In 1998, The Rock was the Intercontinental Champion and leader of the Nation Of Domination. He really began hitting his stride as a performer around this time, and although he was a heel, he became so entertaining fans cheered him anyway. At SummerSlam, he was matched with his eternal rival, HHH, the leader of DX. After spending the summer feuding, and wrestling each other to even results, this ladder match would be the blow-off. While other ladder matches had been about high flying, The Rock and HHH made this one about punishment. These two used that big yellow ladder as a weapon and as a device to slam each other on, with HHH taking more of the major damage. HHH was able to pull out the win thanks to some timely help from Chyna, who assured The Rock would have a tough time climbing the ladder after a well-placed low blow. This is a memorable contest due to it being the last true mid-card match between The Great One and The Game, as Rock would jump up the card shortly after, and HHH would follow suit in mid-1999. Both guys were way too good to stay at that level. It worked here because HHH finally got the IC Title he was chasing all year, and The Rock won the respect of Madison Square Garden and the wrestling world at large.