The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 9

The Rock (April 30, 2000 - May 21, 2000)

The Rock: Finally regained the WWE Championship at Backlash 2000

The Rock's third WWE Championship reign ended on March 28, 1999 when he lost in the main event of WrestleMania XV to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

He had to wait 13 months to regain the title. His first title win as a babyface occurred when he overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to defeat Triple H at Backlash, held on April 30, 2000.

However, the wait was worthwhile. Rock's long title chase resulted in Backlash, a B-level pay per view, pulling an incredible 675,000 buys, only 150,000 less than WrestleMania the previous month.

Triple H's brother in law, Shane McMahon, was the referee and his wife, Stephanien and father in law, Vince McMahon, were stationed at ringside and interfered at will to aid "The Game" in retaining the gold.

Rock had enlisted the assistance of former rival, Stone Cold Steve Austin, to assist him versus the McMahons but Austin had not shown up at the arena. The suggestion was the McMahons had somehow waylaid him on his way to the show.

However, deep into the bout, Austin would appear and lay out McMahon and his cronies, leveling the playing field for Rock to earn the pin and the title.

Rock was champion again. However, just like all three of his previous title runs, it was to be a fleeting reign.