7 Things You Should Know About WWE Royal Rumble 2002

5. Chris Jericho Found A Way To Beat The Rock Again

Chris Jericho's rivalry with The Rock was one of the best in WWE in 2001/2002. Jericho was usually the heel in their matches while Rock was a top babyface. Their matches came at a time when Rock was already an established top guy while Jericho was fighting to get there. Jericho won his first World Title at No Mercy 2001 in October when he won the WCW Title from Rock. Two months later at Vengeance, Jericho beat Rock and Austin in the same night to become the Undisputed World Champion that had the WWE & WCW Titles. The build for this match featured Jericho talking about how he wasn't a joke and that Rock should take him seriously with Rock telling him he was serious. That set up the matchup as a competitive battle between two of the best performers in WWE while Jericho still had a lot to prove. Jericho looked impressive for much of the match, but the tide turned when The Rock gave him a Rock Bottom off the Spanish announce table and drove him through the English announce table. In those years, table spots happened all the time, so it was no surprise. That led to Rock making a big comeback and looked poised to win, but Jericho successfully applied the Walls of Jericho. A ref bump followed soon after. The Rock made the big comeback with a DDT, then a Rock Bottom on corrupt ref Nick Patrick, a Spinebuster on Jericho and a People's Elbow, but referee Earl Hebner was still unable to count the pin. It was a false finish. Jericho capitalized with a low blow, then he tossed Rock head first into the exposed turnbuckle and thanks to his feet on the ropes, Jericho pinned Rock for the win after Hebner recovered. It was a thrilling matchup between two of the best wrestlers ever that is underrated just because there were so many other amazing matches in their careers.