5 Best Title Reigns Of The Rock's Career (& 5 Worst)
Mia Lopez
Published Mar 28, 2026
The Rock is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. The People's Champion had tons of pressure on his shoulders as he is a third-generation wrestler. He's the grandson of "High Chief" Peter Maivia, and the son of "Soulman" Rocky Johnson. Rock has clinched 17 championships throughout his WWE career. He's an eight-time WWE Champion, two-time WCW Champion, and two-time Intercontinental Champion, and he won the WWE Tag Team Championship five times with three different partners.
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Whilst, Rock may be one of the all-time greats, there have been some lackluster championship reigns for his standards. However, when Rock has held a championship for a long time, he's made the championship feel meaningful, and it's a big deal when he's dropped a title.
10 Worst: WWE Championship - 2nd Reign (1999)
The Rock regained the WWE Championship from Mankind in an "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble. Their "I Quit" match was brutal, and Rock hit Mankind with several brutal unprotected chair shots to the head en route to kickstarting his second run as WWE Champion.
Rock's WWE Championship reign didn't go according to plan. It was his shortest run with the WWE Championship as his title run lasted just seven days. He dropped the title back to Mankind in an Empty Arena match on a special edition of Halftime Heat.
9 Best: Intercontinental Championship - 1st Reign (1997)
Just three months into his WWE career, The Rock as Rocky Maivia defeated his future rival Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship on a special episode of Thursday Raw Thursday in February 1997. During this time frame, fans rejected Rock as he was shoved down their throats.
Nevertheless, it was Rock's first piece of silverware and he did a good job as Intercontinental Champion. Rock successfully retained the title against Triple H at the In Your House: Final Four event. He retained the gold at WrestleMania 13 in his maiden WrestleMania outing against The Sultan. Not even Bret Hart could dethrone him for the gold, but Bret's younger brother Owen ended his two-month Intercontinental Championship run on the April 28, 1997 edition of Raw.
8 Worst: WWE Tag Team Championship - 1st Reign (1999)
The Rock and Mankind had been rivals since Survivor Series 1998, and they'd trade the WWE Championship for three months. Nonetheless, both were babyfaces, and they formed a tag team in the summer of 1999. They put their differences aside, and The Rock 'n' Connection defeated The Undertaker and Big Show for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
This title win was significant as Rock became the sixth Triple Crown winner in WWE history. The Rock 'n' Sock Connection defended the titles against the likes of Triple H with his makeshift partners of Shane McMahon and Kane. However, their title run lasted just eight days as they dropped the titles back to Undertaker and Big Show in a Buried Alive match.
7 Best: WCW Championship - 1st Reign (2001)
The WCW Championship became WWE's property in 2001, and The Rock challenged Booker T for the WCW Championship in the main event of SummerSlam. Their match was decent, and Rock added his name to a select group of wrestlers to win both the WCW and WWE Championships.
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Rock thrived as WCW Champion as he would regularly defend the title on Raw, and pay-per-view. The Great One battled past Booker T and Shane McMahon in a handicap match at Unforgiven. Ultimately, Chris Jericho finally won the "big one" at No Mercy when he dethroned Rock for his first World Championship.
6 Worst: WWE Tag Team Championship - 3rd Reign (1999)
Whilst, The Rock and Mankind are exceptional in-ring performers, their time as WWE Tag Team Champions was underwhelming. They have the unwanted record for having the shortest Tag Team Championship for teams who won the titles at least three times.
The Rock 'n' Sock Connection claimed the gold for the third and final time when they beat the New Age Outlaws for the gold on the October 14, 1999 edition of SmackDown. That was the highlight of their championship run as the Holly Cousins upset the former three-time WWE Champions for the titles.
5 Best: WWE Champion - 1st Reign (1998-99)
The Rock's maiden WWE Championship reign began at the expense of Mankind in the finals of the Deadly Games tournament at Survivor Series 1998. Rock turned heel, and he sided with the McMahons in a perfectly-executed double turn. Rock's WWE Championship reign was historical for two reasons he became the first black WWE Champion and the youngest WWE Champion in WWE history.
Rock was on another level as the Corporate Champion. For large chunks of his first WWE Championship run, he feuded with Mankind. His 50-day WWE Champion was a sign of things to come, and Mankind finally beat Rock for the title on the January 4, 1999 edition of Raw.
4 Worst: WWE Tag Team Championship - 2nd Reign (1999)
After dropping the WWE Tag Team Championship to Undertaker and Big Show in a Buried Alive match, The Rock 'n' Sock Connection was on the hunt to once again hold the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the September 20, 1999, edition of Raw, they faced Big Show, Mideon, and Viscera in a Dark Side Rules handicap match for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
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Undertaker was injured and he sat out this match. Nonetheless, The Rock 'n' Sock Connection regained the WWE Tag Team Championship. It was a pointless title run as they dropped the titles on the following episode of SmackDown to a reunited New Age Outlaws.
3 Best: Intercontinental Championship - 2nd Reign (1997-98)
The longest championship reign in The Rock's career was his second run as Intercontinental Champion. Steve Austin gifted him the title, and Rock thrived as a heel in his Intercontinental Championship run. He brought some prestige back to the Intercontinental Title with his eight-month reign as champion.
Rock battled Ken Shamrock in two physical matches at the 1998 Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 14 which saw Rock draw blood from the mouth at WrestleMania. However, the peak of his 265-day run as Intercontinental Champion was his time as the leader of the Nation, and his legendary feud with Triple H, who was the DX leader. They contested a brilliant 30-minute two-out-of-three falls match at Fully Loaded: In Your House, and a month later, the Game ended his vice-grip on the title in a ladder match at SummerSlam 1998.
2 Worst: WWE Tag Team Championship - 4th Reign (2000)
The thought of The Rock and The Undertaker working as a cohesive unit sounded like an exciting prospect. On the December 18, 2000, episode of Raw, they defeated Edge and Christian for the WWE Tag Team Championship. However, their championship run was not long for this world.
On the following episode of SmackDown, Edge and Christian invoked their rematch clause. The reigning WWE Champion Kurt Angle was the special guest referee. Angle was running buddies with Edge and Christian, therefore, it wasn't a surprise to see the Canadians reclaim their WWE Tag Team Championship with Angle counting Rock's shoulders down.
1 Best: WWE Championship - 5th Reign (2000)
By the time 2000 rolled around, The Rock was at the top of his game with Steve Austin and The Undertaker on the shelf for parts of the year. However, at King of the Ring, Rock captured the WWE Championship for the fifth time in a six-man tag team match.
Rock's 119-day run as WWE Champion was his longest with the gold. His popularity was unrivaled during this time frame, and he overcame Triple H and Kurt Angle in a successful title defense at SummerSlam. Rock's time as WWE Champion came to a halt by Angle in a No Disqualification match at No Mercy, all thanks to outside interference from Rikishi.
