The Rock's WrestleMania Matches - From Worst To Best

9. Vs. Ken Shamrock - WrestleMania XIV

The following WrestleMania also saw Dwayne Johnson defend the Intercontinental Championship, but the circumstances could not have been more different. Rocky Maivia had taken the desires of the fans on board and died a death, only to be resurrected as The Rock. This didn't bring the fans onside but it wasn't supposed to; Rock was now one of the fastest-rising heels in the company. His opponent was a completely different prospect altogether, and in many ways indicative of the change in direction professional wrestling had taken. At 'Mania 13 it was The Sultan, a cartoonish character with two wacky, anachronistic managers. At WMXIV he faced Ken Shamrock, a man with very real pedigree in the mixed martial arts world. Rock had managed to hold on to his IC strap over the previous months mostly through a combination of luck and numbers, with The World's Most Dangerous Man being thwarted at every turn. That trend would continue at WrestleMania XIV, frustratingly so. The match itself is over in a blink of an eye, Shamrock getting Rock to tap to the ankle lock, only for Kenny boy to snap after match and force the referee's to reverse the decision. It got Shamrock over as a genuine loose cannon and kept the belt on The Rock, but the match itself was pretty forgettable.