It was a match that could be considered the breakout match of both guys. A lot of wrestlers have them. They're the matches where you can really see a guy is talented and they become a bigger star because of the match. The Rock was the heel Intercontinental Champion that was the champion for 265 days as well as the leader of the Nation of Domination. He grew into a cocky heel that was easy to hate, yet was so entertaining. Triple H was the leader of Degeneration X and this was their big showdown with a Ladder Match involved in Madison Square Garden. They went 25 minutes in this match. It was a very physical ladder match. At this point we really hadn't seen a lot of ladder matches other than Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon two times, so they were able to do it in a different way. It was more about using the ladder as a weapon, involving their allies at ringside and just trying to tell the story the best way they could. In the end, Triple H got the win even though he was blinded after Mark Henry threw powder in his eyes. Chyna was able to hit The Rock with a shot to the junk and Hunter managed to climb up to the win. It was one of those instances where the babyface cheating to win was okay because the heel had tried to cheat to win and failed. It was a big deal when Hunter won. The IC Title mattered because of the really long reign of The Rock. It was also the night where WWE probably realized that they had two future main event players in these two guys.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
