The Rock: The 10 Defining Moments of The People’s Champion

7. Taking Over the Nation

It was clear very earlier on that the Rock was the stand out star of the Nation. His star was overshadowing everyone including the group leader Faarooq to the point that it was clear the group wasn’t bin enough for both of them. The night after Mania 14 Rock took control of the group and declared himself the ruler of the Nation.

This showed that the Rock was to charismatic to be a follower. Soon after this the Nation would begin a feud with newly face DX which laid the foundations for the Rock Triple H rivalry.

6. Corporate Champion

Despite only turning face a couple months earlier WWE made a bold move by turning him heel once again. The people’s champ became the corporate champ aligning with the McMahons and becoming at that time the youngest WWE champ in history.

While the finish was similar to the previous years Survivor Series it was still a genuine swerve. Rock had feuding with Vince in the weeks before while Mankind looked to be Vince’s hand picked guy. In one moment the Rock was the most hated man and Mankind was the most sympathetic babyface.

This would lead to a fantastic run from late 98 into 99 with memorable matches against Mankind and Stone Cold. Of course someone as charismatic as The Rock couldn’t stay heel for long and he was face again 6 month later.

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