Buy it Now Price £7.95

The Rock vs. Triple H in a 60-Minute WWE Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship with guest referee Shawn Michaels

In April 2000, The Rock defeated Triple H at Backlash to claim the WWE Championship. A rematch was set for the next month at Judgment Day; it was made a 60-Minute Iron Man Match, and the winner would be the man who scored the most falls within the 60-minute time limit. On top of that, this was the second straight Backlash main event to have a special referee; in this case, it was Shawn Michaels.

The Rock started out quickly, and Triple H fled the ring after a series of near falls. Once back in, The Game took control with a single-arm DDT and worked The Rock’s arm, but The Great One hit a Rock Bottom at the 11-minute mark to score the first fall.

As the next fall began, the two combatants brawled on the floor. Triple H sent The Rock into the barrier, but missed a running knee, and The Great One worked The Game’s knee on the floor. Back inside, The Rock applied a Figure-Four Leglock, but Triple H was eventually able to reverse it. After brawling out into the crowd, Triple H was able to nail the Pedigree to take the second fall. Following the mandatory rest period, The Game caught a still groggy Rock in a small package, quickly taking a 2 falls to 1 lead.

The Rock then left the ring to recover, and the two men brawled in the aisle. Rock took control, but back inside the ring, Triple H reversed a spinebuster into a facebuster. He then nailed a piledriver, getting the pin to go up 3-1. Triple H tried to go aerial to begin the next fall, but The Rock slammed him off the top rope. Triple H regained control and applied a Sleeper Hold, but Rock escaped with a belly to belly suplex. The Rock then quickly hit his signature floatover DDT to get the pinfall and pull to within 3-2.

Visibly upset, Triple H rolled out of the ring, and The Rock followed. They brawled on the floor to begin the next fall, and Triple H nailed Rock with a chair. That drew a disqualification, evening the score at 3-3; however, after the mandatory rest period, The Rock was still out of it, so Triple H rolled him into the ring for an immediate pinfall, giving him a 4-3 lead. Triple H then applied another Sleeper as the next fall began, and a still woozy Rock was unable to escape, giving Triple H a 5-3 lead with about 10 minutes left.

As the next fall began, Triple H and Michaels got into an altercation, allowing Rock to recover. He sent The Game flying over the top rope, and they brawled on the floor. Back inside the ring, both men were down after a Rock superplex, and after a quick two count, they headed to the floor again. After running Rock into the stairs, Triple H tried to give Rock a Rock Bottom through the announce table. Instead, The Rock reversed, and gave The Game a taste of his own medicine, hitting a Pedigree on the table. Rock rolled back in the ring and Triple H was counted out, cutting his lead to 5-4.

The McMahon-Helmsley regime then made their way to ringside to try to but Triple H time, but The Rock fought them all off, then rolled The Game back into the ring. After a quick People’s Elbow, Rock got a pin to tie the score at 5-5 with about two minutes left.

After Shawn Michaels was knocked down in the final two minutes, D-Generation X charged the ring to help The Game. As they did, Undertaker made a startling return, chokeslamming all of DX, including Triple H. However, right before the time limit expired, Michaels had recovered; having seen Undertaker’s attack, he called for a disqualification, giving the fall to Triple H. That gave him a 6-5 lead, and with the time limit having expired, The Game was awarded the match and his fourth WWE Championship.