8 Times The Rock's Wrestling Skills Eclipsed His Promo Abilities

On the heels of the Triple Threat match that reaffirmed The Rock's place in WWE as one of its premier performers, The Great One arrived at SummerSlam 2002 for an undisputed title defense against Brock Lesnar. The Rock's presence not only ensured a quality main event that could live up to the lofty expectations of fans, but also firmly established Lesnar as the next big thing in professional wrestling. At a time when the WWE roster was in question, with a wealth of stars but no one truly reliable enough to regularly deliver under the brightest lights, Rock once again stepped up to the proverbial plate and hit one long out of the park.

There are many who will look at Lesnar circa 2002 and incorrectly tout his early career greatness. In fact, the SummerSlam bout was an epic carry job by Rock, who had been in so many of those high-profile matches throughout the course of his iconic career that he understood exactly what spots to fit where in order to generate a strong reaction and build up the quality of the match.

He would never again headline another summertime spectacular for WWE, but he created a new star who would, a Beast Incarnate who remains one of the most must-see stars in the business. In the process, he also solidified his status as the most generous mega star that wrestling has ever churned out.