With Hart out of the way, Austin set his sights on The Rock, who stole Austin's title belt on November 17 episode of "Raw Is War" after Austin suffered a beating by his Nation of Domination stablemates. In the weeks to come, The Rock began declaring himself to be "the best damn Intercontinental Champion ever". The Rock kept possession of the title belt until on December 7, when Austin defeated him to retain the title and regain possession of the title belt. As Austin had used his pickup truck to aid in his victory, McMahon ordered him to defend the title against The Rock the next night on "Raw Is War". In an act of defiance, Austin forfeited the title to The Rock, before tossing the title belt into the Piscataqua River.