The Undisputed WWF Championship was defended at just one Royal Rumble, before the first-ever brand split saw the “undisputed” dropped from the title name, and its first-ever champion, Chris Jericho, defended the gold against The Rock on the 2002 edition of the event. The belt had just been unified weeks earlier, when Jericho defeated each Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at Vengeance Day.
It was Jericho’s first run as a essential eventer within the then-WWF, and he was in a position to pull out a formidable victory in a solid match against Rock, who had grown to prominence as a top babyface in the corporate over time, who held the WWF Championship quite a few times himself at that time. The pair had been linked from the beginning of “Y2J’s” time in WWF, because it was Rock’s in-ring promo he interrupted when Jericho’s countdown clock hit zero on “Raw” and he officially debuted in the corporate.
The Rock defeated Booker T to turn into primary contender for the title, and it was at the height of what number of fans of a certain age remember “The Brahma Bull” one of the best, in his “size 14 boot up your a**,” “if you happen to smell what The Rock is cooking” era, though he warned Jericho he wasn’t taking him as a joke. The group was behind him throughout the almost-19 minute match, chanting “Rocky” at various points.
The match was certainly one of Rock’s when he was at his best and he kicked off the match hot after the heel Jericho taunted him to “just bring it” to start out things off. Jericho took the turnbuckle cover off quickly, which might come into play at the tip. Jericho hit two lionsaults and the group exploded when Rock got an arm as much as kick out. The champion’s buddies, Lance Storm and Christian interfered within the match, causing referee Earl Hebner to miss a Jericho tap out to Rock’s sharpshooter.
In an enormous spot, The Rock cleared the Spanish announce table, but it surely was Jericho who searched for the Rock Bottom on top of the desk first, though Rock reversed it to land his own move. The challenger looked to have the match won for a moment before having to fight out of the Partitions of Jericho and overcoming a ref bump. With Hebner down, Nick Patrick, a heel referee, got here down, and would not count Rock’s fall on Jericho.
In the long run, it was Jericho to hit a low blow and send Rock face-first into the exposed turnbuckle. He used the ropes as leverage where a still-downed, yet counting, Hebner couldn’t see, and pinned Rock for the large victory, one which oftentimes gets overshadowed by Triple H’s first Royal Rumble win.
Written by Daisy Ruth