Who's place in WWE history is bigger? The Rock or Shawn Michaels?

[Kidpolean]

They seem inseparable but there is a way to determine which one is the winner in the end.

Both Shawn Michaels and The Rock had careers that overlapped the career of the greatest wrestler ever to walk the earth who I don't even need to name in this post because everyone knows who it is, so lets see how they went against him and how popular their feuds were.

The Rock wrestled him 3 times was pinned clean once by him but defeated him twice, once cleanly and once with blatant disregard for the rules.
The Rock's feud with the greatest wrestler of all time was epic and even though his opponent ended up with a moral victory and gained most of his fans back who had lost their way over the years, the rock still won the match so thats a huge star against the rocks name.
Undoubtedly the biggest scalp of the rocks career and their first match headlined wrestlemania even though it wasn't the final match on the card.

Shawn Michaels turned to the only wrestler he thought was worthy of teaming with in a time when Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley were not on the same page. He said if he could have anyone as a tag team partner he would team with the greatest of all time.
Shawn Michaels turned on the greatest of all time and challenged him to a match, hoping to take the biggest scalp in wrestling and have a hugely popular feud. The match was so anticipated, that it actually pushed both world title matches to the undercard.
Shawn Michaels was defeated.

So in conclusion The Rock will have the bigger place in wwe history as he measured up to and beyond the greatest of greatness, truly earning the title of "the great one".

First off saying Austin is the greatest wrestler ever is laughable. The guy was great and was really popular for a couple of years but come on dude, to put him over HBK, Flair, and Hogan is nonsense.

The answer to this depends on who you ask and what you mean by better. If you ask hardcore wrestling fans they will say HBK but if you ask the rest of the world they will probably say the rock. I believe that HBK is the best ever so there's my answer right there. HBK, as far as matches go, cant be touched but the rock, as far as promos and entertainment, cant be touched. Both have done an awesome job for the WWE and are among the greatest of all time.

 

[HBsam31]

As far as pure wrestling goes HBK no doubt, but as far as most popular and most impression on the business I would have to say the Rock. He just hit it so big, and there came a point where everyone came to see The Rock. Honestly HBK had a lot more longevity and I think he contributed more overall, but it is hard to deny the impact that The Rock had.

 

[Rellim]

From outside of the wrestling world, as in pop culture, The Rock would in this no question. He is a movie star while people who don't watch wrestling have no clue who Shawn Michaels even is. But in terms of the wrestling world, HBK has a far greater Legacy and I think he will be remembered more by wrestling fans.

 

[InsomniaMusic]

Shawn Michaels easily better longer career more highlights

He's the showstopper

From outside of wrestling World history it might be Rock but inside wrestling it's HBK

 

[InsomniaMusic]

Easily The Rock. This isn't even a competition, really.

Shawn Michaels is an excellent wrestler and had a lot of charisma. He even had a ton of great matches. But to say that his legacy in the WWE's greater than The Rock is a borderline joke.

The Rock has brought the WWE back to the forefront of pop culture. He's made more money off movies than Hulk Hogan, and drew much bigger houses than Shawn Michaels.

The best perspective I can give you on this is a recent shoot I watched on Jim Cornette, who talked about the timeline of 1997. He brought up the total gate for the Royal Rumble, which was held in Shawn's hometown. The gate was just over 500,000 dollars. The crowd was at over 60,000, but 20,000 of those tickets were given away. The capacity crowd of the Alamodome is 70,000. Shawn couldn't draw half of that arena as the hometown kid. To prove my point even further, the Wrestlemania with Sycho Sid and Undertaker in the main event drew the same amount of money as the Royal Rumble, and the capacity of Madison Square Garden was above 18,000 and was a sell out. It also didn't have HBK on the show, because he's lost his smile.

What that proves is HBK didn't draw near as much as guys like Hogan, Rock, Austin, and Cena. Doesn't mean Shawn's in-ring work wasn't as good - it means he's not as popular as was once believed. And those numbers are straight out of Jim Cornette's notebook he kept as an agent in the WWE.

The Rock has made BILLIONS in movies, and millions in the wrestling ring. Another note from the Cornette shoot was how natural Rock looked in the ring. Cornette thought he'd been training for a year when he was called up and found out he'd been in formal wrestling school a month before be debuted in wrestling. That goes to show you that Rock isn't just look and personality - he could go in the ring, too.

So Rock's place in history is much better and a lot less tainted than HBK's legacy.

Why would you put Austin above HBK.
HBK had the longer career
Great tag team IC and HW champion
Started one of the best factions in WWE history.
Had some of the most memorable moments in WWE history.

Austin had a few big years but I don't know if he has the legacy in WWE that HBK did. I would put HBK 2nd to Hogan in WWE

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Why would you put Austin above HBK.
HBK had the longer career
Great tag team IC and HW champion
Started one of the best factions in WWE history.
Had some of the most memorable moments in WWE history.

Austin had a few big years but I don't know if he has the legacy in WWE that HBK did. I would put HBK 2nd to Hogan in WWE

HBK's era drew lower ratings and buyrates for PPV's than Austin and Hogan. Austin was also a good IC and WWE champion. Austin was his own faction. And HBK has some good matches, but not a better career than Austin.

 

[theHeadliner]

If were talking strictly WWF/E history, Shawn Michaels will hold that spot over the Rock. Michaels was an all-around talent: He was one of the best workers ever, he was entertaining and versataile in the ring, good mic skills, great seller, had a good look and gimmick you loved to hate, and an overall great athlete. He had a long career that broke into two parts, and was successful in both those parts for different reasons. He pushed the limits and was edgy before it became part of the WWF "Attitude." Both Shawn and Bret Hart broke the barriers for smaller, better workers. Bret has said he carried the WWF belt thru the darkest years, but I think Shawn's reign on top was worse because they had a lacking undercard, Bret was on break and they had no main-eventers on roster besides Undertaker. On top of that, the nWo was taking off and gained more interest each week in WCW, which already had a bunch of big names from the WWF who were established in the WWF. The deck was stacked against Shawn more than Bret. Bret had a better undercard and they weren't as cheesy in 1992-1994 when Bret was ascending and reached the top. 1995-1996 they had some bad angles, bad characters, bad overall presentation.

 

[Kidpolean]

HBK's era drew lower ratings and buyrates for PPV's than Austin and Hogan. Austin was also a good IC and WWE champion. Austin was his own faction. And HBK has some good matches, but not a better career than Austin.

WTF are you smoking? Austin had a better career than HBK? are u serious? HBK may have the greatest career of all time and Austin was hot for like 4 years

HBK has
-The Rockers
-First ladder match (i know its not the first but it was billed as the first)
-First Hell in a Cell
-First Iron Man
-First Elimination Chamber
-DX
-Best match ever at Mania
-best match ever on raw
-1st wrestler to ever win RR as first entrant
-first grand slam champion in wwe history

Austin doesnt come close to HBK