9 Wrestlers Who Stole The Rock's Rock Bottom Finisher
Finishing maneuvers have been a part of professional wrestling for many years as it usually signifies the closing stages of a match when a wrestler is looking to put their opponent away. However, in marquee matches, there are instances where a wrestler would kick out of their opponent's finisher multiple times.
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The Rock has a couple of finishers in his repertoire between the Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow. The Great One has won several World Championships with the Rock Bottom, and he gets a pop from the crowd whenever he hits the move. However, Rock has been on the receiving end of the Rock Bottom on multiple instances and other wrestlers have used the move in matches that didn't involve The Rock.
9 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar won the 2002 King of the Ring tournament, and he challenged The Rock for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event of SummerSlam 2002. The Next Big Thing dominated the bout with ease, and fans were booing Rock since he was leaving WWE to embark on an acting career in Hollywood.
Chants of "Let's go Lesnar" reverberated around the arena. Nevertheless, Rock connected with the Rock Bottom, but Lesnar got up and laid out Rock with a Rock Bottom of his own. Lesnar didn't need to win the match with the Rock Bottom, as he put Rock away with the F5 to become the youngest WWE Champion in history at the age of 25.
8 Edge
The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc throughout the world, but the show carried on in WWE. Edge and Randy Orton slugged it out in the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" in the Performance Center at Backlash 2020. They closed out the show in a match that lasted almost 45 times.
Unfortunately, the Rated-R Superstar tore his triceps which ruled him out of action until January 2021. Nonetheless, the WWE Hall of Famer connected with the Rock Bottom which was unexpected. A few of their rivals' and tag team partners' finishers were used in this bout. Ultimately, Orton avenged his WrestleMania loss with an RKO.
7 Hollywood Hogan
The true main event of WrestleMania 18 was The Rock's epic with Hollywood Hogan. They stole the show in a fantastic wrestling match with Rock getting booed despite being the babyface. Hogan competed at WrestleMania for the first time in nine years, and it was a performance to remember.
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Whilst, the referee was knocked down, and "Rocky Sucks" chants were audible, Hogan low-blowed Rock and connected with the Rock Bottom. Fans popped when Hogan hit Rock with his own finisher. They had a match for the ages with Rock securing a major win.
6 Kurt Angle
Arguably, the greatest triple threat match in WWE history is the battle for The Undertaker's WWE Championship with The Rock and Kurt Angle as his challengers at Vengeance 2002. The action was fast-paced, and all three played their part to make this match memorable.
Undertaker, Rock, and Angle used each other's respective finishers. Rock executed a chokeslam on Undertaker, Angle nailed Rock with the Rock Bottom, and Undertaker countered the Angle Slam, by laying out Angle with his own move. Rock went on to make history as the first-ever seven-time WWE Champion as he covered Angle with Undertaker narrowly missing out to break up the count.
5 Becky Lynch
Carmella had her hands full in her SmackDown Women's Championship title defense at SummerSlam 2018. She defended the title in a triple threat match against former champions Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.
Lynch was the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion and she was looking to win the gold for a second time. The Queen attempted the big boot but Lynch blocked it and executed the Rock Bottom. Lynch uses the Manhandle Slam which is similar to the Rock Bottom. Nonetheless, Charlotte regained the championship, but Lynch turned heel afterward and the Man was born.
4 Triple H
The rivalry between Triple H and The Rock in the spring and summer months of 2000 saw them collide with the WWE Championship at stake. On the May 18, 2000, edition of SmackDown, the deck was stacked against The Rock as he squared off with the Dudley Boyz in a handicap lumberjack tables match.
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The McMahon-Helmsley faction got involved and Rock was going to put Triple H through a table but X-Pac intervened and saved Triple H. The Game took a leaf out of Rock's book and he put Rock through the table with the Rock Bottom.
3 Goldberg
Backlash 2003 was Goldberg's first match in a WWE ring and he was up against The Rock. The former World Champions main evented the show, but the match wasn't the greatest.
Goldberg stole The Rock's Rock Bottom in the match which seemed random. The fans were disinterested in the match, but the result was inevitable with Goldberg seeing off Rock with the Jackhammer.
2 John Cena
For the second year in succession, The Rock and John Cena main evented WrestleMania. This time the stakes were higher as John Cena won the 2013 Royal Rumble match, and he challenged The Rock for the WWE Championship. The sequel never reached the heights that the original did as Rock tore his adductor.
Cena was desperate to avenge his loss to Rock at WrestleMania 28. Rock attempted the Rock Bottom but Big Match John blocked it, and he executed the Rock Bottom. Cena was in shock when Rock kicked out, but there was a sense of predictability with Cena regaining the WWE Championship.
1 Steve Austin
The Rock and Steve Austin clashed at WrestleMania 19 which was their third WrestleMania meeting in five years. However, there was no WWE Championship match in the main event like their previous two WrestleMania matches.
Rock was showboating which allowed Austin the chance to recover. The Texas Rattlesnake connected with the Rock Bottom, but Rock used Austin's stunner in the match too. Nevertheless, it took three Rock Bottoms for the Great One to register his first WrestleMania victory over Austin. This turned out to be Austin's final wrestling match for 19 years until WrestleMania 38.
