The Rock vs. Chris Jericho for the WWF Undisputed Championship, from WWF Royal Rumble 2002

Proof that Y2J’s first world title reign could have been so much more than what we got. The Rock has always been underrated between the ropes (folks tend to think he’s a good promo and little else) and he’s got a heck of a director in Jericho, who provides both a rocking athleticism to the bout and a cowardly heel counterpoint to Rock’s cult of personality, and the result is a fiercely contested bout whose nearly-twenty minutes flies by. Some prefer their previous, cleaner bout at No Mercy, but I’ll forever argue this had the better finish of the two.

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