Legacy Comparison: The Rock vs Steve Austin

[Ferbian]

The Rock and Steve Austin's careers, at least in WWE has practically followed each other straight down the line. They've been two of the biggest stars the wrestling industry ever had the pleasure of presenting. As well as they're two highly decorated champions in WWE.

Austin and Rock has been popular like few others. They've been in the mid-card and the main event at the same time, yet most of the time actually managed to separate themselves from each other. With the exception of a few occasional clashes, which in turn became big clashes like Wrestlemania 17.

Now, while The Rock doesn't have nearly as many years in the business as Steve, I don't think there's anything to discredit there in that term. Especially considering their primary careers are generated from their time with WWE, rather than for example Steve's time with WCW.

There's a lot of similarities between the two. Championship material, popularity, match style (Both somewhat being brawlers primarily) etc. Yet there's certainly also some differences, like Austin being the main face guy, and The Rock being the main heel guy for a large majority of their WWF careers.

So, now I ask of you guys - Who has the bigger legacy? Steve Austin, or The Rock?

 

[Dwayne_Jason]

In wrestling terms, I have to swallow my love for The Rock and say Austin, he ushered in WWF's Attitude, He had a great submission match with Bret Hart, Great matches with Micheals, Owen Hart, VKM and many others. His heel turn was as big as Hogan and very well done and his move the Stunner was innovative and never done before. So as much as I love the The Rock and find him better than Austin the Rock's been in WWF for 6-7 years Austin was there for a LOT longer.


BUT if you extrapolate Rock's success in 6-7 years, he'd pass Asutin no problem if he was still in WWE.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

This is incredibly tough, but I am SLIGHTLY going to lean towards Austin.

When Austin was healthy and in his prime, the WWE was the Stone Cold show, he was everywhere. In Mick Foleys nook he mentioned getting pissed off because fans were starting to leave after his match and WWE did announcements over the tannoy that Stone Cold was coming up next and people started chanting his name..while Foley and his opponent were still in the ring. Austin was the goose who layed the golden egg and WWE made the most of him while they could.

After he injured his neck in the match with Owen Hart after the piledriver, Austin was still written into the show on a weekly basis to keep him on view and to keep the fans happy. I have never heard of this happening before. He was just too vital to the company to be off tv, and the rivalry he had with Vince McMahon, the classic "evil boss vs pissed off employee" was something everyone could relate to and is probably the most popular rivalry of all time.

His Austin 3:16 promo is legendary, even more so than any of The Rocks famous catchphrases, which is no mean feat and resulted in the launch of the AUSTIN 3:16 t-shirt which is the most popular piece of merchandise in the history of the business. Another thumbs up for Steve

Stone Cold was the catalyst in the changeover to the attitude era, where wrestlers were given more freedom to be themselves, and stupid gimmicks were often dropped. The Rock was still Rocky Maivia at this time before becoming The Rock, a more exxagerated version of his own personality, but without the Stone Cold beer drinking foul mouthed SOB character breaking down the walls, Rocky may never have become Rock.

Steve Austin was a phenomenon at the time when the WWE needed one. The Rock was a megastar, but at the same time as Austin, Triple H and co were also there. Austin himself became the WWE's biggest star when they were trailing WCW in the rankings and helped to drag the company back to the top. The Rock was one of the main players in keeping them there. They both had HUGE impacts on the WWE, but I think Austin more so

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Its just a testament to their legacy I guess that a Rock vs Austin thread comes up every two months. I expect some heated debates in this topic.

I'm gonna pick Austin as the guy with the greater legacy. He turned the Monday Night War on its head with his rise to superstardom. If he was not there, I do not think WWF could have surged ahead in the ratings department had our beloved redneck not been in the thick of things. Vince Mcmahon also deserves credit for this as it was the Austin vs Mcmahon feud that brought in the fans but in my opinion no one else does. Rock, Foley, Undertaker, Kane and HHH played important but passive roles in the Monday Night Wars. Rock fans are pretty quick to point out that he was the guy who maain evented Raw with Foley when Foley won the title and that was a turning point in the Monday Night Wars. Granted it was but we must not forget that it was Austin chasing the title which kept a lot of fans tuned in to the WWF. Also it was more of Foley's night rather than Rock's night as we all know that the fans switched back from Nitro to Raw in the anticipation of Foley winning the title. On that night Austin was just as important as The Rock was as he was the guy who came out and gave a chaairshot to The Rock which enabled Foley to win the title.

As far as skills go its a close affair but again Austin gets my vote in that department as well. Overall I would say that Rock was a bit better than Austin on the mic but I feel that Austin was actually better than Rock when it came to serious promos. I remember the lead up to Wrestlemania 17 where the two of them had a sitdown interview. I thought Austin totally owned Rock in that interview. Furthermore as great as Rock was on the mic I personally did not enjoy some of his serious promos as much as I enjoyed his funny ones. An example of a serious Rock promo that I did not enjoy were some of the ones he cut against Kurt Angle in the lead up to their match at No Way Out 2001.

In the ring I'll give the vote to Austin. Sure guys may say that he was just a brawler but you cannot disguise the fact that the man has participated in some of the best matches of the past decade. He has a five star match to his credit and was a master of ring psychology. I especially loved Austin's selling because it was pretty realistic without going over the top like Rock did. In my opinion overselling is just as bad as no selling as it is a hit on kayfabe. And The Rock was no doubt guilty of overselling. Also there were lots of times when a Rock match was higher on the card than an Austin match but it was the match Austin had that stole the show. A good example of this would be No Way Out 2001 where Rock actually main evented but it was Austin's 2/3 falls match with HHH which stole the show. Another example would be Summerslam 2001 where again Rock main evented but Austin stole the show with his match versus Kurt Angle.

I think Rock deserves the nod when it comes to elevating people. He did the job when it came to elevating Brock Lesnar, something Austin did not do. But it would be unfair to say that Austin did not elevate anyone. He played an important part in elevating the likes of Jericho, Angle, HHH and Benoit. In my opinion, he had better feuds with the likes of HHH and Angle than Rock did. But all said and done Rock gets the nod in this category.

And finally after this long discussion I would say that Austin has a bigger legacy for the simple reason that he was the face of the company for a much longer time than Rock was. Rock rose to prominence only when Austin was out injured. It is not as if Rock was a nobody prior to Austin's injury but still it would be fair to say that Rock would not have become what he eventually did without Austin stepping aside. Austin also has more memorable matches than Rock. Austin was also the face of the company at a tougher time and without him WWF would have found it difficult to win the Monday Night Wars.

So its Austin all the way.

 

[Fisheatppl]

Okay I guess I gotta stand up for my boy. We all know SSCA helped to usher in the Attitude Era (if not did it almost single handedly). That fact alone is going to make almost any argument impossible, but I'm going to try. Mostly because I'm a HUGE Rock fan and no one has had his back yet.

Yes, Austin is the man. Everyone knows that. He was legendary, and his fued with VKM helped win, or at least sway, the monday night wars, which could have saved WWE. However, Vince should get just as much credit, if not more. If you go back, when Vince screwed Bret Hart, THAT created the Mr. McMahon character. And without that, where is the fued? Sure Austin did his part AMAZINGLY well, but what other CEO/owner/boss would put himself on the line like McMahon did. It was in all the news. I can remember Valentines Day Massacre, their match was in the papers, on the morning news before I went to school that monday. So Vince put in at least as much as Austin.

When Austin went down, it was The Rock who stepped up. And in a huge way. Austin was out, and by being out, WWE needed a megaface. That was The Rock. Taking nothing away from anyone else such as HHH, taker, etc., They could not have done what The Rock did in Stone Cold's absence. Hell Rikishi was absolutely right. It even worked too well. There was no one, in my opinion, who could put on a better match (maybe not technically, but emotionally), sell others moves (overselling works for me, but thats just me, I love when Evan Bourne gets beat down), and put more excitement into it, than The Rock. I swear every time he had a "close" 2-count, I thought they were all 3 counts. He took Austins place, and dare I say he did it better.

When Austin was ushering in the attitude era, The Rock was debuting. It wasn't his fault he wasn't there to start it, he was what 21, 22? ( I could be off, but not by much) Definately not old enough to BE a megaface. And he took off (with the exception of Rocky Maivia, which wasn't even his fault).

As far as playing both sides, The Rocks heel was FAR superior to Austins. Some people love Austins, the lovable jerk. He was funny. He was good at it. But The Rock far outweighed Austins. Austin was a born face. (at least in WWE). The Rock was a born ANYTHING.

And lastly, I know ORIGINALLY the plan was for Austin to fight Hogan at Wrestlemania, bu honestly, do you really think Icon vs. Icon would have been BETTER if it was Austin? Maybe if you were a huge Austin fan you would have liked that better, but you couldn't honestly think it would have been better. The Austin/Scott Hall match was terrible (not that that is what I base Austins career on). But Hogan/Rock was... electrifying. It was amazing, it is what Icons, legacy, wrestling is ALL about.

So there is my defense of The Rock. Tear it apart all you like, but I'll always stand by him, he was the reason I watched.

 

[CH David]

It's Austin and until he took time off from late '99 through September of '00, it wasn't even close. He put the WWF on his back (with bad neck and all) and was the biggest force in the Attitude Era. Rock was a great entertainer, but he wasn't pushed as the huge face until after Austin was out. Once Austin came back and up until WrestleMania X-Seven it was the same thing, Austin was the bigger star. Austin saved the WWF from going out of business to WCW, Rock was along for the ride.

 

[GameOver]

The Rock had more success in a shorter period of time
Pushed straight to the top
The fist WWE 3rd generation star? hmm not sure if thats accurate
The most entertaining character in history. PERIOD!!! not in ring, but overall
more versatile actor, Austin will be mostly stuck as the kick ass action star who' always angry.

Austin was a bigger draw, but it took him along time to get the push he deserved
He did it all by himself
Wrestled with a broken neck for 6yrs, Toughest SOB
Could do it all in ring, til he got dropped on his head
The character did more for the attitude era then anyone else.
most noteable fueds

Final answer
Austin has the bigger legacy, no question.
He was to wrestling as a whole what Hogan was to wrestling in the 80's

 

[apokalypse]

i have to say Austin and Austin is self made superstars have everything not until Austin got injured by Owen so he change style Brawler and wrestle with Injured neck carry WWF on his back. in wcw he have great matches with Ric Flair, Sting, Ricky Steamboat(search on youtube if you haven't seen it)..ect win WCW Television title-WCW United States Title and would become WCW Champs but from what i hear with Hogan signing and disagreement so he got fired which have shock few guys in the locker room. eric and others don't know what to do with him so fired him..

in WWF pretty much the same thing, in 24/7 Legend of Wrestling JR said Vince have problem seen talent in wrestler like Foley and Steve Austin don't know what to do. Austin came home come up with Stone Cold grimmck and in Bret Hart book he was a fan of Austin in WCW days want to work with him so he pick Austin for his return matches and put him over and Austin got so over that he save WWF. from what WWE have become today profits over Millions and Millions have to give Austin some credit for it...

WWF/WWE could start Austin vs McMahon in 1996....Austin tell Vince to shutup, a greedy selfish promoter >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TglE8P5V5AA&feature=related .... Stone Cold gets in Gorilla Monsoon's Face >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l1umshwiHM..

Austin vs Hogan would be better then Rock vs Hogan due to the fact that Austin save wwf/wwe legend of 90s and Hogan put WWF/WWE into mainstream media legend of 80s. they setup Austin vs Hogan but one of them decline and hogan is an ass anyway not many people want to work with him.

 

[TUFFY54]

As great as they both were, the answer has to be Austin. The Rock might of taken the attitude era to new heights, but Austin started it. I think Austin was ultimatly the bigger star in the company. He has some of the most memorible moments in WWE history. Lots of people will say that the Rock was better on the mic, but I'm going to have to disagree. The Rock was magical on the mike. He could go on forever and never lose the audiances attention. However, Austin simply said "what", and 10 years later people do it ever time someone talks. I think the main thing that still drives this question today is what happened after they both retired. I belive that people might be inclined to say the Rock was bigger because for the last 8 years he's been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, while Austin has only had mild succes compaired to him. However, if people were to simply look back to 2002 when they both had there last big runs, Austin is the obvious choice.

P.S. I know that this really shouldn't be taken into consideration, but Austins legacy is helped more by the fact that he had to retire. He has said many times that he would of loved to stay on a few more years, but physically couldn't. The Rock on the other hand walked away in his prime and never came back. I also think Austin should be commended for the fact that he stayed on screen with the WWE for a few years after retirment so they had time to build up some new stars.

 

[Calderownz]

If you're not talking about overall cultural impact, I'd say it's a clear choice: Steve Austin.

The Rock was GREAT on the mic. Other than that, he has nothing over Stone Cold.

He wasn't a better in-ring performer. He wasn't a bigger draw. He didn't sell more merchandise. He has a few accomplishments over Steve, in that he was a younger champion and won 7 times before anyone else in WWE history. But, he no longer holds those records any more.

Steve has the better feuds, the better overall wrestling moments. I love both guys, but Stone Cold takes the nod here.

 

[SCrooked1]

If you're not talking about overall cultural impact, I'd say it's a clear choice: Steve Austin.

The Rock was GREAT on the mic. Other than that, he has nothing over Stone Cold.

He wasn't a better in-ring performer. He wasn't a bigger draw. He didn't sell more merchandise. He has a few accomplishments over Steve, in that he was a younger champion and won 7 times before anyone else in WWE history. But, he no longer holds those records any more.

Steve has the better feuds, the better overall wrestling moments. I love both guys, but Stone Cold takes the nod here.

Rock was the #1 draw over Austin in 1999 and was the #1 draw again in 2000. Austin only had the #1 spot on there for '98 and '01. And in 2001 Rock was gone for over 4 months which is why he was bumped down to #2, so '98 was the only year Austin was the undisputed #1.

http://wfigs.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=prowrestling&action=print&thread=198109

Also Austin had the advantage of monster merchandise sales in the beginning because most of merchandise was Austin and DX stuff. In '99 it was mainly Rock and Austin merchandise and if you look at the hottest selling items on shopzone from the archive.org site, Rock was selling more merchandise than Austin.

Some merchandise lists of what was selling at the time:

http://web.archive.org/web/19991012110756/wwfshopzone.com/hot.asp

http://web.archive.org/web/19990824211840/wwfshopzone.com/hot.asp

http://web.archive.org/web/19991008151901/www.wwfshopzone.com/hot.asp

http://web.archive.org/web/19991112054906/www.wwfshopzone.com/hot.asp (Only one that was somewhat close, though Rock had 1 more on the list than Austin)

 

[jacdnwarrior]

We need to understand something. Austin is number 1 and the Rock is number 2. Austin is the leader of the era and created a following that no one had seen since the time of Hulk Hogan. He sold the merchandise, he sold out arenas, he sold ppvs, he brought in the ratings. The Rock, who I 'm fan of, was a close number two.

That being said, The Rock became the face of the company when Austin was deemed to controversial for certain aspects of the business.

 

[SCrooked1]

We need to understand something. Austin is number 1 and the Rock is number 2. Austin is the leader of the era and created a following that no one had seen since the time of Hulk Hogan. He sold the merchandise, he sold out arenas, he sold ppvs, he brought in the ratings. The Rock, who I 'm fan of, was a close number two.

That being said, The Rock became the face of the company when Austin was deemed to controversial for certain aspects of the business.

Then why was Rock #1 over Austin in '99 on the list? Shouldn't Austin be #1? Fact is Rock eclisped Austin in '99 and no one eclipsed Rock in 2000. Rock had a show named after his catchphrase that year and was the only one that year that the fans chanted for more than Austin.

And what do you mean Austin was "deemed to controversial"? Rock in 1999 was not considered a role model either, his character was a lot more egotistical and rougher compared to how he was in late 2000-late 2002.

 

[Chris1-16]

Just because Austin was first doesn't mean he couldn't be outdone. Look at the wrestling observer top draw list and see is #1 and #2 for 1999, once Rock turned face Austin wasn't the undisputed #1 anymore, sorry but true. Austin was #2 on the list because he was still a hot draw that year, but Rock was a much bigger draw than you think in '99. Look on the shopzone list posted and see how Rock is dominating the list, obviously if Austin was the undisputed #1 that year it would be him smoking Rock on the shopzone list, not the other way around. Funny thing is on the second shopzone list Austin had just recently lost the belt while Rock was in a feud with Billy Gunn yet Rock was still selling more merchandise.

For example, take HHH in 2000. He was a big draw, and drew more than everyone except The Rock, which is why he is at #2 instead of the top spot. In '99 Austin drew more than everyone except The Rock. In 2001 Austin was the champion for more than half of the year and Rock was absent for 4 months, which is why Austin was #1 and Rock was #2 for the year, plus by 2001 Austin and to a lesser extent Rock weren't really as hot draws as they were in 1999, so 1999 is a much bigger deal to talk about than 2001.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

Then why was Rock #1 over Austin in '99 on the list? Shouldn't Austin be #1? Fact is Rock eclisped Austin in '99 and no one eclipsed Rock in 2000. Rock had a show named after his catchphrase that year and was the only one that year that the fans chanted for more than Austin.

And what do you mean Austin was "deemed to controversial"? Rock in 1999 was not considered a role model either, his character was a lot more egotistical and rougher compared to how he was in late 2000-late 2002.

Austin being outdone by the Rock, one or two years maybe even three, doesn't mean he was the leader of the era or the bigger star of the two. I'm not denying Rock's selling or draw, but I'd say they both had their strengths and weaknesses.

Austin got a lot of heat from certain religious groups over Austin 3:16. A lot of parents were less than happy with his flipping the bird, his cursing and so forth, and many promotional appearances needed to made by the Rock rather than Austin. DX had a lot of parents groups complaining about their suck it chant and the hand motions that go along with it.

 

[RJJ]

Austin being outdone by the Rock, one or two years maybe even three, doesn't mean he was the leader of the era or the bigger star of the two. I'm not denying Rock's selling or draw, but I'd say they both had their strengths and weaknesses.

Austin got a lot of heat from certain religious groups over Austin 3:16. A lot of parents were less than happy with his flipping the bird, his cursing and so forth, and many promotional appearances needed to made by the Rock rather than Austin. DX had a lot of parents groups complaining about their suck it chant and the hand motions that go along with it.

People choose austin over the rock based on the attitude era, and yes he could be the bigger star during that time, but what they fail to realize is that rock dominated the 2002 year, he was without a doubt the face of the company. He had some of his greatest matches at that year. He broke a record by being the 1st 7 times wwe champion, and he did it with fashion, he did it by performing the greatest triple threat match ever along with angle and taker(dare anybody to say otherwise). With all due respect, austin never had a match as big or as great as rock-hogan WM X8. The greatest match of austin's career was against rock in WM X7(he said that and even his good friend JR said it).

You can make a case for austin being the top guy in the beggining of the era(Attitude era), but there is no denying rock shared that position at the end of it. One more thing I always wondered why the year 2000 had the best ratings of the attitude era? Yes, foley, hunter, taker they all did a great job, but rock was without a doubt the top guy.

This comparison is closer than you guys think.

 

[sxeholmes]

As far as legacy goes, it has to go to Stone Cold because he still cares about his fans and the business. The Rock was a great competitor with many achievements, but he just snubbed the business and left for his movie career and hasn't looked back since. At least Stone Cold has come back for guest appearences now and then, The Rock has made little effort to remind anyone of where he came from.

 

[SCrooked1]

Austin being outdone by the Rock, one or two years maybe even three, doesn't mean he was the leader of the era or the bigger star of the two. I'm not denying Rock's selling or draw, but I'd say they both had their strengths and weaknesses.

Austin got a lot of heat from certain religious groups over Austin 3:16. A lot of parents were less than happy with his flipping the bird, his cursing and so forth, and many promotional appearances needed to made by the Rock rather than Austin. DX had a lot of parents groups complaining about their suck it chant and the hand motions that go along with it.

No, but seeing who was selling more merchandise at the time and who was listed as the #1 draw on the list for 1999 you can say that the debate of Rock never being a bigger draw than Austin is officially over.

 

[Chris1-16]

Austin being outdone by the Rock, one or two years maybe even three, doesn't mean he was the leader of the era or the bigger star of the two. I'm not denying Rock's selling or draw, but I'd say they both had their strengths and weaknesses.

Austin got a lot of heat from certain religious groups over Austin 3:16. A lot of parents were less than happy with his flipping the bird, his cursing and so forth, and many promotional appearances needed to made by the Rock rather than Austin. DX had a lot of parents groups complaining about their suck it chant and the hand motions that go along with it.

What are you talking about? In 1999 Austin was all over magazines and was heavily promoted. The reason Rock eventually became the poster boy of the company because how huge he was in 1999, it had nothing to do with Austin "flipping the bird". If Rock had never turned face Austin would've continued to dominate the merchandise sales on shopzone. Yeah, some parents probably didn't like the "bird", but I'm sure the majority did, since they were doing it at the live shows.

 

[Why Always Me]

My god some Austin fans are ignorant.

So proof is presented that in the summer of 1999, when Austin was being pushed as the number one face, The Rock was selling more merchandice, yet that fact is instantly dismissed?

There will never be a definitive answer in The Rock v Austin who is the biggest/greatest/most popular, but at times the bias towards one or the other is stupid.

The Rock is my favourite of all time (Austin is second btw) - but whilst my personal opinion is that The Rock is better, I also know that my opinion is shared by a lot of people and also disputed by a lot of people too.

On many sites I see these debates, sometimes Austin wins, sometimes The Rock wins. Everytime klunderbunker does his old school reviews, he ALWAYS leans towards Austin and isn't open to the fact that there is no definitive answer.

So I am gonna be probably the first person to say it - they are EQUAL because pretty much everybody loved the both of them and there is no way to ever find out who is the most popular/biggest/left the biggest legacy/who looked better in black pants etc.

Tis about time these threads stopped me thinks, its like asking what came first the chicken or the egg.

 

[SCrooked1]

My god some Austin fans are ignorant.

So proof is presented that in the summer of 1999, when Austin was being pushed as the number one face, The Rock was selling more merchandice, yet that fact is instantly dismissed?

There will never be a definitive answer in The Rock v Austin who is the biggest/greatest/most popular, but at times the bias towards one or the other is stupid.

The Rock is my favourite of all time (Austin is second btw) - but whilst my personal opinion is that The Rock is better, I also know that my opinion is shared by a lot of people and also disputed by a lot of people too.

On many sites I see these debates, sometimes Austin wins, sometimes The Rock wins. Everytime klunderbunker does his old school reviews, he ALWAYS leans towards Austin and isn't open to the fact that there is no definitive answer.

So I am gonna be probably the first person to say it - they are EQUAL because pretty much everybody loved the both of them and there is no way to ever find out who is the most popular/biggest/left the biggest legacy/who looked better in black pants etc.

Tis about time these threads stopped me thinks, its like asking what came first the chicken or the egg.

Well if klunderbunker thinks there's no definite answer he should look at who's #1 and #2 for 1999 on wrestling observer's top draws. I bet most of the guys who say Austin was bigger probably haven't read the list yet or are probably trying to ignore it.

 

[Why Always Me]

My god some Austin fans are ignorant.

So proof is presented that in the summer of 1999, when Austin was being pushed as the number one face, The Rock was selling more merchandice, yet that fact is instantly dismissed?

There will never be a definitive answer in The Rock v Austin who is the biggest/greatest/most popular, but at times the bias towards one or the other is stupid.

The Rock is my favourite of all time (Austin is second btw) - but whilst my personal opinion is that The Rock is better, I also know that my opinion is shared by a lot of people and also disputed by a lot of people too.

On many sites I see these debates, sometimes Austin wins, sometimes The Rock wins. Everytime klunderbunker does his old school reviews, he ALWAYS leans towards Austin and isn't open to the fact that there is no definitive answer.

So I am gonna be probably the first person to say it - they are EQUAL because pretty much everybody loved the both of them and there is no way to ever find out who is the most popular/biggest/left the biggest legacy/who looked better in black pants etc.

Tis about time these threads stopped me thinks, its like asking what came first the chicken or the egg.

Well if klunderbunker thinks there's no definite answer he should look at who's #1 and #2 for 1999 on wrestling observer's top draws. I bet most of the guys who say Austin was bigger probably haven't read the list yet or are probably trying to ignore it.

No - his opinion is that Austin is bigger/better/more popular than The Rock. He has wrote this in quite a few of his reviews and won't back down trust me.

It's not to have a pop at him at all, but thats just an example of the point I am trying to make. You have posted the facts and yet people STILL say Rock isn't anywhere near Austin.

Summerslam 1999 - The Rock v Billy Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match or Triple H v Mankind v Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Title (with Jesse 'The Body' Ventura as special referee). Which match is more appealing? The match with The Rock or the match with Stone Cold? Of course its the match wiht Stone Cold and yet The Rock was outselling Stone Cold quite comfortably. The WWF were pushing Austin as the number one star but the figures tell us someone else was number one.......

Anyone care to comment?

 

[SCrooked1]

No - his opinion is that Austin is bigger/better/more popular than The Rock. He has wrote this in quite a few of his reviews and won't back down trust me.

It's not to have a pop at him at all, but thats just an example of the point I am trying to make. You have posted the facts and yet people STILL say Rock isn't anywhere near Austin.

Summerslam 1999 - The Rock v Billy Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match or Triple H v Mankind v Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Title (with Jesse 'The Body' Ventura as special referee). Which match is more appealing? The match with The Rock or the match with Stone Cold? Of course its the match wiht Stone Cold and yet The Rock was outselling Stone Cold quite comfortably. The WWF were pushing Austin as the number one star but the figures tell us someone else was number one.......

Anyone care to comment?

Well that's his opinion, but like I said he probably doesn't know that Rock was selling more merchandise than Austin the summer and fall of 1999, nor did he look at the Wrestling Observer top draws list. I remember for the longest everybody saying that "no matter how popular Rock was in 1999, Austin still dominated the merchandise sales before Survivor Series, then Rock took over afterwards." Thankfully the I was able to find the old shopzone top selling items or everybody would've said "Ha where's the proof!" and I probably would've lost the debate and had people calling me a troll.

Thank god for shopzone!

 

[Chris1-16]

My god some Austin fans are ignorant.

So proof is presented that in the summer of 1999, when Austin was being pushed as the number one face, The Rock was selling more merchandice, yet that fact is instantly dismissed?

There will never be a definitive answer in The Rock v Austin who is the biggest/greatest/most popular, but at times the bias towards one or the other is stupid.

The Rock is my favourite of all time (Austin is second btw) - but whilst my personal opinion is that The Rock is better, I also know that my opinion is shared by a lot of people and also disputed by a lot of people too.

On many sites I see these debates, sometimes Austin wins, sometimes The Rock wins. Everytime klunderbunker does his old school reviews, he ALWAYS leans towards Austin and isn't open to the fact that there is no definitive answer.

So I am gonna be probably the first person to say it - they are EQUAL because pretty much everybody loved the both of them and there is no way to ever find out who is the most popular/biggest/left the biggest legacy/who looked better in black pants etc.

Tis about time these threads stopped me thinks, its like asking what came first the chicken or the egg.

True overall they're equal.

But in 1999-2002, Rock pretty much owned the merchandise sales, with Austin behind him, then HHH was in 3rd place throughout that timeframe. I'd say Undertaker and Chris Jericho were behind those 3 in top merchandise sales from 99-02, since their merchandise was usually in the top 10 as well.

 

[apokalypse]

oh god! rock fans boy can come up with reason Rock nobody had a bigger 97-99 2 year impact on pro wrestling than Austin, the whole 99 was centered around Austin until he left. due to injuries that stopped his career in 1999 with a storylines that a car ran him over. as much you love rock but back then people start sick of Rock vs HHH which has done so many times. i still remember after PPV match Iron man match i was o a chat room and forums so many people complain about it. this is the reason why Vince call austin back because he's a drawer with his character but one thing Austin can't beat Rock is Charismatic. remember WHAT CHANT? you still hear that chant today. Austin leave alot of things when he was gone. talk abouts pops ROck will never beat the pops that Austin help mankind to win his first title over the rock...that was crazy. Austin always gets a pop, the fans refuse to boo him even when he turn heel which is a great shocking turn but it doesn't work because the fans love Austin doesn't want to boo that guy. Austin get massive pop as heel which is shocking. Rock get Die Rock Die with rocky suck in his earlier career to early 99 and 2003 with rocky suck.

Austin was self made superstar, with King of the ring 96 he's a star already on main event with Shawn and bret while Rock is built, created, push by WWE. Austin elevate and put rock over in the fued over IC. The Rock left for hollywood and he came back, the fans turn on him so WWE turn him heel and the fans call him a sellout/Rocky Suck. Austin walked out of WWE 2 times with the writers/WWE direction and his injuries, but when he came back fans cheered like god.if rock return tomorrow not just one night apperance kind of thing, the fans will turn on him agian.