10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 1999
7. The Rock Had Several Visual Wins
Triple H won the WWF Title (with some help from Shane McMahon) on the 23 August edition of Raw. Three nights later, he was booked against The Rock in a mega-main event on SmackDown's full debut episode. The company even brought in Shawn Michaels to act as special guest ref.
Though the match wasn't their best, something else stood out as Rock and Hunter traded blows: The Rock was handed several visual wins over the new champ. Chyna distracted HBK following a DDT early, and Shane stopped another pin attempt later on by doing the same. Then, HBK waffled Rocky with some Sweet Chin Music come the end.
The WWF made it pretty clear that Rock would've won the belt had Trips' pals not come through for him. It was an interesting way to book someone who had only started his first reign as the top champion in the company, put it that way.
Triple H looked second best here.