I've been getting a huge kick reading some of the things being said on here....
Rock is a bigger draw then Austin? Because he has main stream appeal.... Let's be honest here, in the mainstream Rock is a C-level celebrity at best, no one who wouldn't order a PPV normally is going to be say to themselves; "I really have no interest in wrestling, but that guy from The Toothfairy is going to be on so I should probably drop fifty bucks."
The best you're going to get is attracting old fans who stopped watching, and for the majority of them Austin > Rock.
C-List celebrities don't star in films that gross $605,437,675 worldwide at the Box Office. That's what deines an A-List celebrity.
In this miniature arguement going on, in-terms of wrestling, you stick Austin on the card and you'll draw more of the old followers from the Attitude days than you will if you place The Rock on the marquee of an event, that isn't an arguement. The Rock will draw a major number, example is, look at the buyrate for WrestleMania 27 - You had people signing up to wrestling forums just to say that they started watching again because of The Rock. But if it were Austin to return you'd double those posters and you'd double the hype, for several reasons.
For one, Austin never sold-out. The Rock tried and failed - or shall we forget he would ask any publications in reference to him to refer to him solely as Dwayne Johnson and not Dwayne
"The Rock" Johnson? He has heat on him for it, to this day! Stone Cold has stayed true to who he is, he didn't have the name Steve
"Stone Cold Steve Austin" Williams on the poster for The Expendables, he had his ring name. He returned to host Tough Enough, the dude even watches RAW every week and comments on it as the show progresses.
The Rock is told things through Twitter, he doesn't even watch the bloody show! And then, as Myriad correctly said, The Rock didn't spearhead the Attitude Era, Austin did. The Rock didn't sell the most merchandise, Austin did - Rock didn't even sell more than Sting. In-terms of drawing in wrestling fans Stone Cold Steve Austin wins every day, of every week, of every month, of every year until hes passed. And if he were to return to perform, you bet your ass people who don't know the difference between Jack Swagger and Ezekiel Jackson will be ordering the bloody Pay-Per-View.
In-terms of mainstream media though, The Rock draws more attention to the WWE. When The Rock returned he was on E! News, Sky Sports News in the UK, he was in several newspapers, his image was advertised on nearly every WrestleMania 27 banner and he publicised the event during media functions. Steve Austin won't draw people that have never watched wrestling, he won't draw media outlets like E! or all that, The Rock will.
So really, to sum this all up. Stone Cold Steve Austin draws more of the older wrestling followers than The Rock, although The Rock still draws in that department, while The Rock draws more mainstream media attention than Steve Austin will, who draws next to none. Settled? Okay lets move onwards.
Stone Cold has said before his neck is feeling near to perfectly healthy, he got out of the wrestling business at the right time and has had several years to heal the wounds of the ring. He does stunts for his movies, he took bumps on Tough Enough and he even came out and said he could see himself working a full-time schedule for two years if he needed the money, but he doesn't, but he can perform.
CM Punk is to John Cena, as Austin was to The Rock. CM Punk is Cena's ying to John's yang if you will. Cena stands up for what this era defines, he is that wholesome image that you're supposed to love and in an era without many rebels, CM Punk stands near alone. Punk stands for everything that we, the fans, actually know. He stands for reality. He stands for everything against the status quo.
Punk and Austin would have a historic angle, it writes itself! You have the beer drinking, loud mouth face of the Attitude Era versus the Straight-Edge, loud mouth and to some the face of the present, CM Punk. Punk and Austin have previous material to even work off from when Austin guest hosted RAW. Punk wore a Steve Austin t-shirt when he cut the famous worked shoot. The possibilities are near limitless so it writes itself.
The end product could go one of two ways. Austin would still need to look out for his health. His neck may be healed, but things can still go wrong. He could take Punk's Knee to the Jaw incorrectly and he's hurt. He could take the GTS incorrectly and he's hurt. But Austin and Punk would be a huge match because there has never been someone so like Steve Austin until this new persona of Punk came along.
I'd love to see it. I'd pay a lot to see it. As a Punk follower since 2004 and an Austin fan since the Attitude Era I'd love to see them interact on-screen and just let it flow. Will it happen? Austin is planting what I think are seeds, but if it doesn't? Well, you always have to consider what WWE's long term plans are for the CM Punk/HHH angle and if Vince McMahon were to return where would he fall into the madness?
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