Did the WWF/WWE see The Rock as inferior to Stone Cold?

[Why Always Me]

There are a million and one articles on who is the best/biggest draw/most popular out of The Rock and Stone Cold, but I wanted to look at it from a different angle.

Did the WWF/WWE see The Rock as inferior to Stone Cold?

Stone Cold was the face of the Attitude Era to begin with, he defeated HBK at WrestleMania 14 and for much of 1998 was the face of the company.

At this time The Rock was probably the most hated guy on the roster, but was still the IC Champion and leader of the Nation. The after Summerslam The Rock suddenly became ultra popular (some may say as popular as Austin, watch Breakdown, Judgement Day, Survivor Series or any Raw clips during that time and listen to the reaction for both men).

But when The Rock became WWF Champion, he didn't even main event the next two PPV's (Rock Bottom and Capital Carnage). At the Royal Rumble the Rumble itself is the main event, but St Valentine's Day Massacre, once again Austin went on last. Then Rock jobbed to Austin at both WrestleMania 15 and Backlash (he should of won one of those IMO), then turned face.

Between then and Survivor Series where Austin got run over, The Rock only main-evented 2 PPV's, one of which was Unforgiven (which featured Austin as the special enforcer) and the other was a British PPV which didn't feature Austin. Even at the King Of The Ring that year The Rock v The Undertaker for the WWF Title was third last on the card, something that would of never happened if Austin was challenging for the title.

Also whenever they tagged together, Austin always came out AFTER The Rock. The Rock only ever pinned Austin twice, once at the end of the winner takes all match at Survivor Series 2001 and once at WrestleMania 19. The Rock NEVER defeated Austin when the WWF Title was on the line.

Heck even Vince McMahon once said 'As popular as The Rock is, he isn't quite Stone Cold'.

So is The Rock seen as being inferior to Stone Cold by the WWF/WWE? Or is this just a biased article written by a Rock fan?

 

[wylieb0y]

Well if they credit someone as "The Next Rock" there crediting a guy who can go on to do movies and have no virutal contact with the wrestling world. Stone Cold was always the safe bet. Remains that way today.

 

[TKO 3:16]

Absolutley not.
Both of these guys were major draws during the attitude era, and BOTH got monster ovations any where they wrestled at.
But by looking at your numbers,it does seem pretty one sided, but hey, that's how a buisness sometimes goes.
There is NO DOUBT thàt The Rock is one of the best to ever lace 'em up and cut some of the best promos in the WWE. But Austin cut some of the best as well.
never really went furter into it than Austin was just a better draw at the time but, maybe vince knew Rock didn't want to be "the rock" forever and go do movies, maybe that's why he was looked over on occasion.
Idk I'm just makin excuses. I'm a HUGE Austin mark, and always like waching him more than rock. There's just something about a guy, that when he starts kickin ass and drinkin a beer (or 4 or 5) he is Golden to watch.
So all in all, I can't go into all the PPVs won and lost or who jobbed to who, but the fact of the matter is that he WAS NOT IMO considered inferior.
Rock put asses in the seat and every knew that, but sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Who knows, maybe rock was a complete asshole in the back and said the wrong thing once or twice as I see that to ve the ONLY reason, he would be even conidered "inferior" by any standard.
Rock's work ethic was sick, always preformed great, always had us laughing and always put on a great match. But Austin was vince's "baby" just like Cena is now, and that's why IMO he got me straps and went over more often. Vince Knew what he had in both men and played the chess game beautifuly! IMO

 

[Greenlight13]

Well, you've somewhat answered your own question before the debate begins with that quote from Vince at the end. In my opinion they didn't hold him in quite the same regard because to be honest, he wasn't as good.

That's not to downplay how huge The Rock became, but realistically his time on top was very short, from 1999-2001, give or take a few months. Austin was on top for a little longer and during both men's peaks Austin was far higher in my opinion. I'd also venture Rock's most successful period was in the absence of Austin from late 1999 to late 2000 when he was the man taking on Triple H and Vince. Both men got monster reactions, but when Austin returned from being run over the damn arena nearly exploded. Compare that to Rock's return after making movies and while it was huge, it didn't compare.

In my opinion Austin was the biggest thing since Hogan and nobody has matched him since. Rock was huge, but I'd put him on the next level down from Hogan and Austin in terms of popularity. Austin had better ring-psychology and despite a collection of serious injuries managed to perform at the very top level. Every wrestler wanted to work with him and I've never heard a bad word said about him professionally. He's a guaranteed draw every time he returns, as I believe his turn guest-hosting Raw will prove, and far more loyal to the company. Wrestling was in his mind and heart far more than it was Rock's, and he had a better sense for the business, Rock just had a natural ability for it.

So yes, I believe that the WWF saw Austin as superior to Rock and moreover I believe that they were correct to hold that opinion. I think Austin was nothing short of the biggest wrestler since Hogan and Rock was another in a long line of super-popular wrestlers who aren't quite at that very very top level.

 

[Cookie14]

IMO, these two guys have always been two of the most popular wrestlers of all time. However, I don't think you can ignore the fact that when Austin was on top, he had the spotlight all to himself, and did so above the Rock, and many other top superstars. The Rock was never the 'stand-alone' top guy. His time at the top was always shared with HHH (McMahon-Helmsley era), until his injury, or by the Invasion angle. It wasn't until both HHH and SCSA were both out injured that the Rock led the WWE.
Also, SCSA's career had more 'prestige' moments, winning 3 royal rumble matches, compared to Rocks 1, and SCSA won the King of The Ring, something else thhat the Rock never managed

 

[codatious99]

Did the WWF/WWE see The Rock as inferior to Stone Cold?


I will have to agree with ya. Looking back, SCSA made way more money during that same run as the Rock. His merchandise sales were off the charts, Rock def had a fan connection but no where near the level of SCSA. Rock had his spot at the top, but it always came back to Austin.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yes they did and they did for one reason: Rock WAS inferior to Austin.

For the life of me I do not get the arguments that Rock was ever anywhere near the star Austin was. Austin is second only to Hogan in star power all time but was hotter in the late 90s than Hogan ever was. Anyone he touched became gold and Rock was no different. Rock got over because Austin gave him a rub. If Austin didn't go away for a year, Rock never gets to where he did, period. Austin's star was so bright it eclipsed the entire company and when he took a year off and only then did anyone get relatively close to him. WWE treats Rock as inferior because he is, period.

 

[Why Always Me]

Yes they did and they did for one reason: Rock WAS inferior to Austin.

For the life of me I do not get the arguments that Rock was ever anywhere near the star Austin was. Austin is second only to Hogan in star power all time but was hotter in the late 90s than Hogan ever was. Anyone he touched became gold and Rock was no different. Rock got over because Austin gave him a rub. If Austin didn't go away for a year, Rock never gets to where he did, period. Austin's star was so bright it eclipsed the entire company and when he took a year off and only then did anyone get relatively close to him. WWE treats Rock as inferior because he is, period.

I think saying that The Rock got over because of Austin is a bit unfair.

When The Rock left the Nation, he barely had any interaction at all with Austin, he feuded with Shamrock, Mankind, the remaining Nation members and Vince.

Then when he did go head to head with Austin he lost, twice.

After that, baring a couple of tag team matches, their was barely any interaction with Stone Cold.

The only time they really interacted was from No Mercy to Survivor Series, then Austin was run over.

By the time Austin came back, The Rock was as big, if not bigger, so the interactions then would not of given The Rock a rub so to speak.

 

[X]

Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with this fellow as well KB. Having watched every episode of Raw from 1998 recently, I can tell you damn well that The Rock was MASSIVELY over long before he even locked up with Austin (after their one "match" in 1997 that is). Right after Summerslam 1998 there was a few month period before Survivor Series 1998 where he was a face, and they had no choice in the matter, literally like a week after leaving the Nation he was getting the biggest pops in the entire company behind only Austin. He was so over as a face in fact that they had to turn Ken Shamrock heel because the crowd would NOT get behind him the second time he tried to feud with The Rock in the fall of 98. To say Rock only got over because of Austin is just flat out 100% wrong.

As for whether the WWE sees the Rock as inferior to Austin? Doubtful, there's a reason The Rock initially set the record for most world title wins before we got 3 "World Titles" that change hands every four weeks, and thats because of the confidence they had in him. Is he seen currently as inferior to Austin? Maybe, but only very, very slightly, and that's only because just last year McMahon himself got up on TV and called Austin the greatest superstar in WWE history. It's hard to argue that with him.

 

[Tenebrous]

I really hate this argument about who was better than who. Honestly, their career vectors were different. Stone Cold came in as the beer drinking, anti-authoritative redneck who cussed and beat us his boss regularly. This was revolutionary in wrestling. The Rock came in as the blue-chip pretty boy smiling all the time. The reactions he got as the blue chipper led to the Rock persona in the first place. Who had the better character?

Merchandise-Why did Austin sell more merchandise—because until now, heels didn’t sell merchandise well. From 1997-2002, Austin spent the majority of that time as a face. 1997-2002, the Rock was as a (the) top heel for 2 years in comparison to Austin’s 6-8 months during the same period of time…Do the math…

Titles—This is a terrible litmus honestly. How many entertaining feuds did Austin carry without being involved in the title picture--one—his feud with Bret Hart/Foundation in 1997. You can throw out the McMahon feud because that was to prevent him from becoming champion. Austin always main evented because he drew and because he couldn’t maintain a worthwhile midcard feud. If you are an honest fan, you will recognize my point; he did not put young guys over. He left in 2002 for what reason? The Rock was more willing to lose. He lost to D-Lo Brown on PPV folks! Austin wouldn’t even wrestle the Next Big Thing!

Both men loved the business no doubt and people forget that both left for personal reasons. The Rock grew up in wrestling; can you honestly blame him for wanting to do something different? Austin left because he didn’t want to wrestle Eddie Guerrero/Brock Lesnar in 2002 and because he didn’t want to lose to the Coach in 2005(?). Even as an Austin fan, I recognize he desire to do what was best for the business but frequently when it was in line with his best interest. When in comparing the two stars, look at the argument objectively.

 

[Big Sexy]

Yes they did and they did for one reason: Rock WAS inferior to Austin.

For the life of me I do not get the arguments that Rock was ever anywhere near the star Austin was. Austin is second only to Hogan in star power all time but was hotter in the late 90s than Hogan ever was. Anyone he touched became gold and Rock was no different. Rock got over because Austin gave him a rub. If Austin didn't go away for a year, Rock never gets to where he did, period. Austin's star was so bright it eclipsed the entire company and when he took a year off and only then did anyone get relatively close to him. WWE treats Rock as inferior because he is, period.

The Rock was over well before he got any major interaction with Stone Cold. Rock and Austin are the two biggest stars in wrestling history next to Hulk Hogan and I really don't see either being much better then the other. I actually preferred The Rock and thought he was always better.

Both were great on the mic, but I'd give the edge to The Rock. Both were involved in tons of great matches, but I always preferred The Rock in the ring as well.

As far as the op's question goes, I really don't think Rock is seen as inferior. When the Rock and Stone Cold had there main feud the Rock wasn't near his prime and Austin at that point was the bigger star. When both guys were still arguably in their prime the only matches they had were the ones around Wrestlemania 17 and Austin always had to cheat to win those.

 

[Miko]

Rock was inferior to Austin for a while, but then Austin had just turned a company that was getting whooped by WCW into a company that at the very least was keeping level with it. The Rock at that time was the IC Champion.

Rock starts getting super over the same way Austin did, by being a heel that people couldnt help but cheer, Rock turns face and gets mega over, without Stone Cold, without him completely, he'd just lost to the guy twice. Come WrestleMania 17, Austin's been out for a year and Rock's the focal point of the most financiallly successful year ever, without Austin. Austin has to turn heel.

Rock won at WrestleMania 19 because it was about damn time, he'd deserved it for years, he'd never accomplish what Austin did in relation to WCW, although Rock was one of the people that helped bury that company. Had he stayed around instead of becoming a movie star, he'd still be going strong in the Main Event today and could well be going down as the bigger name of the two. Vince considers Austin as better because he owes that bald headed man a HUGE dept and rightly so.

 

[Chicago1989]

To a degree, I believe the WWE looked at The Rock to be inferior to Stone Cold. Austin was the one who made the most sales: merchandise, tickets, PPV's...you name it.

The Rock....even though I'm a big fan of his, was always seen to be behind Stone Cold's shadow. WWE always had that "The lead singer is the face of everything" mentality. I mean look at all the marketing WWE does these days; it has Cena all over it, always front and center. Same was with Austin back then.

At the end of the day though, both guys were appreciated for their contributions. Obviously Stone Cold gets most, if not, all credit for The Attitude Era. The Rock gets credit for being charismatic and a movie star, and that's it. Even Vince McMahon said that The Rock isn't as good as Stone Cold.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I agree with a post above insofar as, at the end of the day, no matter how great the Great One was, he was not Stone Cold Steve Austin - in the sense that it was primarily Austin who turned the tides on the WCW/WWE war back in the late Nineties, and Rock, even though he was good as heel, and became tremendously popular later on, had only a smaller part in that.

It's kind of like a comparison between, say, Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage. Both guys were hugely popular in the late Eighties, but it was - and will always be - Hulk Hogan who helped put the WWF on the map in a much, much bigger fashion than anyone else, regardless of how popular other people became in the process. I think it's much the same with Rock and Austin.

Personally, I am and have always preferred Rock over Austin, he just has this natural charisma and can work the mic (and the crowd) like no other. Austin was great in his role; but he really could only play this role of the "blue collar hero who constantly rebels against authority", and was rather limited in that. The Rock had still more option in being both a face and heel in the latter days of his career, and also in his short-time comebacks and appearances after he had already begun trading the wrestling boots for the Hollywood cameras. And considering Austin's unfortunate history with injury, he also was the more versatile guy in the ring, so overall I prefer The Rock.

But he will - and can - never be Stone Cold Steve Austin. He may be close in popularity, he may (or may not, depending on your personal likings I guess) be better in the ring and on the mic, but he was simply not the one who "made it all happen"; much like other guys were definitely popular in the Hogan-era, and definitely more talented on the mic and in the ring than Hogan back then, but still - Hogan was THE GUY. And Austin was THE GUY. That's I think what made WWE keep him in higher regard as The Rock.

And thinking about that... that was really a golden time for WWE back then, that they had TWO guys like Austin and Rock - today, they'd KILL for one who could get even close I guess.

 

[WunNightStan619]

Honestly on a popularity level, Hogan and Rock were on a more even plain feild that austin...Rock was by far the more popular star than austin in every aspect EXECPT wrestling. even in wrestling Rock was almost as popular. Vince problably knew that the Rock would eventually venture out into main stream media at some point so he aint push him as hard as Austin. So to answer the thread, i dont think rock was seen as inferior, i just think that wwe had good forsieght as the direction things wud turn out for the 2 and decided to do wut was best for business

 

[mike2307]

I really hate this argument about who was better than who. Honestly, their career vectors were different. Stone Cold came in as the beer drinking, anti-authoritative redneck who cussed and beat us his boss regularly. This was revolutionary in wrestling. The Rock came in as the blue-chip pretty boy smiling all the time. The reactions he got as the blue chipper led to the Rock persona in the first place. Who had the better character?

I see what your saying right here, but who had the better character doesn't really matter. The question who does the WWE hold in higher regard, and it's obviously Stone Cold Steve Austin. That is no slight to the Rock whatsoever, he's still held with very high esteem, it's just that by most, Austin is one of the two biggest, ever.

Merchandise-Why did Austin sell more merchandise—because until now, heels didn’t sell merchandise well. From 1997-2002, Austin spent the majority of that time as a face. 1997-2002, the Rock was as a (the) top heel for 2 years in comparison to Austin’s 6-8 months during the same period of time…Do the math…

Austin was also out for a whole year, in that time period. So he couldn't actively 'push' his merchandise on tv every week. They both sold massive amounts of merchandise though, so this is a mute point.

Titles—This is a terrible litmus honestly. How many entertaining feuds did Austin carry without being involved in the title picture--one—his feud with Bret Hart/Foundation in 1997. You can throw out the McMahon feud because that was to prevent him from becoming champion. Austin always main evented because he drew and because he couldn’t maintain a worthwhile midcard feud. If you are an honest fan, you will recognize my point; he did not put young guys over. He left in 2002 for what reason? The Rock was more willing to lose. He lost to D-Lo Brown on PPV folks! Austin wouldn’t even wrestle the Next Big Thing!

The Rock grew up in wrestling; can you honestly blame him for wanting to do something different? Austin left because he didn’t want to wrestle Eddie Guerrero/Brock Lesnar in 2002 and because he didn’t want to lose to the Coach in 2005(?). Even as an Austin fan, I recognize he desire to do what was best for the business but frequently when it was in line with his best interest. When in comparing the two stars, look at the argument objectively.

I disagree completely with you on this one. Austin had a very entertaining angle/rivalry with shawn michaels when they were the tag team champions together. Austin had a fued with the Undertaker in 1998, that culminated in a Buried Alive match at Rock Bottom PPV which was very entertaining. When Austin came back from surgery, he had a very entertaining feud with HHH before he went on to feud with the Rock again for the title. I'd even say in 2002 before he left, his fued with Booker T was memorable. Austin has also said before Guerrero was one of his favorites to work with, and a match against eddie is also featured on his DVD collection. The brock lesnar loss, he turned down. But not because of the outcome, but because of the lack of promotion in the match. They wanted to do it, unadvertised, on RAW. The two guys you mentioned about the Rock...Billy Gunn was a PPV match, and you said it yourself D'lo was a pay per view match. So there was considerable promotion involved with those. As far as the coach is concerned, come on. How would it advance the business for one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, to lose a street fight (his best suited match), to an announcer/comissioner? Especially when its been two years since your last match. I'd much rather look back at austins career ending to a loss to the rock than from the coach. Plus Austin wasn't even an active wrestler at this point, he was retired. When your retired you have the luxury of picking and choosing.

 

[farside98]

Maybe its just me but I look at things totally differently. I don’t think WWE looked at them as inferior or not. I think they looked at those two as their draws so separate them. Don’t get them involved with one another and save them for something really special. I compare it to HBK vs. Taker now, or HHH vs. Taker at Wrestlemania years ago. The Rock and Austin carried the company and put butts in the seats. I think Vince knew he had the king in Austin, after all he was famous first. But the prince in waiting and if ever he needed the Rock to fill the void, and he did when Austin got hurt. IMO Rock and Austin were the two guys that could do anything they wanted and it worked. Rock go heel, fine. Austin go to the WCW team during invasion, fine.

Whatever they did worked... and right now I think Vince is trying to go back to that formula with what he’s got. HHH slowly dropping down not because he is inferior, but that’s HHH power, at any given moment he could lead, but because if Vince can create two, three major draws (on one brand) and have them move around within a card, and not always fight each other, he will be a winner. PPV would be better. We always talk about how much better PPV were, for two main reasons… Rock and Austin were both in them, fighting others with good story lines, it felt like all matches in the PPV were important, not like the way they are now, and you kind of always wondered what may happen between those two, but WWE would make you wait and wait and watch to see what may happen next.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

This is a pretty good topic so kudos to the thread starter, and what I've read so far has surprised me in that no-one has called anyone an 'idiot' or anything for siding one way or another.

What I'm surprised no-one seems to have brought up so far is that whilst it's arguable Stone Cold was perhaps just ahead of The Rock, we did get a show that culminated from one of The Rock's catchphrases. I know there is Bottom Line too, but that's just a title thrown onto a highlights package for Raw. Now I wont claim to have encyclopaedic knowledge of the WWE pre 2000 (RR 2000 on channel 4 in UK is when I tried to keep up with it) but was Smackdown created when Stone Cold was out of action? If he hadn't been, does anyone perhaps think if he had been around at that time that Smackdown would be named after something SCSA said?

Also, I don't know the full extent of Austins title reigns but I'm sure I read that despite Rock winning the belt on 7 occasions, his total reign came to under a year. So perhaps that's an argument that the WWF at the time did see Rock as inferior. There have been a few theories posted up that as Rock seemed 'destined' in a sense for the mainstream, that was a factor that he wasn't pushed as hard as Austin. But remember that Rock is a good few years younger than Austin, so if Rock had stayed with WWF/E a few years more then maybe he would have surpassed Austin.

 

[jayteeERA]

Dragonslayer u slayed the dragon on that one. It boggles the mind to say Rock was better then Austin. If there wasn't no Austin there would be no Rock. Some ppl said Rock made it on his own and got a good reaction from Summerslam 98 to Survivor seris 98. But who gave the rock the official rub. Yes it was Austin. Remember a PPV called DX Austin beat the Rock. Even at the rumble 98 Rock had a rub on Austin they were the last 2 men left. Then in Rock face run between Summerslam 98 and Survivor series 98 the rock was still attacking Austin.

Austin was Hulk Hogan the Rock was Macho Man. I think the reason why Rock was so far up there cause austin got ran over by a car. Austin never had bad days with the crowd. Probably as a heel in early 97 he couldn't get heat. Rock had bad days facing Austin WM 17 (Yea i know it was Austin hometown) Hogan at WM 18 (Its Hulk Hogan return match) well explain Borck Lesnar at Summerslam (ok rocky sold out). Still bad days

I'm going to give you a example how much Rock is inferior to Austin. Remember in 02 Austin left the company, then a week later Rock comes in and made a whole speech about Austin leaving and told him get the F out. This is around the time WWF was becoming WWE. Ok Rock leaves everybody says rocky sold out. Rock comes back gets a interview in 03 about superstar of the decade and ppl were booing rock on the moniter. Yet when Austin gets shown about his career everybody is cheering.

Lets face it Rock is good but he is no Austin. Sure Austin didn't put over other superstars but can you blame him. The man probably knew he wasn't gonna last any longer so he stayed on top as long as he could and in result of that his last match he lost to the rock spending the next night in the hospital. So that the Austin haters (I know there are some) could get what they want.

 

[Svengoolie]

Did they see him as inferior to Austin? Of course. He is inferior. I think the vast majority of people agree that Stone Cold is the greatest wrestling character there ever was. While people also loved seeing The Rock in his glory days, they bought their tickets to see Stone Cold and yell "Hell yeah!" back at him.

 

[SickJames]

To say Austin made Rock is just untrue in my eyes, that's like saying Triple H wouldnt have been a major player today if Austin were never injured at all and wasnt out when Rock was out

I remember Vince one time saying in an interview "The Rock, as popular as he is.. was never quite Stone Cold Steve Austin"

And I think that's unfair to say Austin was bigger hands down and usually ppl will say because he simply sold more merchandise than any other star, but Rock & Austin are the two biggest names to me. I respect Hogan & Flair, but nothing compares to Rock & Austin and those two together are magic

The Rock was more charasmatic than anyone though and Austin's pops came more from the badass things he did but he could also work the mic. In some ways I must say they are so closely matched and even but I prefer The Rock

even now in the movies The Rock is the bigger star out of Austin & Rock's movies

And about the time 1999/2000 came I felt Rock was bigger then but Austin had been bigger 1996-98

but Rock was a more over face 1999-and on to me

infact when Austin comes back now he doesnt get as big a pop as The Rock

just like Hogan today wouldnt get as big a pop as Randy Savage walking into a WWE ring again just like there was more interest for Bret's return than Hogan's debut on TNA and yet most would see Hogan as a bigger star than either of those guys


I think Vince himself just fell more in love with Stone Cold because of all the success he brought but to a degree I feel like Austin had others to work with in Taker, Shawn, Bret and to act as though he was the loner doing it by himself in nonesense


There are some that would argue HBK or Taker was bigger than Austin just for the record and I could see why they'd say that though to me it doesnt get bigger than The Rock and Stone Cold

if Austin could go one more time and they just found out, and The Rock just happened to have free time
and just say Flair & Hogan were in WWE
if you said ok we're doing okay we're doin Hogan vs Flair, HBK vs Taker & Rock vs Austin, aside from the limited response we'd get here online, the fans at the arena and more from around the globe would get more excited over Rock/Austin

Respect those who came before but times change and really those two are the biggest names the question is just who was bigger


and that is just hard to say in some ways

but I say The Rock. There may have just been something that he had more of than Austin did. For example. If Austin never feuded with Vince where would he be right now?

You could argue Triple H wouldve been bigger but was the only reason Austin got where he is but then thats not quite true either

Rock's push though just happened because of him and didnt come from battling the boss. I just feel like Austin's superstardom relied on certain things while Rock's didnt


also I know what some of you will say about this but Hogan directly passed the torch to The Rock and really that match to me was better than what Austin vs Hogan wouldve been

and just like we had Hogan/Rock

we will have Rock/Cena

(and yes that will happen, Vince is saving it and waiting and Rock, Vince & Cena are playing anyone and everyone that doesnt believe it's gonna happen, it's a very clever idea plan that Vince is workinb btw especially with what he's currently doing to WWE. When you look deeper at the WWE it makes sense a lot)

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

The Rock was so hot in the first few years of the career because he was feuding with Austin. Austin was already a star when he was feuding with the Rock helped him out. When Austin was injured, that gave Rock and HHH the opportunity to rise to the top and they did so I will give them respect for that. Soon as Austin got back, it seemed like the Rock was pushed aside to make way for Austin and HHH but I guess he had to make movies. For that one year, the Rock was on top of the wrestling world but when Austin was around, him and HHH and various others were all just playing second fiddle. The WWE/WWF saw the Rock inferior to Stone Cold and there is some truth to that.

 

[DERO1979]

In my opinion you can't even compare the two. Austin is arguably the biggest draw in the history of wrestling. IMO, Hogan will always be the biggest name in wrestling although some people would disagree. My argument would be that Hogan has been headlining since 1984. He's still headlining. Austin headlined for only a few years but those few years were extraordinary. The Rock was the Macho Man to Austin's Hogan. A big name, a great talent but ultimately someone that took to the fall to the bigger star. I wouldn't even say that The Rock was better on the mic. Austin's promos were every bit as entertaining as The Rock's. The "WHAT?" promos were hysterical and the crowd is still chanting that today. It's been like 7 years since Austin said that. Think about that. He's not even on the show anymore and his personality is still present. During the Attitude era itself, The Rock was not even in the same category as Austin. Austin had better feuds with DX and The Undertaker if you ask me. The only reason The Rock's aura has enhanced since then is because he went on to make movies. So he's this "Hollywood Star." Which makes him seem as legendary. But he's not. In the wrestling world he's nowhere near an Austin or a Hogan. For most of his career, the fans hated him and they booed the crap out of him as a face against Hogan at WrestleMania. Would Austin have gotten booed against Hogan? Doubt it. Would've been a far more mixed crowd...

 

[holdingholder]

Imo the wwe was just giving Steve Austin the spotlight until it was time to pass the torch to the Rock, maybe that was wrestlemania 19, but the Rock didn't stay long after that. I think the rock would be the biggest star ever if he didn't leave, he would have definitely been the top guy for the last 6 years, and would be the cornerstone or wwe. Just think or what he accomplished in only about 6 years in the business. No one comes close to that meteoric rise. I think wwe thought he might. Stay so held off on giving him the kind of run that Austin had. The rock was like the top guy they would go to to put others over.

 

[Kcorthe]

For the life of me I do not get the arguments that Rock was ever anywhere near the star Austin was. Austin is second only to Hogan in star power all time but was hotter in the late 90s than Hogan ever was. Anyone he touched became gold and Rock was no different. Rock got over because Austin gave him a rub. If Austin didn't go away for a year, Rock never gets to where he did, period. Austin's star was so bright it eclipsed the entire company and when he took a year off and only then did anyone get relatively close to him. WWE treats Rock as inferior because he is, period.

KB, I've seen you say this sort of thing a couple of times throughout your posts, specifically your PPV reviews, and its bothered me every time. Like many others have stated, Rock was getting well over on his own way before he and Austin ever started their major feud, from late '98-'99.

But, let's assume that what you are saying is correct. Let's say that Rock would be nowhere as big as he is now without the help of Austin. To that I say....um, so? In pro wrestling, its all about getting the rub. Austin may have given the rub to Rocky, but guess what? Austin got the rub from Bret Hart and HBK. Its the same damn thing, man. No matter the means, Rock DID become just as big or almost so as Steve Austin. Even if Austin was partly responsible for getting Rock over, it doesn't matter: Rock STILL got over, and he got himself up into the same upper-tier as Stone Cold.

KB, you mentioned also that Rock would not be nearly as big as he got if not for Stone Cold taking that year off in 2000. Perhaps that it is true, perhaps it is not; its an argument for a different day. But it goes with what I said before: SO WHAT? Maybe Rock wouldn't have gotten so big if not for Austin's year off, but the point is that HE DID. Rock DID get much bigger, no matter how it happened, and he carried the WWF through 2000, which was the WWF's most financially successful year, by the way (up until that point, at least).

So, KB; the point I am trying to make is that whether you are right or wrong about Steve Austin helping Rock out, it doesn't matter. Rock got over, and he got over huge. The same could be said for Stone Cold; if not for his match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13, Steve Austin would not be as big as he is today. That's the same argument that you are trying to make and its just dumb because it does not matter how a wrestler gets over; he either gets over or he doesn't, and both Stone Cold AND The Rock got over.

For you to say that The Rock is WAY behind Steve Austin, is just ridiculous. I will agree with you that Stone Cold is just slightly above Then Rock; but not by much, man. In the same way that you say that Rock would not be as over if not for Stone Cold's year off, I could say that The Rock WOULD be much bigger than Steve Austin had he not taken off for Hollywood. I mean, its the same damn principle.

KB, I respect you as a poster man, but I just cannot accept what you say about The Rock. No matter the method, he got over, and he got over more than anyone else in the history of the WWF, beside Stone Cold and Hulk Hogan.

In all honesty, in my opinion, Hulk, Austin, and Rock are in the exact same class. Rock is either right at or RIGHT below the other two's level. That's pretty much a fact; people consider Steve Austin and Hogan so grea because of their effect on the ratings, tickets, merchandise, etc. Rock was right there with em, man. Steve Austin may have been responsible for the Attitude Era, but Rock is the one who helped carry it. You always bring up Stone Cold's year off, well guess who carried the WWF through that time? The Rock. With the same or higher ratings.

Perhaps its time you rethink.