Wrestlemania Rewind: The Rock vs Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIX

The grandest of them all, WrestleMania is just about a month away. The anticipation for the extravaganza is sky high among the WWE Universe. And since the pay-per-view is richer than Richie rich when it comes to history, we have decided to take a look back at some of the best WrestleMania matches with this latest series.The rivalry between Rock and Stone Cold has always been some of the most iconic and legendary that it had three matches at Wrestlemania. Two men who were truly larger than life stars came into the company at the same time and absolutely took the company under their arms and ran with it . Never before or since have there been two men this big at the same time. No one will ever match what these two men brought to the tableAs the Wrestlemania Rewind series is rolling on, I am looking back at the final showdown of the epic trilogy between two of the greatest superstars of their generation.

#1 The Build

"'The Great One" had disappeared after dropping the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar at Summerslam 2002 in order to film a movie, while "'The Rattlesnake" had left the company the same month after a disagreement with Vince McMahon.

The Buildup to this match was pretty simple, On an episode of Raw, "The People's Champion" cut a promo saying he had accomplished everything in the WWE except for beating Austin at Wrestlemania, setting up the rubber match. The challenge was officially accepted the following week. On the March 10th edition of Monday Night RAW, GM Eric Bischoff gave The Rock the option to choose his opponent and Rock chose comedy mid- carder Hurricane as his opponent expecting an easy victory. This backfired as Austin helped The Hurricane win in a massive upset. On the final RAW before WrestleMania, Austin was banned by Eric Bischoff from the arena but managed to sneak in and get in a pull-apart brawl with The Rock. Who will prove themselves as the premiere star of the Attiude era and win the final match?

#2 The Match

They start off with a slugfest, Austin pounds away to start but can’t hook an early Stunner. Rock bails to the floor but gets clotheslined down in the aisle. Austin rams him into the steps and chops away before dropping him onto the barricade a few times. Rock is whipped HARD into the steps before they head back inside. A big clothesline puts Rock down but he takes out Austin’s bad knee to send Steve to the floor. Rock stomps away on the knee as Austin stumbles around ringside. The leg is wrapped around the post but Austin pops up with more right hands. Rock kicks the leg out again and puts on the Sharpshooter, only to have Austin crawl to the rope. JR goes on a big rant against Lawler about how this is a wrestling match and not about puppies or Hollywood. Rock wraps the leg around the post a few more times before heading outside and putting on Austin’s vest. Austin comes back with a clothesline and the Thesz Press to pound away on Rock. The middle finger elbow keeps Rock down again and it’s time to stomp a mudhole, but Rock comes back with right hands. Austin counters with a Rock Bottom of his own for a very close two. Rock fights up and hits a Stunner of his own out of nowhere for two more. Back up again and Rock pounds away, only to walk into the real Stunner for another close two.

Then comes the finish, Rock lands a spinebuster and People’s Elbow for 2. Then Rock lands one Rock Bottom. Austin kicks out on 2. Rock attempts a second one, but Austin desperately tries to elbow his way free. Rock hangs on and spikes him for a second one. Austin writhes on the mat in a fashion that is truly harrowing, but he kicks out on 2. For the third attempt, Austin doesn’t even fight it, and he eats a final Rock Bottom to give The Rock a clean win over Stone Cold.

The Rock finally scored his long- awaited Wrestlemania victory over Steve Austin after three Rock Bottoms, in front of 54,097 fans in Seattle. It was purely magical to see the third chapter of these two in Wrestlemania because they deserved those three rematches unlike any other feud in wrestling. But the one thing that I will always remember about this match was when Rock gave those final three Rock Bottoms. Each one he made brought in so much emotion out of the whole audience and when Rock made that third Rock Bottom for the win, just took our breath away.

#3 The Aftermath

Finally, the Rock has beaten Stone Cold at Wrestlemania, the last time they ever faced each other, It was really an end of an era.

Afterward, The Rock breaks character and sits next to Austin, telling him he loves him as Austin lays hurt on the mat. The Rock throwing his character aside to make sure his real life friend was ok and to express his support. After Rock celebrates with his family at ringside, he leaves so that Austin can do the final walkaway, as his in ring career ended after one hell of a fourteen-year journey. There will never be another Stone Cold Steve Austin.This should have ended XIX. Austin and Rock, the two men who carried the Attitude era, in their final chapter. All those moments that felt like Attitude Era within the WWE is forever gone because it ended in this match. It hit us with that feeling that we’re never going to have that feeling anymore.

The following night on Raw, Austin was 'fired' by Eric Bischoff on medical grounds. In reality, the serious injuries accumulated over a tough career meant 'The Rattlesnake' was forced into retirement. He was rehired by Linda McMahon and named Co-General Manager of Raw on April 29, before appearing less and less grequently on WWE television in recent years. Stone Cold was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, and now works as an actor and television personality.

The Rock would have a rematch with Goldberg at Backlash next month and then once again retreat back to Hollywood in the Spring.