10 Greatest WWE Champions Ever
5. The Rock
Stone Cold Steve Austin was notoriously protective of his top spot in WWE's ultra-competitive late-1990s locker room, having survived some chronic treatment from WCW's topline and witnessed the impossible push and pull between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels a year earlier.
Rocky Maivia wasn't any old up-and-comer though. Watch any Dwayne Johsnon footage from late-1997 onwards - when it comes to putting a thumb on any performer's momentum, you can't stop The Rock. If only Country music fan Austin had heeded Apollo 440's warnings, he may not have bothered trying it when they were feuding over the Intercontinental Title.
Even 'The Rattlesnake' couldn't quash 'The Great One's inexorable march to glory. He was tailor-made to carry the WWE Title as McMahon's corporate choice, exactly as he was to be an *ss-kicking babyface foil when Stone Cold went on the shelf in 2000. Only in Hart and Michaels had Vince had two guys desperate to be Number One, and neither were them were consistent box office draws. The Rock was the other half of McMahon's wildest dream.