The Rock and Chris Jericho became rivals in 2001, but their first interactions were in 1999 when Jericho made his WWE debut on the August 9, 1999 edition of Raw. Nevertheless, their underrated feud heated up during the Invasion storyline when both were representing WWE, but they were at loggerheads with the WCW Championship involved.
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Their rivalry is often overlooked because both have had bigger rivals throughout their illustrious WWE careers. Furthermore, Jericho and Rock's matches together were always competitive contests with both desperate to get the upper hand over the other.
8 Raw (10/4/99)
The October 4, 1999 edition of Raw featured the first meeting between Chris Jericho and The Rock. Curtis Hughes attacked Rock from behind giving Jericho the early advantage. Hughes repeatedly interfered and Jericho locked in the Walls of Jericho.
The action moved to the outside of the ring, and the lights went out during the match momentarily. Furthermore, Jericho hit Rock with a ring bell but he kicked out. Nevertheless, Rock hit Jericho with a Rock Bottom on the chair, and Rock knocked Hughes off the apron, and he finished off Jericho with the People's Elbow.
7 SmackDown (4/20/00)
The Rock and Chris Jericho were pitted against each other on the April 20, 2000 episode of SmackDown in a lumberjack match. Rock and Jericho were both public enemy number of D-Generation X. The likes of the Dudleys, Kurt Angle, Big Boss Man, Bull Buchanan, and the Radicalz joined DX as lumberjacks. The in-ring action was decent, and Jericho almost clinched a win over Rock with a lionsault.
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X-Pac entered the ring when the referee was distracted and he nailed Rock with the X-Factor but he kicked out. Rock was close to winning with the Rock Bottom but DX interfered once again. Triple H saw an opening as he clocked Rock with the WWE Championship, and Jericho registered his first win over the Great One.
6 SmackDown (4/4/02)
The Rock and Chris Jericho clashed for the final time on the April 4, 2002 taping of SmackDown. Before things got underway, Rock and Jericho fought on the outside of the ring. Jericho attempted the Walls of Jericho but Rock grabbed the ropes.
Rock retaliated with the Sharpshooter but the referee was knocked down. Moreover, there was outside interference from Kurt Angle, who executed the Angle Slam on Rock. Jericho was unable to capitalize, and Rock finally snapped his losing streak against Jericho by putting him away with the Rock Bottom.
5 Raw (10/30/00)
The stakes were high in The Rock and Chris Jericho's clash on the October 30, 2000 edition of Raw as the winner would become the number one contender for Kurt Angle's WWE Championship. They wasted no time in fighting in the aisleway, and Jericho hit Rock with a flying forearm and he dominated the early stages.
Rock rallied back as expected, and the referee knocked down Jericho attempted to hit Rock with a steel chair but he missed. Rikishi was at ringside to watch the drama unfold, but Rock managed to weather the storm as the Rock Bottom was enough to seal Jericho's fate, and he went on to face Angle for the WWE Championship on the forthcoming episode of SmackDown.
4 Raw (11/5/01)
The Rock was looking to recapture the WCW Championship from Chris Jericho on the November 5, 2001, episode of Raw. Neither competitor held back in another remarkable wrestling match between the bitter rivals.
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The action spilled onto the outside of the ring with Jericho putting Rock through the broadcast table with his new finisher the Breakdown. Rock was wearing the proverbial crimson mask, but nothing was going to halt him from defeating Jericho to kickstart his second WCW Championship reign.
3 Vengeance 2001
Chris Jericho and The Rock were drawn against each other in the semifinals of the tournament at Vengeance 2001 to crown the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion with The Rock's World Championship at stake. Jericho and Rock didn't fail to disappoint with another barnburner of a wrestling match.
They were evenly matched, and Rock put Jericho through the announce table with a DDT. Nonetheless, Jericho expertly worked on Rock's legs with submission holds and he was close to forcing Rock to submit with a Boston Crab but he reached the ropes. In the closing stages, Mr. McMahon interfered and distracted the referee. That bought Jericho some time to regroup, and he defeated Rock with the Rock Bottom, advancing to face Steve Austin and he became the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion.
2 Royal Rumble 2002
The rivalry between Chris Jericho and The Rock spilled over into 2002, and there were huge WrestleMania implications at stake as Jericho defended the Undisputed WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. There's no surprise that they tore the house down in another high-quality match between the pair.
Jericho received a helping hand from Lance Storm and Christian, who didn't hesitate to get involved in proceedings. Furthermore, a broadcast table break seems to be the norm in their matches as Rock put Jericho through the announce table with his patented Rock Bottom. It was a valiant effort from the People's Champion, and Y2J resorted to cheating by putting his feet on the ropes for leverage in a successful title defense.
1 No Mercy 2001
The Rock mocked Chris Jericho for never winning the big one, and Jericho was looking to get a monkey off his back as Y2J challenged Rock for the WCW Championship at No Mercy 2001. Unquestionably, this was the best match of the night, and it easily could have gone on last, but Steve Austin's triple threat match with Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam for the WWE Championship got the nod.
Jericho hadn't turned heel yet and he received a better reaction than Rock. The reigning WCW Champion put Jericho through the broadcast table. The owner of ECW, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley interfered in the match and she didn't come empty-handed as she brought a chair into the ring. Ultimately, Jericho took advantage by executing the Breakdown on the chair to become WCW Champion for the first time in his career.
