Why is stone cold steve austin above rock?

[dbp]

If Steve Austin is bigger than the Rock, why didn't Vince force the Austin/Hogan match then? Something no one has been able to answer for damn 14 years now.

Austin said he refused. He wouldn't job, heard Hogan wouldn't job for him, and said the match would suck because of styles.

Which is mostly true. Rock is suited much better to Hulk. Plus, Austin would've lost his shyt if he got the Rock treatment in Toronto, and he would've that night.

 

[Slystallion]

Austin said he refused. He wouldn't job, heard Hogan wouldn't job for him, and said the match would suck because of styles.

Which is mostly true. Rock is suited much better to Hulk. Plus, Austin would've lost his shyt if he got the Rock treatment in Toronto, and he would've that night.

Rock probably has the least ego in wrestling despite his on screen character rock had no problem conceding the crowd to Hogan...austin probably feared losing the crowd in Toronto and probably wouldn't have fed into it the way Rock did

I wonder why Hogan didn't want to job to Austin but was fine jobbing to the Rock though

As a Hogan mark I selfishly wished Hogan would have gotten the W that night and then Hogan could have dropped the belt he won from HHH to the Rock at Summerlam

But considering Rock was the young superstar and Hogan wasn't gonna be wrestling for much longer it ultimately worked out perfectly as a passing the torch moment

 

[CM_Burns]

Austin's peak was also WRESTLINGS peak, so his peak was bigger than Rock. Rock had better longevity as a super top draw though, so it's a toss up.

"Austin's peak wasn't wrestlings peak, WWE made their most money ever in 2000 with Rock on top!"

There's a difference between wrestlings peak and WWES peak popularity. Anyone around at the time remembers wrestling was inescapably huge in mid 98 to mid 99. Combined Nitro/Raw ratings at the time were like an 11 to 15 on a given week. In 2000, with WCW irrelevant to the mainstream, combined ratings were down around 2 to 3 points on a given week.

Yeah, i hear you. It was a lot of politics and crap.

In Jericho's book he talks about a meeting he had with Hogan, Goldberg, & Bischoff about a match with Goldberg. Everybody was on board til Goldberg killed it saying it was his PPV off.

I'm all for slowly elevating midcard guys of 98 WCW to main event, but that's one example that wouldn't have worked aside from a squash.

Raven vs Piper was also supposed to happen, Raven says both guys pushed for it in late 98/ early 99 and the office wasn't really against it but didn't go with it. That would've worked.

 

[JuvenileHell]

I rank them equally. But I give Stone Cold props for bumping Shawn Michaels out of the spotlight. It saved the company.

I feel the same way as well. Austin saved WWE from the graveyard and helped the WWE fight back against WCW. When The Rock matured into a superstar himself it was just overkill.

Rock is the GOAT to me, but Austin opened the doors for everyone.

 

[JuvenileHell]

"those were the days"

And don't forget this



I got to witness two of the GOATs as a young mark

 

[GOATpernick]

LOL.....they had Austin the following year. Remember? And no Rock for 4 months...they had the Invasion storyline with Austin it, a EASY GUARANTEED money maker but what happened? They botched it all up.

What does WWE's creative fall-off in 2001 have to do with 2000?


Backlash and Unforgiven 2000 are like two of the most bought PPVs outside the "big three four five", Mania only jumped 1% from 1999. At no point am I saying Rock didn't carry the fed, but fans all year were wondering when is Stone Cold gonna come back. That pop at Backlash is legendary.

In the end it's probably best Austin missed most of 2000 or else X7 might not have come together the way it did.

 

[Cladyclad]

You don't even believe that

I do tho. Game won me over with that 5 match night on Smackdown. As good of a face Rock/Austin are that's how much people hate HHH. Put it like this my my 5'7 275lb stankin azz cuz hate H so much that he really believe he can whoop HHH azz. But it ain't to many dudes that after damn near 30 years can still put on a great match.

 

[Silkk]

It makes perfect sense when people pay to see you

Austin was closing the show, how could it be determined they were paying to see Rock?

 

[Spyro]

TBH HHH better than both

 

[Spyro]

The fact that people still debate Austin or Rock 15 years later shows how GOAT status they actually are.

In 15 years are people really gonna say Cena or Orton? Cena or Reigns? Reigns or Rollins? Nah

 

[xXOGLEGENDXx]

Stone Cold actually wanted the company to push The Rock into the spotlight.

 

[Alexander The Great]

that bald head cartoon cac never entertained me

fukk all of you who put hogan and stone cold over the rock

Yall nikkas high man

haven't read through the thread, just saw it on the coli homepage and "bald head cartoon cac" is the funniest description of Austin I've ever read

 

[threattonature]

Seems a lot of people can't separate booking from performance. To me Austin is one of the greatest booked wrestlers ever. He was one of the first characters to really start cussing and going anti-establishment. Damn good in-ring performer no doubt but how many of the casual fans who came in during that time gave a fukk about in-ring performance. He had charisma but at the same time was booked to never lose for years to always come out on top in every feud. He was booked like the ultimate bad-ass. I think if you flip their booking around and Austin was taking the L's that The Rock did that he would have never reached The Rock's level of popularity while if Rock was given Austin's booking he'd be even bigger.

 

[Tide Run This]

Stone Cold actually wanted the company to push The Rock into the spotlight.

HitGOAT gave them both the cosign crazy how the ringmaster and the bluechipper went from certain jerking to being icons in damn near 2 years damn shame the roster as loaded as ever and they can't even make 1 half decent star in this era.

 

[Versa]

I rank them equally.