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

Until The Rock battled Chris Benoit in the main event of Fully Loaded 2000, he had never shared the ring with such a tenacious and intense technical wrestler. Arguably the biggest star in the industry at that point, he had not been forced into a situation where he had to prove himself to anyone in many a year. He clearly took the task of headlining a pay-per-view, against the man many considered to be pound-for-pound best wrestler on the planet, incredibly seriously.

The result was an superb main event that still featured some of the same Attitude Era brawling elements but was primarily focused between the ropes.

At a time when Rock was known for his punches and kicks, signature moves and finishers, he broke out an arsenal of maneuvers that few knew he possessed. At one point, he even executed a perfect dragon whip and trapped Benoit in a Figure Four. He exploded with a lariat that turned the Canadian Crippler inside out and sold the hell out of his opponent's offense.

Most importantly though, the match introduced to the WWE faithful a Rock who could blend a better-than-advertised ring game with the Attitude Era brawls, not to mention his unmatched in-ring charisma, making him a complete package unlike any the industry had ever seen. While his submission work never really looked as effective as his opponents, he knew where to fit the moves, when to deliver them and what the reaction would be. Those are all signs of a master of in-ring psychology, something Rock is never rightfully credited with being.

Benoit pulled more out of The Rock than anyone had to that point. He had worked with Austin and Triple H, Undertaker and Kane in main event matches but it was the Edmonton, Alberta native that forced Rock to dip into his bag of tricks and forever change the perceptions fans had of him as an in-ring performer.

In that respect, Benoit ranks as one of Rock's most important opponents ever.