FINALS! PHASE 2, MATCH 2

[Loss]

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow morning at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

The Rock

 

Maybe not the wrestling superstar that Austin was, Rock was a far better mainstream superstar. He was also a more energetic worker, and was just about the best top guy at getting new talent over. Heck, he was the only top guy who would get young talent over.

[Ray]

Steve Austin

 

Both drew, but Austin was the better wrestler. Plus Austin started the boom that lead to Rock drawing.

[Guest Alfdogg]

Steve Austin

[Guest treble]

Austin

[goodhelmet]

The Rock

 

Rock never had a year as bad as Austin's return. However, the Bret Hart matches were better than Austin's matches with Jericho.

 

I think this one comes down to attitude. Both were huge mainstream guys. Rock was leading the way in the biggest year of the company while Austin was on the shelf (2000). Rock does what is best for the company. Austin does what is best for Austin.

[Guest teke184]

The Rock

 

 

Austin's career had some pretty low points where his character was in a complete run AND his in-ring work was piss-poor. Rock hasn't had a period like that since the end of his IC title run in mid-1997.

[Guest Mac]

Austin.

[Guest rob]

Steve Austin

[Coffey]

The Rock.

 

Austin was getting on my nerves there at the end.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

The Rock

[MyOwnSummer]

Steve Austin

[Guest Some Guy]

Austin.

 

I enjoy Rock's work more but Austin was the biggest star WWE ever had.

[Marty]

Steve Austin

 

Austin's a far better worker and brought the company back to its feet. The Rock grabbed a hold of things on the mainstream level, but is it possible that he would have done this without Austin 3:16 leading the way? I think Rock's been the more professional guy and never let his career slip into the foolishness that Austin allowed his to go into, but it's hard to ignore the impact, considering the opportunity for Austin 3:16 to emerge almost never happened, thanks to Hunter Hearst Helmsley originally being the man to come out on top of King Of The Ring. I think Rock's always been pushed stronger, as evidenced by his early years. Austin maybe more later on, once Vince really became a fan of the guy, but Rock has the mold that Vince likes in a superstar. That reason alone is why I choose Austin here, because he brought in a new era when it's doubtful that Vince fully had him in mind to do so.

[Loss]

The Rock

 

This is very close, so I wanted to explain myself. Considering I've changed my vote three times before finally typing this out, I felt it needed explanation. I tend to think Austin and Rock share the same relationship Flair and Sting shared in WCW -- Rock is the one who is put in the position to symbolize the company, Austin is The Man. One aspect of their relationship was different though -- Rock did jobs with great frequency, and Austin didn't. In some ways, that's a credit to Rock, but in some ways, I also think that's a credit to Austin, or at least it could have been had beating him -- had it ever happened cleanly -- would have meant more than beating Rock. With Austin, I still see a fairy tale ending that never happened, a situation where the guy became so paranoid toward the end of his run that it hurt the company. In Rock, I see a guy that fans were starting to tire of by 2001-2002, at least when he was programmed with another babyface, but that who could adjust accordingly. Austin's priority was making money, and there's nothing wrong with that, considering that his merchandise sales were through the roof. However, as short as it was, Rock's heel run in 2003 was actually effective. Austin's in 2001, entertaining as it was, didn't work out. Rock had better feuds with HHH and Chris Jericho than Austin, who had better feuds with Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Rock represented the company in a better light as champion, I do believe, because I think he's everything good about pro wrestling because he's so willing to give back.

 

If you look at the company from after 2000, the company only tried to elevate three non-Austin/Rock/HHH/Undertaker guys until 2003. Let's look at those guys.

 

Kurt Angle -- Rock dropped the title to him. Austin would later do the same, only to regain it later. Austin had a match with him on RAW -- while he was champ -- where he actually tossed Angle out of the ring so he could fight HHH. That's a burial. It's been said that the writers wanted Austin to get beat up by Angle for most of the match at Summerslam '01, only for him to attack the ref and get a DQ out of pure desperation. I'm not as high on that match as most, because I think Austin made Angle look weak by staying on offense so much. It's a great match nonetheless, Angle's best, but I don't know that it did anything to make Angle look good. Angle has gotten one victory over Austin -- his title win at Unforgiven. Austin has either beaten him or there's been a non-finish every single other time they've wrestled each other.

 

Chris Jericho -- Rock dropped the title to him, and did everything right to prep him for a big run as a long-term top guy. Jericho shouldn't have had to worry about losing his spot anymore after the Rock feud, and like Goodhelmet said, that feud should have really run the gauntlet for a full year with every gimmick match under the sun -- 2/3 falls, I Quit, Hell in the Cell, etc. It was the hottest feud they had, and that's because Rock made him look his equal. Even when he did something to openly criticize Jericho, like mention that he was losing to Juvi on Nitro just a few short years ago, it always led to Rock doing a job to him in the near future to take him seriously. The "I am not a joke" promo before the '02 Royal Rumble remains Jericho's finest moment on the mic. The debut where he ran down Rock is second. Austin was never interested in doing much with Jericho, had no desire to put him over cleanly, and when he did lose to him, it was reluctant and he took out his frustrations by crapping on the match. Now, it's my understanding that Austin and Jericho get along very well on a personal level, but on a professional level, there are some obvious problems there.

 

Brock Lesnar -- Austin walked out rather than job to him, while Rock pretty much passed the torch to him, and he'd carry the load as Smackdown's top star for most of the next two years. That Rock match was the moment in his career where he became a superstar. People forget that prior to that match, Lesnar wasn't getting over when they pushed him, and fans resented him when he went over RVD because Van Dam was the guy they wanted to see in that position. The Brock/Rock match made people forget that.

 

Austin has probably had a bigger impact on the company, but Rock has had a *better* impact on the company. Austin paved the way for Rock to become such a star, but Rock took his ten and raised him twenty. The attitude of the attitude era, ironically enough, is what puts Rock over the hump here for me.