Stone Cold Steve Austin Recalls His Conversation With the Rock During His Last Match in WWE at WrestleMania 19

Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestled his last match in WWE against his archrival, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. He and The Rock clashed at WrestleMania 19, in what was a worthy finale to their epic WrestleMania trilogy.

On WWE’s the Bump, Stone Cold Steve Austin reflected on iconic clash with the People’s Champion, which would be his final match before riding off into the sunset.

Stone Cold Steve Austin reflects on his WrestleMania 19 match with The Rock

“Nobody really knew this was going to be my last match. You know, The Rock knew, you know a couple of guys in management knew and I was about to ride of into the sunset. And, you know, I’d defeated The Rock at two WrestleMania’s prior; 15 and 17. In 17 we rocked the house in front of a record crowd at the Astrodome.”

Austin and The Rock met in two incredible WrestleMania showdowns. The first one was at WrestleMania 15, where Austin defeated Rocky for the WWF Championship, overcoming him and the entire Corporation.

At WrestleMania 17, Austin and the Rock put on one of the greatest Mania main events of all time. That match is also memorable for Steve Austin’s heel turn and alignment with Vince McMahon.

“Here in Safeco Arena in Seattle, you know, I was in the hospital the night before with some issues and to go out there. Yeah, I thought the match was good, it could’ve been better.”

Austin’s remarks on WWE’s the Bump are testament to his work ethic. His match at WrestleMania 19 stood out on a card that had HBK vs Chris Jericho, Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle.

“I love The Rock and that right there. That little part in the ring, he pushes the referee Earl Hebner out of the way and he says, ‘hey man, I appreciate everything you did for me. I just want you to know I love you.’ And I’m laying there, and that’s the kind of the respect The Rock and I always have with each other, and I’m just kinda laying there with my eyes closed and I said ‘man, I love you too.'”

Which of the Rock vs Austin matches is the best?

The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin have clashed frequently, with nine of their battles happening at PPVs. Austin has beaten Rock five times on PPV, while The Rock has only one win. The remaining three matches have involved multiple Superstars from the Attitude Era.

Their best match by far is the iconic No Disqualification match at WrestleMania X7. That PPV is arguably the greatest WrestleMania of all time, and the main event is a contributing factor.

For over thirty minutes, both men threw bombs at each other, until one of the biggest shocks in wrestling unfolded.

Vince McMahon marched to the ring and pulled The Rock off Austin during a pinfall. He handed a steel chair to Austin, who used it to pulverise the Rock and pinned him with ease.

The shocking ending, paired with a hot crowd and perfect wrestling, is a recipe for the perfect WrestleMania main event.

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