However, as any fan will attest, partnerships within a faction don't last forever in wrestling. Farooq eventually got tired of The Rock, who became increasingly more arrogant. Farooq left the Nation, and The Rock took over as leader. Later in the year, the NOD had a hilarious feud with DX (who could forget Triple H's Rock impersonation?). Eventually, the Nation disbanded altogether, and The Rock turned babyface for a short period, while battling former Nation mates Mark Henry and D'lo Brown. However, at Survivior Series 98' shortly after, Vince Mcmahon revealed The Rock to be "The Corporate Champion". Rock's opponent Mankind was double-crossed out of the title (Mcmahon called for the bell when Mankind was locked in the Sharp-shooter).

Mankind and The Rock then embarked on a brutal but throughly entertaining feud which saw them play "hot potato" with the WWF title belt. The most violent and disturbing match of their series had to be the "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble, where The Rock dished out several brutal chair shots to Mick Foley's skull. What made the whole thing worse was that Rocky had dished out alot more than was agreed upon, and Foley's wife and children were sat in the front row (see Beyond The Mat).