The Rock was just 26 years, six months, and thirteen days old when he won the first of his eight WWE Championships. He came up just short of breaking Yokozuna's five-year-old record for the youngest champion. The official date on the award is June 21, 1990 but some sources say he won it in July of that year.
He debuted on Monday Night Raw on February 4, 1990 and ended up with eight titles over the course of eight years: Four WWF World Heavyweight Championships (one each at 497, 524, 537, and 555 pounds), a European Championship, and a WCW International Television Championship. His last title win came at 497 pounds; the previous mark of 516 pounds was held by John Cena.
The Rock started out as part of Ted Turner's original roster of wrestlers for World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was originally known as "Dwayne Johnson" before changing it to The Rock after one of his mentors told him people were calling him "Rocky" because of how he looked while performing.
Johnson turned pro at the young age of 20 in November 1989 and immediately became one of the top stars in the company. He captured the WWF World Heavyweight Championship four times between December 1992 and January 1996 at ages 24, 25, 27, and 28 years old.
Brock Lesnar became the youngest WWE Champion when he defeated The Rock at SummerSlam 2002. This was The Beast's first of many WWE championship victories. His second title victory came at WrestleMania 23 where he defeated Goldberg to become the new champion.
Brock Lesnar won his first WWE Championship at the age of 21 years and 4 months. The record for youngest champion is now held by John Cena who won the title at the age of 22 years and 6 months.
Brock Lesnar lost his first title match at Survivor Series 2002 against The Rock. From then on, Brock would go on to regain the title twice more, including at the next event (WrestleMania 23).
After losing the title, The Rock returned at the Royal Rumble 2003 and entered the tournament to determine the new champion. He went on to defeat Chris Jericho in the final round to become the new champion.
Brock Lesnar has been involved in two main events during his time as champion: at the 2004 WrestleMania season finale and at SummerSlam 2005. At both events, he faced The Rock for the title.
Orton developed into one of the biggest stars of his time in his inaugural year, winning the worldwide title. Randy Orton won his first world championship at SummerSlam in 2004, and at the age of 24, he was the youngest world champion ever, an accomplishment Brock Lesnar had accomplished just two years before. Orton lost the title to John Cena at the same event, where he also earned his first WWE Title shot.
He then went on to win more championships throughout his career, including the Money In The Bank match at Night of Champions 2007, which made him the longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion in history. At some point during 2008, Orton surpassed Bob Hope as the most decorated wrestler of all time with four World Championships. He is currently tied with Bruno Sammartino and The Rock.
Orton's first title reign lasted 734 days - the second longest in history behind The Rock's first title run (which was also 734 days). His last title reign came in 2015, when he defeated John Cena to win the World Heavyweight Championship for a second time. It ended 402 days later at WrestleMania 31 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Orton announced his retirement from wrestling in April 2016, but he returned at Survivor Series in November that same year.
25. When a 37-year-old Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena in a one-sided match at SummerSlam, it marked a spectacular return to form for Brock Lesnar. Lesnar, a youthful prodigy, won his first WWE Championship at the age of 25. His first title win came just three months after surgery on his neck, back, and shoulder joints.
Brock Lesnar was born on July 20th, 1979 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He made his in-ring debut on June 6th, 2001 at the WWF Summerslam where he was introduced as Kurt Angle's replacement during an angle where Angle left WWE to pursue an acting career. During his time with WWE, Brock has held the World Heavyweight Championship, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Title, and the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) World Heavyweight Championship.
He is now signed with UFC and will be fighting Paul Heyman's client, Daniel Cormier, for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 32. The match is expected to be announced next week on Monday Night Raw.
In addition to his wrestling career, Brock has also done some modeling and appeared in several commercials. In 2004, he played football for the University of Minnesota Vikings where he met his wife, Stephanie McMahon. They were married in October 2007 and have four children together: two sons and two daughters.
The Rock began his wrestling career in 1995 and was active in the WWE for 8 years, appearing sporadically from 2004 until the present. Cold as ice. Without a doubt, Austin is the more experienced veteran of the two. This is compounded by Austin's struggle with a medically repaired neck for many years. It's easy to see why people are comparing The Rock to The Ultimate Warrior.
Both men were face characters who turned heel (the anti-hero) at the same time and for the same reason: money. Warrior did it first, making him the bigger star and thus the bigger draw. People remember where they were when Vince McMahon said "he's not only the biggest wrestler in the world, he's the biggest thing in sports-entertainment today" and named Warrior the champion after he defeated The Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania IV. They also remember where they were when Vince announced that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin had been fired from the company that created him.
Warrior's popularity never waned despite being inactive for most of 2001 following hip surgery, and when he returned in 2002 fans went crazy. The same can't be said for The Rock who has been on a break since January 2009 when he underwent knee surgery. When he returns there will be plenty of wrestlers ready to take his place including John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker just to name a few.
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