s no denying this was perhaps The Rock’s most important year, winning his first WWF Championship, becoming massively popular, joining The Corporation (etc….) there’s also no doubt not everything was great.
I also believe The Rock’s involvement in many matches with no build at all (particularly the ones in the tournaments at both King of the Ring and Survivor Series) didn’t help the numbers when it comes to ratings.
With that said, this was a year that helped catapult The Rock into the even bigger star he’d become.
Best year
On the other hand, also according to mathematics based on my ratings 2001 was his best year in terms of his matches.
By 2001, Rock had already one foot out of pro wrestling. When he was there, he was full-time. But when he wasn’t, he’d leave for a good number of months.
That meant when Rock was around, he had to be in big matches so they could make the best use of him. That resulted in fantastic matches with Chris Jericho and Booker T, not to forget a classic with Kurt Angle at No Way Out in February before Rock’s hiatus.
Not to mention a five-star match with Stone Cold at WrestleMania might have helped his overall rating that year go up.
Rock already had a few years of experience at this point already, and looking at the guys he worked with (and the low number of matches he wrestled), I’m not shocked this ended up taking the top spot.
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