Here's How Many Times The Rock Won The WWE World Title
While Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has become a major box office draw in the world of Hollywood, fans of pro wrestling will never forget the run with WWE that made him "The Great One." Widely regarded as "the most electrifying man in sports entertainment" due to his ability to entertain and hold an audience in the palm of his hand, The Rock brings a presence and energy that no other WWE superstar in history has been able to emulate. To put it simply, there is nobody quite like The Rock. When he does make an appearance — albeit very rarely these days — it grabs everybody's attention and leaves fans wanting more.
Johnson's rise to stardom in WWE was no easy feat. Though he hails from the legendary Anoa'i family tree, he was initially rejected by mid-1990s wrestling fans, who turned their back on him and even went as far as to chant "Die, Rocky, die." His fortunes changed when he turned heel, however, joining the Nation of Domination and showcasing his natural charisma and knack for captivating an audience — even when he was insulting them. In 1998, fan reactions began to sway in his favor, which resulted in him being catapulted into the main event scene and officially shortening his name to "The Rock." The next five years saw a run of success that would take Johnson straight to the silver screen, and of course, it included multiple WWE Championships.
But just how many world titles has The Rock won in WWE? It's time for a closer look at each of the Brahma Bull's WWE title victories.
1. Deadly Game
The Rock's first world championship reign began at the Survivor Series pay-per-view in 1998. During the event, in the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant World Wrestling Federation Championship, The Rock defeated Big Boss Man, Ken Shamrock, and The Undertaker to advance to the finals.
After already competing in three matches — albeit the one against Big Boss Man lasting just three seconds — the finals match headlined the show in St Louis, Missouri, and the Brahma Bull defeated Mankind by submission to capture the gold for the first time in his career. However, the finale was not without controversy. While The Rock had Mankind locked in a sharpshooter, then-WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon called for the bell to be rung despite Mankind not submitting. The scenario was a callback to the previous year's already-notorious Survivor Series event in Montreal, where McMahon legitimately screwed Bret "The Hitman" Hart before his departure to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), abruptly calling for the bell to be rung while Shawn Michaels had him in a sharpshooter. The Deadly Game finish resulted in a double turn, as The Rock turned heel and aligned with McMahon's Corporation stable, while Mankind, previously a McMahon ally, turned face.
2. I Quit
On the January 4, 1999, episode of "Raw Is War," now known as "WWE Raw," Mankind defeated The Rock to become the WWF Champion in a No Disqualification match. The victory is fondly remembered for the comments made by Tony Schiavone — who did commentary for WCW, WWE's rival promotion — during the opposing live episode of "Nitro," as he gave away the results of the taped "Raw" broadcast and revealed that Mankind had won the WWF title, sarcastically claiming, "That'll put some butts in the seats!" As it turned out, "Raw" won the television ratings battle that night, as fans changed channels en masse to watch Mankind win.
Following Mankind's triumph, a rematch was set for the following Royal Rumble PPV, with an "I Quit" stipulation added to it. Again, controversy struck the finish in Anaheim, California. When the brawl entered the backstage area and The Rock had Mankind laid out, audio played of Mankind uttering the words "I quit" three times in a row while The Great One had a microphone up against Mankind's face. The only problem was, the audio was not live, and were recorded words spoken by Mankind in the build up to the bout — the plan was instigated by Rock's fellow Corporation member, Shane McMahon. Nevertheless, The Rock's second reign began and his feud with Mankind continued, ultimately resulting in The People's Champion dropping the title again to Mankind in an Empty Arena match during "Halftime Heat" in the intermission of Super Bowl XXXIII.
3. The Big Show's debut
A few short weeks after Mankind won the WWF Championship for the second time in his career, he and The Rock collided once more, this time in a ladder match on "Raw Is War." Towards the end of the battle, Paul Wight, better known to modern fans as The Big Show, chokeslammed Mankind from a ladder, allowing the Brahma Bull to claim his third WWE Championship, once again concluding the match in controversial fashion. Wight had joined WWE the week prior after coming over from WCW and made his first appearance at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House event, immediately aligning himself with McMahon's Corporation.
Afterward, The Rock went on to defend the gold against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a losing effort at WrestleMania 15, with Mankind serving as the special guest referee. The Great One lost the title after a back-and-forth bout which saw Austin finally connect with a Stone Cold Stunner to take home the prize.
4. McMahon family drama
It would be over a year before The Rock got to claim his fourth WWF Championship, but during that period without the gold around his waist, his popularity soared, and he turned face once again. After falling short in the fatal four-way "McMahon in every corner" WWF Championship match at WrestleMania XVI thanks to Vince McMahon turning on him, The Rock got the opportunity to face the champion, Triple H, at Backlash a few weeks later. With McMahon now looking out for the best interests of Triple H, he assigned his son, Shane McMahon, to serve as the special guest referee for the contest.
After involvement from Vince, Pat Patterson, and Gerald Brisco, as well as questionable officiating from Shane, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin appeared to take out the quartet, before Linda McMahon, Vince's wife, appeared with referee Earl Hebner to count The Rock's victory after he performed the People's Elbow.
5. Six-Man Tag
The Rock would drop the WWF Championship back to Triple H in a 60-minute Iron Man match at the Judgment Day PPV, which took place the following month after Backlash. The People's Champion, however, would get his rematch at King of the Ring in June 2000, though the bout would be a six-man tag team match. The Rock teamed up with The Undertaker and Kane against Triple H, Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon, with the stipulation being that if someone was able to claim the fall from The Rock's team, that individual would become the WWF Champion. In the end, after Vince attempted his own version of the People's Elbow, The Rock countered it into a Rock Bottom and scored the victory to win the WWF title for the fifth time.
The Rock would hold onto the gold throughout the summer, but would ultimately succumb to defeat against Kurt Angle at that year's No Mercy PPV in a No Disqualification match.
6. Winning it all in Vegas
After months of attempting to claw his way back to the top of the mountain to claim his sixth WWF Championship, The Rock would eventually claim that sixth reign in Las Vegas, Nevada, at No Way Out in 2001, when the Great One met the man who took the title from him, Kurt Angle, in a one-on-one bout. After a series of near-falls, The Rock would clinch the victory with a Rock Bottom, setting him well on his way to that year's WrestleMania event as the reigning WWF Champion.
The Brahma Bull would go on to face that year's Royal Rumble winner, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, in the main event of WrestleMania X-7 — an event widely considered the greatest WrestleMania in WWE history. The Rock would lose to Austin for the second time on the grandest stage, after Vince McMahon stunned the world, aligning with arch-nemesis Austin by handing him a steel chair. Austin repeatedly used the steel chair as a weapon on The Rock before sealing the victory and celebrating with his former enemy.
7. The record-breaker
With The Rock's popularity at an all-time high in the WWF, he would transition over to the world of Hollywood in 2001 to film scenes for The Scorpion King. This would mean that The Great One would step away from his WWE duties for the time being, and put his quest for a seventh world title on hold. He would eventually capture it, however, in the summer of 2002, after the WWF had officially become WWE and the WWF Championship had likewise become the WWE Championship. Competing in a triple threat match against Kurt Angle and then-WWE Champion The Undertaker at the Vengeance PPV, The Rock would hit a Rock Bottom on Angle to capture the title, taking advantage of the triple threat rules which allowed the championship to change hands even if the champion wasn't involved in the finish. At the time, this seventh title reign was a WWE record, as The Rock broke the tie he had previously held with Steve Austin.
The Rock would notably drop the title to Brock Lesnar at the 2002 SummerSlam event, a match that saw Lesnar become — at the time — the youngest WWE Champion in history.
8. Silencing the Voice of the Voiceless
The Rock's full-time WWE career officially wound down after his 2002 defeat by Lesnar, and he made the permanent move to the silver screen, albeit making sporadic appearances for WWE in the years that followed. One of those appearances was between 2011 and 2013, when he feuded with John Cena. During that feud, The Rock captured his eighth WWE Championship by defeating CM Punk at the 2013 Royal Rumble. The villainous Punk had been retaining his title in recent months due to interference from a new, dominant faction known as The Shield — comprised of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose (now known a AEW's Jon Moxley) and The Rock's own cousin, Roman Reigns, all of whom have gone on to become multi-time world champions — and as a result, Vince McMahon had declared that if CM Punk was disqualified due to such interference, he would lose the championship. The Shield did, in fact, intervene, and McMahon came out to carry out his order — but The Rock refused, insisting that he would be the one to defeat Punk, despite the fact that The Shield had just powerbombed him through the announce table.
The Rock did go on to win the match, ultimately introducing the title into his rematch with Cena at WrestleMania 29 — The Rock had previously defeated Cena at WrestleMania 28 in a match dubbed as "Once in a Lifetime," without the championship involved. This time, however, he would lose to Cena in the WrestleMania main event.