Would Austin vs Hogan Have Out-Done Rock vs Hogan?

[SCrooked1]

First of all there is no argument about it, Austin was without a doubt more popular than the Rock, lets not kid ourselves Crock.

Yeah, I think in theory Austin/Hogan would have outdone Rock/Hogan. I mean Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan is the biggest match that is possible in wrestling history period. These two are the biggest draws and two most popular men in wrestling history and there is no debating that, it is the man who put the WWF on the map vs the man who saved them from dyeing at eh hands of WCW. Theoretically it doesn't get any better than that.

Wether or not it would delivered on the same level as Rock/Hogan is questionable though. In that time period (2002 onwards) Austin seemed pretty disinterested to me, Rocky on the other hand was on top of his game. I also question how the crowd reactions would have gone, as we all know Rock/Hogan's greatness is 95% based off the whit hot crowd, the in ring aspect was pretty average. I am not sure the crowd would have reacted the same way if Austin was in the ring and not the Rock.

Overall, I think in theory Austin/Hogan SHOULD have outdone Rock/Hogan but a lot depends on how the crowd reactions go as either way the in ring aspect would probably be pretty average. It is possible and even probable the crowd could have been even more white hot for Austin/Hogan so I think yes it would have out done Rock/Hogan.

Austin was not more popular than The Rock in 1999, everytime they were in the ring together when Rock was a face that year fans chanted for The Rock before they chanted for Austin, it happened multiple times, as a matter of fact here are the multiple times:

1. Unforgiven 1999 6 pack challenge-Fans were chanting only for The Rock all throughout the match. Austin didn't wrestle but he didn't have to, there were times fans chanted for Austin when he wasn't in the ring wrestling.

2. Raw is War following night-HHH hits Rock with a chair and taunts Austin, fans chant The Rock's name despite the fact HHH is taunting Austin.

3. Raw after No Mercy 1999-Austin and Rock have a confrontation and Austin and Rock are about to go at it, the crowd was clearly more on The Rock's side.

4. Raw where they teamed up against New Age Outlaws-Fans only chant for The Rock throughout the match, despite the fact that there were no heels during the match (NAO turned heel afterwards).

5. Smackdown where Arnold Schwarzenegger guest appeared-Fans only chant for The Rock throughout the match, Austin didn't wrestle but like with the 1st example, he didn't have to.

Maybe in late 2000-early 2001 when Austin returned he was slightly more popular, but that was because Rock began watering his character down from the year before. The "arrogant" Rock was pretty much gone by the fall of 2000, if you watch a Raw/Smackdown of The Rock from late 1999 and one from late 2000, The Rock was completely different while Austin was pretty much the same.

Remember how even when Rock was a face in '99 he was talking trash by the commentary during a match, when he made his entrance he would pause and look at the fans before walking down the ring, or his turnbuckle pose where he was "smelling what the fans were cooking" by late 2000 all of these characteristics of The Rock were gone, he started becoming a bit more generic, in 1999 he had that "edge" that made fans choose him over even Austin.

When both were babyfaces at the same time, Rock was more popular than Austin was.

 

[Richie Cult]

I think The Rock was a better choice, if I had to choose only one, and my logic is that Austin is a bad ass with a stoic look on his face and the Hollywood Hogan we saw at the time was also a stoic, bad ass and it would have been two of the same battling it out for "toughness".

The Rock, however, has a little more charisma and humor than Austin. Not to say Austin beating McMahon up in a hospital or beating up Booker T in a supermarket didn't have me rolling around on the ground laughing, but I thought it was an EXCELLENT old school vs. new school match-up and one of my favorite matches of all time. Austin was a little new school, but more like "middle school" due to his tenure in WCW and ECW.

Austin / Hogan would have been great, nonetheless.

 

[Why Always Me]

First of all there is no argument about it, Austin was without a doubt more popular than the Rock, lets not kid ourselves Crock.

Yeah, I think in theory Austin/Hogan would have outdone Rock/Hogan. I mean Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan is the biggest match that is possible in wrestling history period. These two are the biggest draws and two most popular men in wrestling history and there is no debating that, it is the man who put the WWF on the map vs the man who saved them from dyeing at eh hands of WCW. Theoretically it doesn't get any better than that.

Wether or not it would delivered on the same level as Rock/Hogan is questionable though. In that time period (2002 onwards) Austin seemed pretty disinterested to me, Rocky on the other hand was on top of his game. I also question how the crowd reactions would have gone, as we all know Rock/Hogan's greatness is 95% based off the whit hot crowd, the in ring aspect was pretty average. I am not sure the crowd would have reacted the same way if Austin was in the ring and not the Rock.

Overall, I think in theory Austin/Hogan SHOULD have outdone Rock/Hogan but a lot depends on how the crowd reactions go as either way the in ring aspect would probably be pretty average. It is possible and even probable the crowd could have been even more white hot for Austin/Hogan so I think yes it would have out done Rock/Hogan.

Austin was not more popular than The Rock in 1999, everytime they were in the ring together when Rock was a face that year fans chanted for The Rock before they chanted for Austin, it happened multiple times, as a matter of fact here are the multiple times:

1. Unforgiven 1999 6 pack challenge-Fans were chanting only for The Rock all throughout the match. Austin didn't wrestle but he didn't have to, there were times fans chanted for Austin when he wasn't in the ring wrestling.

2. Raw is War following night-HHH hits Rock with a chair and taunts Austin, fans chant The Rock's name despite the fact HHH is taunting Austin.

3. Raw after No Mercy 1999-Austin and Rock have a confrontation and Austin and Rock are about to go at it, the crowd was clearly more on The Rock's side.

4. Raw where they teamed up against New Age Outlaws-Fans only chant for The Rock throughout the match, despite the fact that there were no heels during the match (NAO turned heel afterwards).

5. Smackdown where Arnold Schwarzenegger guest appeared-Fans only chant for The Rock throughout the match, Austin didn't wrestle but like with the 1st example, he didn't have to.

Maybe in late 2000-early 2001 when Austin returned he was slightly more popular, but that was because Rock began watering his character down from the year before. The "arrogant" Rock was pretty much gone by the fall of 2000, if you watch a Raw/Smackdown of The Rock from late 1999 and one from late 2000, The Rock was completely different while Austin was pretty much the same.

Remember how even when Rock was a face in '99 he was talking trash by the commentary during a match, when he made his entrance he would pause and look at the fans before walking down the ring, or his turnbuckle pose where he was "smelling what the fans were cooking" by late 2000 all of these characteristics of The Rock were gone, he started becoming a bit more generic, in 1999 he had that "edge" that made fans choose him over even Austin.

When both were babyfaces at the same time, Rock was more popular than Austin was.

Wow mrbrownstone, I don't know what to say......

No one is kidding themselves, to say Austin is without a doubt more popular than The Rock is just plain stupid. They are pretty much even, hence why these debates come up all the time.

With regards to SCrooked1 5 points.....

1. Unforgiven 1999 6 pack challenge-Fans were chanting only for The Rock all throughout the match. Austin didn't wrestle but he didn't have to, there were times fans chanted for Austin when he wasn't in the ring wrestling.

I remember this match like it was yesterday. Rock made his entrance, JR was saying what an ovation he got, then Austin come out and JR has a dig at The Rock by saying something like 'Rock got an ovation, but THIS is an ovation'. Who was JR's best friend, Stone Cold Steve Austin.........

2. Raw is War following night-HHH hits Rock with a chair and taunts Austin, fans chant The Rock's name despite the fact HHH is taunting Austin.

That was also the night of This Is Your Life, the highest rated segment in Raw history if I am not mistaken, featuring Mankind and The Rock NOT Stone Cold Steve Austin.

3. Raw after No Mercy 1999-Austin and Rock have a confrontation and Austin and Rock are about to go at it, the crowd was clearly more on The Rock's side.

Yep - that was an awesome segment, but when they were about to fight the fans were chanting for The Rock, even Jerry lawler acknowledges it.

4. Raw where they teamed up against New Age Outlaws-Fans only chant for The Rock throughout the match, despite the fact that there were no heels during the match (NAO turned heel afterwards).

Yeah - not much to say here, Rock OWNED the chants here.

5. Smackdown where Arnold Schwarzenegger guest appeared-Fans only chant for The Rock throughout the match, Austin didn't wrestle but like with the 1st example, he didn't have to.

This is true, but on this one I will say that both Austin and The Rock both HUGE ovations, but I would actually says on this occasion Austins was slightly louder.

There are also many other segments with both Austin and The Rock in the ring together where Rock had bigger cheers (6 Man Hell In A Cell when they fought each other towards the end, just before Fully Loaded 1999 when Triple H fought The Undertaker in the main event, a 6 Man Tag with Austin, Rock and Vince v Triple H, Undertaker and Shane) and also segments where Austin got the bigger pops (Tag match on Raw against Booker T and Bossman, Smackdown when Austin stunned The Rock at the start of the show because he thought that he was involved on running him over and WrestleMania 17 - but WM17 was in Texas so that had a big bearing on that IMO).

Its too hard to call - but Austin fans just display such ignorance at times when the facts clearly state that The Rock is at the very least just as popular......

 

[SCrooked1]

This is true, but on this one I will say that both Austin and The Rock both HUGE ovations, but I would actually says on this occasion Austins was slightly louder.

I just watched the match on youtube and I couldn't really tell which pop was louder. They both were very big, although like I said, Rock had the edge over Austin as far as who was the more over of the 2 that night since fans chose to chant for The Rock all throughout the match, even when he was standing on the apron. I never said Austin didn't get big pops when Rock was a face in 1999, but when it came down to who the fans chose when Rock and Austin were present at the same time, they picked The Rock. Usually who the fans chant for first is the true determination of who is more over, Chris Jericho got entrance pops as big as The Rock in 2000, doesn't mean he was as over or as big of a draw as him. For example when Jericho tagged with Rock in 2000 or 2001 the fans still chanted for The Rock before they chanted for him.

 

[Chris1-16]

This is true, but on this one I will say that both Austin and The Rock both HUGE ovations, but I would actually says on this occasion Austins was slightly louder.

I doubt Austin's pop that night was any louder than The Rock's. Austin's entrance will always draw a big pop, but was it louder than The Rock's, no not really. The Rock's was also very loud, if anything Rock's was probably slightly louder because when you look at the crowd when the music came on it seemed that there was a bit more movement for The Rock's theme than Austin's.

 

[Why Always Me]

I just watched the match on youtube and I couldn't really tell which pop was louder. They both were very big, although like I said, Rock had the edge over Austin as far as who was the more over of the 2 that night since fans chose to chant for The Rock all throughout the match, even when he was standing on the apron. I never said Austin didn't get big pops when Rock was a face in 1999, but when it came down to who the fans chose when Rock and Austin were present at the same time, they picked The Rock. Usually who the fans chant for first is the true determination of who is more over, Chris Jericho got entrance pops as big as The Rock in 2000, doesn't mean he was as over or as big of a draw as him. For example when Jericho tagged with Rock in 2000 or 2001 the fans still chanted for The Rock before they chanted for him.

I doubt Austin's pop that night was any louder than The Rock's. Austin's entrance will always draw a big pop, but was it louder than The Rock's, no not really. The Rock's was also very loud, if anything Rock's was probably slightly louder because when you look at the crowd when the music came on it seemed that there was a bit more movement for The Rock's theme than Austin's.

For this match possibly you are both right (don't forget I am fighting Rock's corner here ). I will watch it again later when I can be bothered.

I'm glad more people are actually agreeing that The Rock is not inferior to Austin, everything posed in this thread and the two recent Rock/Austin threads all makes for very interesting reading.

 

[SCrooked1]

For this match possibly you are both right (don't forget I am fighting Rock's corner here ). I will watch it again later when I can be bothered.

I'm glad more people are actually agreeing that The Rock is not inferior to Austin, everything posed in this thread and the two recent Rock/Austin threads all makes for very interesting reading.

Yeah, I just got sick of the Rock being outnumbered when it came to who was a bigger draw and brought up some legit proof of how Rock was able to outdraw Austin when Austin was still being pushed as the big time merchandise man. I have no idea why no one ever brought this up and I was the first to bring it out to the public?