Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock shared one of the greatest rivalries in WWE history
One of the greatest trilogies that wrestling fans ever got to witness was The Rock vs ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin at WrestleMania.
The two headlined WWE WrestleMania 15, 17, and then ultimately, XIX. Any wrestling fan growing up around that time would idolize the two.
And Drew McIntyre was no different. In a recent ‘#DrewAndA‘ interview with Austin himself, McIntyre asked him about his relationship with The Rock.
‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ stated that respect, competitiveness, and admiration made up a huge part of their rivalry inside the ring.
“It was highly competitive, and there was no backstabbing, no politics, no around the horn stuff. It was like, just a straight up-relationship, man. Me and The Rock had a lot of respect for each other. And when I saw him start coming up, I was like okay, this guys is going to do something here.”
Stone Cold Steve Austin handpicked The Rock at WrestleMania XIX to be his final match
Adding to that, Austin recalls how he was always checking the merchandise rankings when The Rock was doing well. Safe to say, the 3:16 merch ruled the shops at that time.
“And I, you know, because I was that guy that always checked the merchandise, I said ‘Jimmy, how’d we do?’ He goes, ‘still No. 1, Steven. Still No. 1. I always checked that merch when Rock got hot, but I loved watching what he was doing and experimenting and raising that eyebrow and talking about himself in the third person, and he came on strong.”
Austin was 2-0 going into the trilogy match but he handed The Rock his win in a match ridden with emotions for the winner himself.
The Rock was one of the very few people who knew that it would be Austin’s last WWE match, and he revealed that he thanked him and said ‘I love you’ to him just moments after he won by pinfall. (h/t TalkSPORT)
“I whispered to him, ‘I thank you so much for everything that you’ve done for me’. And, I said ‘I love you’. He said ‘I love you too’. I hit him on the chest and I left, left him in the ring.”
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