The Rock's 1998 IC Title Reign

[RIPbossman]

A lot of people point out how many losses Rock took as a main eventer and a massive draw. His 1998 IC title reign was booked pretty weak, even for a heel champ of that era.

December 1997

Degeneration X (ppv) - Pinned clean by Steve Austin (IC Champion)

Next Night- Austin forfeits IC title to Rock

1998

Royal Rumble- Pinned clean by Ken Shamrock, decision is reversed

No Way Out- 8 Man Tag, taps clean to Shamrock

WrestleMania- Taps clean to Shamrock, decision is reversed

Unforgiven- 6 Man Tag, pinned clean by Farooq

Over The Edge- Pins Farooq after rolling him up when hes distracted

King of the Ring- Semi Finals- Pins Dan Severn after D-Lo's interference. Finals- Taps clean to Shamrock

Fully Loaded- Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls Vs. Triple H. Both get 1 fall from cheating. Triple H pedigrees him as time expires. Draw.

Summer Slam- Ladder Match vs Triple H. Triple H wins the IC title after Mark Henry and China interfere.

Rock didn't beat anyone for the IC title. Shamrock basically beat him clean 4 times on ppv. You didn't expect heels to win clean in that era, but you didn't expect the IC champ to be booked like Rock was.

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

Rock didn't beat anyone for the IC title. Shamrock basically beat him clean 4 times on ppv. You didn't expect heels to win clean in that era, but you didn't expect the IC champ to be booked like Rock was.

The beauty of it is that he didn't hurt him one bit. The Rock was always putting people over. He was champion by the end of the year (I believe without googling it) and went on to Maine Event WrestleMania.

My first memory of him was facing the Dudleys in a tag match on SmackDown and surprise surprise he lost. Looking back on it now as a 'Wrestler' in the way that they are portrayed kayfabe The Rock was pretty shit.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

The Rock's a special case. He was so different than anyone before him with his ability and style on the mic that he forced people to get behind him. The reason that IC reign went as it did was because until the late Summer of 98 Rock was not in any significant long term plans. By the Summer of 98 fans starting to get behind The Rock as his style on the mic was getting him over. As a result that IC Ladder Match against Triple H was booked differently than any other Rock match before it. He was made to look strong and only took the loss after Chyna interfered. This was done to continue to get support behind The Rock as he would turn face shortly after this match only to make the ultimate heel turn at Survivor Series and cement himself as a main eventer.

Once WWE realized the potential they had with Rocky they went all in starting at SummerSlam of that year and were able to put the World Title on him only 3 months after dropping the IC title.

 

[#hamler]

Rock is a weird case. If any other champion ate the pin fall as much as The Rock did, he'd be less over as a chanpion. With The Rock however, he was always able to recuperate because he was such a phenomenal force on the microphone. Even if The Rock lost most of his matches, you'd still want to see him come out and talk trash and his reaction in 1998 proved that. Having that once in a lifetime charisma helped him alot when he was being jobbed out.

If you look at how many superstars (both main event level, midcarders and even Stephanie McMahon)he lost to, he's the least protected top draw of all time.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Basically what everyone else said. Interesting though, because all of that remind me of Bray Wyatt. The difference though? Rock had sense in his promos.

This once again proves that wins and losses do not count, but your appeal as an attraction, a superstar, and how good you are on selling a feud. Just look at The Rock during that time, from 1998, up until his WM match with Austin. I count 4 great feuds, one after the other: vs Shamrock, vs HHH, vs Mankind, vs Austin. One after the other. Who else can do that?