5 Best Mankind Vs The Rock Matches (& 5 Worst)

They are two of the most recognizable wrestlers and one of the hardest-working pairs in the WWE. When thinking back to the Attitude Era, The Rock and Mankind are two of the most stand out wrestlers of the time up there with other greats like Stone Cold and the Undertaker.

The Rock and Mankind were very well known for their incredible tag team The Rock 'n' Sock Connection when they formed together on August 30th, 1999. They held the WWF World Tag Team Championships three times but this did not stop them going at each other in a number of spectacular matches and some not so great matches.

10 Disappointing: Raw Is War 1999, Pink Slip On A Pole Match

On Monday Night Raw episode broadcast on 27th of December 1999, we were given Mankind vs The Rock in a Pink Slip on a Pole match where both competitors would compete to save their WWF career by collecting the pink slip on the pole. This is not the first match we would see The Rock vs Mankind but one of the worst between them. Nevertheless, this is far from an awful match at all and is pretty iconic looking back at their feud with The Rock picking up the win and would mean Mankind would be fired but no, Mankind was rehired instantly after.

9 Excellent: Smackdown, October 21st, 1999

Smackdown's October 21st, 1999 episode had a fairly ordinary match between The Rock and Mankind. This match was a very good match for a normal episode of Smackdown, not going as over the top as they would on a pay per view.

This match had a number of great highlights. They found themselves fighting in the crowd, a great moment as they both traded a few punches to each other. Mankind delivering a reversed suplex to The Rock on the hard steel entrance ramp served up another highlight.

8 Disappointing: Raw Is War, March 22nd, 1999

The Rock was the WWF Champion and about to deliver yet another great match with Mankind. This was on a whole another level compared to the last entries. There was plenty of great action, even the referee got involved when Mankind's attack missed The Rock and knocked the referee down. The Rock used this to his advantage when Big Show makes an appearance and delivered a choke-slam to Mankind. This backfired when he was caught in the act and meant Mankind won by disqualification.

7 Excellent: Royal Rumble 1999 I Quit Match

One of the greatest matches at the Royal Rumble in 1999 with an I Quit match between The Rock and Mankind. This match featured some amazing moves and parts you will unfortunately never see again in WWE.

Mankind was handcuffed and took a lot of unprotected chair shots to the head from the Rock. Health and safety were very relaxed back in this period of wrestling entertainment. The Rock picked up the victory in an amazing match.

6 Disappointing: Smackdown, September 2nd, 1999

This match was to decide who would challenge for the WWF championship held by Triple H, so the current Tag Team Champions would compete against each other to gain an opportunity. Mankind had the better of The Rock before Shane McMahon got involved, calling down the champion at the time Triple H and Chyna down to attack the would-be contenders, making it a double disqualification.

5 Excellent: Halftime Heat, 1999

Arguably one of the strangest matches ever to have been made with no crowd. While it is pretty normal now, but back in 1999, it was unheard of.

The match took place during the Super Bowl 1999 Half Time show, competing for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in a falls count anywhere match. Mankind picked up the win to make him a two time WWF champion.

4 Disappointing: Sunday Night Heat, August 2nd, 1998

In a Tag Team battle, The Rock and his tag partner Owen Heart went against the infamous Kane and Mankind in a battle to determine who would go on and battle Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker for the Tag Team Championships.

The match was very one-sided with The Rock and Owen Heart making a mess of Mankind with frequent tags between the pair but it all changed when Kane entered the ring and looked to take control of the match. Despite this, after an intense fight on the outside of the ring, The Rock and Owen Heart won by a count-out and an opportunity for the Tag Team Championships.

3 Excellent: Breakdown, 1998

What wrestling fan doesn't enjoy a steel cage match? Everyone at home was treated to this amazing match for a chance at the WWF Heavyweight Championship.

The Rock, Mankind, and Ken Shamrock fought in a brutal steel cage match which is highly recommended to go back and watch. There were numerous great battles between all three protagonists in this match and many attempts were made to flee through the door and get an easy win. Unfortunately for Mankind, after climbing to the top of the cage, The Rock pinned Ken Shamrock for the win.

2 Disappointing: In Your House, May 11th, 1997

"In Your House" gave us a pretty explosive match between the pair with The Rock going back to one of his favorite moves, the Suplex, on the entrance ramp.

This gets a pretty amazing crowd pop every time. This match ended in a Mandible Claw delivered by Mankind to pick up the win. This was one of the better matches we saw between the two of them thankfully as there had been some pretty awful matches before.

1 Excellent: Monday Night Raw, January 4th, 1999

The greatest match we would ever see would see between The Rock and Mankind was on an episode of Monday Night Raw. The pair would battle it out in one of the most grueling of matches ever to be seen between them, let alone the whole of the WWF even to this day. Stone Cold Steve Austin delivers one of the greatest moments in this match, returning to help Mankind win his first-ever WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

NEXT: 10 Of The Best Mankind Vs Rock Matches Ranked