Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock have a historic rivalry that never affected their off-ring friendship. The pair produced spectacular matches together and headlined WrestleMania 15, 17, and 19, after which Austin had to retire. Even though they were always pitted against each other, they had wonderful times and accomplishments. Also, up to this day, they keep that bond special.

Although they both had some heel elements, the people always preferred to perceive them as their heroes and that basic image will always remain the same. As Steve Austin made a massive return to the ring and won the one last match against Kevin Owens, the WWE universe still banks on a possible return of The People’s Champion.

However, there’s a special moment between them in which the duo said “I Love You” to each other.

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and The Rock Telling ”I Love You” In Austin’s Final Match

Stone Cold Steve Austin had to face a major setback in 1997 that became the reason for his early retirement. At SummerSlam 1997, a sit-out tombstone piledriver by ‘The Rocket’ Owen Hart seriously injured the Texas Rattlesnake. The neck injury he had persisted for a very long time until it got to a point where he had no other option. At WrestleMania 19, he chose The Great One to be his opponent, because he trusted him that much.

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However, Steve Austin lost the bout to Dwayne Johnson. Further, The Rock expressed his thanks to the legend and told him that he loved him. “And he (The Rock) knew that after that match, I was gonna retire and ride off into the sunset. And he knew that I didn’t wanna retire, but, you know, I have some nerve and neck issues. I needed to get out of the business, said Austin in an interview with Kelly Clarkson.

“And after the three count, after he pinned me after three rock bottoms, he just said, ‘Man, I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. I just want you to know, I love you, man.’ And I’m laying there, and we got 70,000 people. There’s a couple of million people watching on pay-per-view and you know. I just kinda looked at him and said, I think I had my eyes closed, said, ‘I love you too,’ verbatim,” Austin 3:16 added.

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Steve Austin or the WWE universe did not feel right by the way he retired and that could probably be the reason for his WrestleMania comeback. The Rock went on to put all his focus on his successful acting career and so far he has not indicated any plans to return to the ring. Nevertheless, there are still rays of hope in fans’ minds. As The Undertaker said at the end of his Hall of Fame speech, “Never Say Never.”