Why does WWE favor Stone Cold to The Rock?

[James Greiga]

Before I write this I just want to make it known that Austin is one of my favorite wrestlers and if anything I am glad Rock is gone.

Austin was without a doubt the top guy of 1998 and 1999. In 2000 it was Rock and in 2001 they kind of flip flopped for the role of top dog. 2002 was Rock because Austin was having backstage issues and he left for 6 months. However, Rock was only given the top guy spot in 2000 because Austin was gone. Rock was always the plan B. It was supposed to be Hogan/Austin but Austin refused so they gave it to Rock. Whenever there's a documentary on the Attitude Era, Austin is always show as THE guy and Rock is more so the other guy that was popular. WWE has literally gone on screen and said that Austin was the most popular wrestler of all time. At Wrestlemania 20, from what I hear, Austin got paid the same as Rock for being there and Austin didn't even wrestle. WWE talks of Austin like God. They only recently started talking of the Rock that way and thats only because they wanted to build him up for his match against Cena.

The thing is why would they do that? I'm not talking about the fans, the fans respect Austin more for obvious reasons. I am talking about Vince and the WWE. Think about it. Rock may have left but when he was doing movies he brought a shit ton of publicity to WWE which Vince loved. He even told Rock he could come back whenever he wanted. Rock did everything WWE asked. Never got in legal trouble, had no problem putting a guy over. I mean he lost 3 Wrestlemania main events in a row and didn't even complain. He never got heat backstage with anyone and everyone he's worked with has positive things to say about him.

Meanwhile, Stone Cold got in a huge scandal after he beat his wife AND FELLOW WWE EMPLOYEE Debra in the middle of his career, he refused to do half of WWF's planned storylines, he just up and quit one day and refused to come back for 6 months, a lot of times he wouldn't even show up to events until the last few minutes. He also had a reputation for being short tempered and extremely competitive almost to a jealous point after his return in 2000. If anything you can say he was to Vince in 2001 what HBK was in the 90's. The only difference is that Austin was actually a draw during his peak.

You can't say it's because of money. Yeah Austin sold more merch than anyone else and he sold shows like no other but if I remember correctly, Rock gave WWE its most successful year in history. He also holds the record for most watched segment in WWE history as well. So why has WWE always treated Austin as being their forever number 1 and Rock as their plan B. They don't even treat Hogan that way anymore. I mean they are in a rush to get Austin back for WM 30 (which he said no to of course) yet they were in no rush to get Hogan back. Hogan wanted to come back a while ago but TNA offered him more than WWE did. It's obvious they were in no rush to get him back considering they have absolutely no real plan for him other than him just being there but I digress.

 

[The_Reptile_]

Because Austin was a better draw, because Austin was the face and pioneer during the years and angles that more or less saved the company from bankruptcy, because the fans loved Austin more than Rock and because, once Austin finally retired, he never once shied away from the fact that he was a WWE wrestler.

Half the problems with Austin walking out on angles happened during a notoriously troubled time in WWE backstage in the early 2000s, and besides that he was always the consummate professional. While The Rock may be a bigger movie star than Austin in terms of Hollywood standing, he is always Austin's Number Two in the wrestling world, and while Rock may have been the face that brought in WWE's most succesful year [I'll need a citation on that, by the way], Austin was the face during the years that saved WWE from bankruptcy, and during their peak Austin was a much bigger cultural icon than The Rock. Fact is, WWE treats Austin like a bigger deal because he really is a bigger deal. Without Austin, there is no Rock, but there's still an Austin without a Rock.

 

[TheOneAndOnlyGOAT]

Rock was never plan B as you say.

Austin was scheduled for a heel turn in late 99 / early 00 if I'm not mistaken and the plan for WM2000 was Rock vs Austin with rocky going over. I think Austin mentioned that in an interview (turning heel before he left for surgery).


Also you're completely mistaken about the Hogan/Austin thing.

It was never the plan.

I asked Kevin Nash PERSONALLY in the Q&A session in the last nWo tour, he said that Rock vs Hogan was the plan all along.

I think Austin said in his last DVD that he wanted the match with Hogan but it got passed over to Rock.

Austin can be pretty bipolar at times.


Anyway, when you look at the age Hogan became the face (31) and Austin became the face (33), I think WWE wanted Austin to be their present and Rock their future but Rock surpassed him in 2000 and WWE didn't think Rock was going to leave this soon.


Austin had a huge role in WWF winning the MNW and that's why Vince loves Austin so much however Rock in 2000 broke many records and led WWF to an unprecedented wave of success, and that's pretty impressive considering Taker wasn't there the first couple of months, Foley retired at mania and Austin missed most of the year.



WWE will always portray Austin as superior to Rock.

Its mainly because of sour grapes from Vince's part which is normal considering he lost a Mega star like Rock

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Austin is the bigger draw. You can say "Rock gave the WWE it's biggest year" but did he really? Or did he just take the wheel after Austin got the car going to 100? Austin took the WWE from name near shutting down it's doors to being a pop culture phenomenon. Rock took it from a pop culture phenomenon and...made it slightly bigger then left for hollywood.

 

[TheOneAndOnlyGOAT]

Because Austin was a better draw, because Austin was the face and pioneer during the years and angles that more or less saved the company from bankruptcy, because the fans loved Austin more than Rock and because, once Austin finally retired, he never once shied away from the fact that he was a WWE wrestler.

Half the problems with Austin walking out on angles happened during a notoriously troubled time in WWE backstage in the early 2000s, and besides that he was always the consummate professional. While The Rock may be a bigger movie star than Austin in terms of Hollywood standing, he is always Austin's Number Two in the wrestling world, and while Rock may have been the face that brought in WWE's most succesful year [I'll need a citation on that, by the way], Austin was the face during the years that saved WWE from bankruptcy, and during their peak Austin was a much bigger cultural icon than The Rock. Fact is, WWE treats Austin like a bigger deal because he really is a bigger deal. Without Austin, there is no Rock, but there's still an Austin without a Rock.

That has to be the biggest load of cr@p I've ever read.

Rock was always number two in wrestling to Austin?

That's funny because Austin's first match in almost a year was in the mid card while Rock vs Angle for the WWF title was main eventing but when Rock returned after 4 months, him and Booker T main evented Summerslam 01 not angle vs austin for the wwf title.

When WWF signed Hogan, they wanted Hogan vs Rock not Hogan vs Austin.

In 2002, WWE wanted Lesnar to beat Hogan on SD and Austin on RAW so he can face their BIGGEST STAR, NUMBER 1 THE ROCK at Summerslam.

In 2003, WWE tried to sign Bill Goldberg before WM and originally planned Goldberg vs Rock at WM19 not versus austin.


Rock surpassed austin at one point, just admit it kiddo.

Bigger draw? Not really. Wrestling observer newsletter's biggest draw in 99 was Rock and who was in the highest rated segment in raw history? the rock

 

[TheOneAndOnlyGOAT]

Austin is the bigger draw. You can say "Rock gave the WWE it's biggest year" but did he really? Or did he just take the wheel after Austin got the car going to 100? Austin took the WWE from name near shutting down it's doors to being a pop culture phenomenon. Rock took it from a pop culture phenomenon and...made it slightly bigger then left for hollywood.

Austin didn't make wrestling a pop culture phenomenon. WTF are you talking about?

WWF started getting 6s and 7s rating when The Rock became a main eventer.

You can talk all that BS but numbers don't lie.

Rock was in the highest rated show/segment/match in RAW history!

Guess the viewers that Austin brought didn't watch Austin but watched rock. That makes absolutely sense hahahahaha

 

[L@RISANO]

There has been loads of 'debate' on here regarding the status of both guys in the WWE and who was better.

For me, I just see Austin's character as being every fan's dream. Being that guy who does what he wants, when he wants and couldn't care less what anybody thought about him.

It was a character that up until now is still loved by the fans and the fact that Austin was a natural helped it to be hugely popular and at the HOF induction of Austin, Vince basically said that Austin was the GOAT of WWE.

 

[James Greiga]

That has to be the biggest load of cr@p I've ever read.

Rock was always number two in wrestling to Austin?

That's funny because Austin's first match in almost a year was in the mid card while Rock vs Angle for the WWF title was main eventing but when Rock returned after 4 months, him and Booker T main evented Summerslam 01 not angle vs austin for the wwf title.

That's COMPLETELY different. When Austin returned he was already in a feud that started a year prior. What was he supposed to go straight to the main event and just forget about who ran him over? Rock went to do a movie for just a few months and was in no such feud. He was placed in a feud as Vince's combatant to Austin. Two different scenarios

 

[The Perfect Max]

A certain somebody really needs to stop riding The Rock's dick all over here, Jesus. I'm pretty sure he doesn't read these forums dude. And no, I'm not referring to the OP.

Anyway, I used to think what you're thinking now, which is that Stone Cold was clearly the favourite out of the two, and always held the WWE number one spot over The Rock, both as a character on the screen and backstage. However, since The Rock returned to WWE in 2011 (and subsequently left in 2013), I'm not so sure anymore. Vince's treatment of The Rock has been quite large, with the birthday bash, the WWE Championship run, the host of WrestleMania and the two main event bouts in 2012 and 2013. I'm not sure if Stone Cold would have received this treatment.

Then again, you have to look at the roles and characters of the two. Stone Cold is wrestling through and through. On his DVD, he was talking about how much he still wanted to be a part of the WWE after WretleMania XIX. His backstage fallouts were over creative decisions that he felt weren't good enough, and they weren't necessarily were they beneficial to him. He had a desire for the business aspect. WWE have recognised this, I would think. As for The Rock, he chose Hollywood even before his career was over (I don't blame him), perhaps the bitterness of the company for going to Hollywood was a reasoning. Sure, he didn't really become prominent until around 2002, but Austin was in the main event first.

It's always seemed like to me, that The Rock was forever chasing after Steve Austin, only because of the way things were booked. Other than WrestleMania X8, Austin always received the big "moment" first. He was champion first, he headlined WrestleMania first, he defeated The Rock before The Rock defeated him. Just my outlook and perhaps it was the way things happened over time that caused the WWE to favour Austin. Let's be honest, if any of us ran the company, we'd be just as appreciative for The Rock as we would be for Austin.

 

[Bythedockofthebay]

Because Vince had more to do with austin's success imo. If you mention Austin, Vince is normally the next word out of your mouth. It gives Vince more credibility and it makes him look like a bigger deal. Vince's storyline with Austin was one of the best ever. Vince wants people to think Austin because Austin is more associated with Vince than the Rock. I think most of it has to do with Austin being looked upon like he is.

 

[H33LTurn]

It comes down to loyalty, in my opinion. Vince McMahon could care less about personal failings, this is the man who gave steroids to his own employees. Stone Cold was always available and hung in there with the company during good times and bad. Rock was less about the business and more about making money, so when the opportunity came for him to move to something cushier and with a higher salary he jumped ship. Vince is apparently big on loyalty, especially anyone who stuck around during the company's worst years. Steve's loyalties have always lied with the WWE, you cant say the same about Rocky. Thats not to say Vince doesn't love or respect Dwayne, but Austin did more for the company.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

People are hypocrites. The Rock was just as entertaining in the ring as Stone Cold (If you ask me, he was more entertaining). The Rock was worlds better on the mic regardless of WWE stating that SCSA is the greatest of all time on the mic (a laughable offense since I can name 3 men in this era alone who are better than he was on the mic). The Rock had more memorable feuds than SCSA. The Rock paid his dues on the biggest stage more than once (A loss to Triple H in a fatal fourway, two losses to SCSA twice, a loss to Evolution, a loss to Cena). On top of that, he's jobbed to Goldberg, Hurricane Helms, Brock Lesnar, and CM Punk. And to top it off, Dwayne Johnson doesn't have the shady real-life, swept-under-the-rug violent drama that Steve Austin has. He became a pop culture icon and a household name BEFORE even becoming a movie star. His professionalism, look, work-ethic, appeal, and personality easily made him the better face of the company. You'd really have to dig deep to find a non-petty reason to hate The Rock.

For a while now, I've suspected that the reason why people look past SCSA's despicable acts to his (then) wife, is because they still feel bad for him. The people who "hate" The Rock, mainly hate that he overshadowed SCSA. He was better in every facet and it probably annoyed them that another guy they loved was not really needed anymore. That jealousy only grew when The Rock left from being the top guy in WWF to (now) becoming arguably the top guy in Hollywood. Vince is a part of "these people" who feel the need to validate Stone Cold's greatness by claiming he was the greatest talent to ever grace the WWE. So that's probably why it seems they try so hard to favor him over the Rock. The Rock doesn't need the praise. But if Stone Cold isn't constantly thrusted on "Best of..." lists, they risk people forgetting a (slightly lesser imo) great talent.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Is it that much of a difference? I'm pretty sure Vince would happily have an extra orifice added to his backside if one man was already in and the other wanted some stink.

But assuming WWE favors SCSA it really does simply come down to money. Oops! I said what the OP didn't want to hear. There's more money in praising and showing off SCSA. Currently, The Rock has been squeezed of some of his juice over the last few years. Austin returning or anything Austin has more juice. Hard to grow stale when you haven't been around as much.

But really I don't see much difference other than I think it was The Rock that recently was on the cover of a video game.

 

[JJ15776]

I've yet to see one single shred of evidence that they favor Austin over Rock. Because Austin got paid as much as Rock at WrestleMania XX..do we have any proof of that? Do we have any proof that they tried to get Austin back for this year's Mania and he said no? I assume those claims are as true as the Hogan/Austin plan claim, which we know is completely false because everybody involved has said Hogan/Rock was the plan all along.

Austin is the first name that comes up in the Attitude Era because Austin started the Attitude Era and because his feud with Vince defined the Attitude Era. There's no denying that. The Attitude Era started when Austin beat HBK for the title and ended when Austin turned heel on Rock and joined forces with Vince...not a coincidence. That's not a statement on who was better or more important or anything like that, it's just a fact.

I'm not sure how much WWE you've watched in the last three years, but Rock was pretty clearly portrayed as an equal to Austin and anybody else who's ever wrestled during his entire feud with Cena.

So, no, WWE doesn't favor either one.

 

[kumarjtk]

first of all scsa is popular bcoz of the villian vince. Is their is no evil boss then wwf have stunning steve austin only. But the rock is popular bcoz of his mic skills and inring activities. The rock helped wwf to watch all over the world by his character and charishma. At time of attitude era people around the world known wwf only by rock not scsa.

 

[Alucard316]

first of all scsa is popular bcoz of the villian vince. Is their is no evil boss then wwf have stunning steve austin only. But the rock is popular bcoz of his mic skills and inring activities. The rock helped wwf to watch all over the world by his character and charishma. At time of attitude era people around the world known wwf only by rock not scsa.

What? Without Vince, there would only be "Stunning" Steve Austin? Austin become Stone Cold in 1996. Vince didn't become complete heel until after WrestleMania 14 when he would try to screw Austin out of the title. Sure, you could argue that he turned heel after Survivor Series 1997, but he didn't become a prominent part of the show until after WrestleMania the next year. Austin was already going to be the man even before Vince became his foil. Vince became the top heel because of Austin. The Rock is the reason the world knew about the WWF during the Attitude Era? Sure, Rock was a big part of it, but to say that no one knew of the company through Austin is complete bull. Watch Austin's DVD and see all that media they had him in. And, I like Rock, so no one think that I'm hating on him, but I've always hated the thought of "Rock was always bigger than Austin." It didn't seem that way by watching the show.

 

[Catacomb]

why does wwe favor austin over rock? because austin helped wwe in its most dire time, austin helped wwf beat wcw in ratings at a time when the wwf couldve gone out of business

 

[Alastor]

Because Austin was playing the lead role in the Monday Night Wars that saved the company. Working with Austin hand in hand in crisis mode might have gave a more lasting impression on those behind the scenes. It is only human nature.

Also, Rock has managed to carve out a significant post-wrestling career in the field of entertainment. There might be resentment that he was able to crossover to a bigger limelight without using wrestling as a crutch.

 

[James Greiga]

It comes down to loyalty, in my opinion. Vince McMahon could care less about personal failings, this is the man who gave steroids to his own employees. Stone Cold was always available and hung in there with the company during good times and bad. Rock was less about the business and more about making money, so when the opportunity came for him to move to something cushier and with a higher salary he jumped ship. Vince is apparently big on loyalty, especially anyone who stuck around during the company's worst years. Steve's loyalties have always lied with the WWE, you cant say the same about Rocky. Thats not to say Vince doesn't love or respect Dwayne, but Austin did more for the company.

That would be a good argument for a guy like Undertaker but not with Austin. Austin didn't leave WWF because he didn't want to. He worked for WCW and was fired. He worked for ECW too before he moved up to WWF. He didn't stay with WWF because thats where his loyalty lied, it was because he had a vendetta against WCW. If anything Rock was more loyal because he stayed in WWF when they were making him take a backseat to Austin

 

[James Greiga]

I've yet to see one single shred of evidence that they favor Austin over Rock. Because Austin got paid as much as Rock at WrestleMania XX..do we have any proof of that? Do we have any proof that they tried to get Austin back for this year's Mania and he said no? I assume those claims are as true as the Hogan/Austin plan claim, which we know is completely false because everybody involved has said Hogan/Rock was the plan all along.

Austin is the first name that comes up in the Attitude Era because Austin started the Attitude Era and because his feud with Vince defined the Attitude Era. There's no denying that. The Attitude Era started when Austin beat HBK for the title and ended when Austin turned heel on Rock and joined forces with Vince...not a coincidence. That's not a statement on who was better or more important or anything like that, it's just a fact.

I'm not sure how much WWE you've watched in the last three years, but Rock was pretty clearly portrayed as an equal to Austin and anybody else who's ever wrestled during his entire feud with Cena.

So, no, WWE doesn't favor either one.

There was literally an article like 2 days ago on WZ that said WWE is trying to get Austin back. In Stone Cold's documentary he said he didn't want to wrestle Hogan and turned it down so that's up for debate. And the Attitude Era started when Vince McMahon announced it in November 1997. But I guess that's about as true as WWE wanting Austin back right?

 

[SinCityBlitz]

WWE doesn't favor either one of them. They both made Vince a LOT of money. I don't know where people think Austin gets favored.

I asked Kevin Nash PERSONALLY in the Q&A session in the last nWo tour, he said that Rock vs Hogan was the plan all along.

Kevin Nash is your source?

In Austin's DVD he stated that he turned down the Hogan match. I know that I would believe Austin over Nash everyday of the week.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Austin didn't make wrestling a pop culture phenomenon. WTF are you talking about?

WWF started getting 6s and 7s rating when The Rock became a main eventer.

You can talk all that BS but numbers don't lie.

Rock was in the highest rated show/segment/match in RAW history!

Guess the viewers that Austin brought didn't watch Austin but watched rock. That makes absolutely sense hahahahaha

Austin brought it back to that stage. You're insane if you think WWF 1993-1996 was at all popular.

Rock was in the highest rated show in history. Awesome.

Some of you look at Rock being the headliner when WWF was at it's peak and credit him with that. Was Rock REALLY the reason? Or was that already a company surging?

Think about this, most CEOs get compensated based on growth. If Apple has huge sales next year, are people going to say that Tim Cook is the reason Apple is so big? Or is Tim Cook just the guy who took over after Steve Jobs made it amazing and carried it a bit further?

You can't look at it in a vacuum. Austin took it from near failure and took WWF to the top. Rock took it from the top and brought it a little higher, then Austin and Rock together made them unbeatable.

You can use stats all you want, but use them correctly. You can't attribute the WWE's enormous numbers to Rock when they were getting big (and growing) numbers before him under Austin. If a quarterback leads a drive from the 1 yard line and gets his team to the other team's 1 yard line. Then a running back rushes in the touchdown, you can't say "wow, look at that running back, he's the reason for the score". Without the QB, the running back had no shot. Same with Austin/Rock.

Also, by your logic, Mankind is a bigger draw than Austin (he was apart of the overrated as fuck this is your life segment).

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Well they both drawed a lot. As others allready stated Austin drawed in really troublesome times and turned the tides and Rock was someone who they looked upon to succed that no1 spot after Austin.

But dont think WWE favored Austin more. May seem that way because Austin took his role in backstage politics more and his ego was way bigger then The Rock. So while Rock had no problem in losing every now and then Austins sometimes just didnt want to lose(HHH at SummerSlam, refused to lose to Lesnar etc). So thats why maybe it seems like WWE favored him more...

 

[Bythedockofthebay]

Another thing that it COULD be is that Austin sells. And I'm not going to get into the buyrate/ratings things. But Austin sells merchandise and always has. Probably the most popular wrestler of all time considering those things. So if you're asking who I'd rather be selling classic DVD's or retro attire of. It's Austin all day long. Plus I think Austin fans had a moment in time, not a long run. So stuff with Austin almost seems precious in a way. I think that could be another reason.

 

[Bythedockofthebay]

Austin brought it back to that stage. You're insane if you think WWF 1993-1996 was at all popular.

Rock was in the highest rated show in history. Awesome.

Some of you look at Rock being the headliner when WWF was at it's peak and credit him with that. Was Rock REALLY the reason? Or was that already a company surging?

Think about this, most CEOs get compensated based on growth. If Apple has huge sales next year, are people going to say that Tim Cook is the reason Apple is so big? Or is Tim Cook just the guy who took over after Steve Jobs made it amazing and carried it a bit further?

You can't look at it in a vacuum. Austin took it from near failure and took WWF to the top. Rock took it from the top and brought it a little higher, then Austin and Rock together made them unbeatable.

You can use stats all you want, but use them correctly. You can't attribute the WWE's enormous numbers to Rock when they were getting big (and growing) numbers before him under Austin. If a quarterback leads a drive from the 1 yard line and gets his team to the other team's 1 yard line. Then a running back rushes in the touchdown, you can't say "wow, look at that running back, he's the reason for the score". Without the QB, the running back had no shot. Same with Austin/Rock.

Also, by your logic, Mankind is a bigger draw than Austin (he was apart of the overrated as fuck this is your life segment).

My take on 2000 was that it was a good year but I think alot of that had to do with WCW imploding and people trying to get their wrestling fix elsewhere. They turned the channel to WWE, the problem with that was that once WCW did implode the WWE had a chance to do something great with WCW vs WWF and flat out didn't.

They alienated a lot of former WCW fans and some of them never came back. For the most part once the former WCW fans saw what and who the WWE was pushing as their guys, they thought it was a joke. They didn't care if WWE was the only choice they simply didn't want to deal with Vince making WCW into a joke along the lines of ECW. It really upset some people that never sat down and watched wrestling again.