Ah, it’s the dawn of the McMahon-Helmsley era in full effect. The surprise in this match is that Triple H had absolutely everything going in his favor with not just Stephanie, which was common practice by this point, but also Vince in his corner, and Shane as the guest referee. Even Linda, upholding whatever valor might be left in the McMahon name at the time as the contrarian to the evil of the others, trying to even the odds by putting “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in The Rock’s corner was seemingly thwarted when Vince announced that Austin would not be appearing after all, just as the match was set to begin.

With the cards stacked against The Rock, it was clear that it would take all sorts of hoopla for Triple H not to win, and all sorts of hoopla is exactly what we got. The Rock was a force at this point, so the fact that he battled through was no shock to anyone — and a double Rock Bottom on HHH and Shane through the Spanish announce table was a pretty damn cool spot that seemed to turn the tides. Eventually, though, Vince hits the ring for a low blow, HHH hits a Pedigree, and Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco come out with referee shirts on, only to join in on the beatdown after an unsuccessful three count. After Vince blasts The Rock with a chair, finally, Austin makes his way to the ring with chair shots for all, including a pair for Hunter before he heads backstage. Linda joins the fray with Earl Hebner in tow, shoving Steph down, and then Rock hits a spinebuster and The People’s Elbow. From there, it’s an oddly slow 1-2-3 from Hebner and all odds are defied and The Rock is your new WWF Champion.