Getting sucked into emotions

Hello. I recently gave my son a correction. It was right after he had come home from having a bad day at school and him getting rejected by some friends. Instead of disagreeing appropriately he started complaining. he also became emotional and started crying saying he felt nobody listened to him and felt alone. He was out of control raising his voice and slamming his fist on the counter. I should have gone into the rule of 3 but I felt bad about what he was saying and decided to listen and reason with him. This turned into a two hour ordeal that I then didn’t know how to get out of. How could I handle this better next time? I did tell him the following day that next time he starts acting that way we would do the rule of 3. How can I make sure he feels heard while still following through with the set consequence and not getting sucked into this emotional vortex?