Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumble - From Worst To Best

6. Royal Rumble 2002 - Chris Jericho Vs. The Rock

Chris Jericho The Rock Royal Rumble 2002
WWE.com

If looking back at Chris Jericho's heel run as the Undisputed WWF Champion, the best match of that period was the Canadian's Royal Rumble 2002 bout against the Rock.

While audiences had craved for Y2J to become the guy in the years prior, Y2J was now dead. Gone was the eccentric, electric, energetic, babyface rockstar persona, and we instead had a Jericho who was obsessed with keeping his Undisputed Title by any means necessary.

By "any means necessary", here that meant using a low blow, an exposed turnbuckle, and then grabbing a roll-up with his feet on the ropes to get the cheap win over the Great One.

As a snivelling, shortcut-taking villain, Jericho was pitch-perfect in matches against the Rock and Steve Austin during this reign. It was only when he found himself on a collision course with Triple H that this run turned sour - with the one-time Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rollah relegated to a background player to the greater story between Trips, Stephanie McMahon, and, bizarrely, their dog Lucy.

When revisiting this 2002 match, it's no surprise to hear how the Rock and Chris Jericho regularly talk each other up as amongst their favourite opponents they've ever stepped in the ring with.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.