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*water*
Please drink some.
Make sure to follow us on all social media platforms @feudrewind
Email: feudrewind@gmail.com
Thank you!
003. Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, is hosting Wrestlemania 19. The penultimate match on our card for the evening is a straight up wrestling match between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Two of the pillars of the WWE are trading fists back and forth in front of 54,000 roaring fans. The end of our trilogy of Wrestlemania bouts between these icons is hopefully never going to end, but more importantly, how did we get here?
Crack open a nice cold Steveweiser as we go down Know Your Role Boulevard to roll this one back with a rewind
Welcome to the Feud Rewind, I’m your host Benza Lance
It is extremely rare in wrestling that you see a promotion have more than one “franchise player” at any given time. That is, the one talent that is so overwhelmingly popular, that they are deemed “essential” and put up on a pedestal. That isn’t to say that at any given time, there isn’t more than one talent that could carry the burden. For example, Macho Man Randy Savage was more than a credible talent to be a world champion and the face of the company, but it would be hard to argue that the WWF of the 1980s would have reached the same depths of cultural penetration that they achieved had Macho been that face of the company instead of Hulk Hogan. During the middle part of the 1990s, it could be argued that Shawn Michaels was going to be that thoroughbred that was going to lead the company into the coming new century. We’ve covered Shawn’s story a lil bit in Episode 9, and due to his injuries, it left a sort of vacuum that desperately needed to be filled. Once again, there was numerous talents that could have stepped in to fill that role. Vince and his top brass were instead gifted with two talents that were hitting on all cylinders and had chemistry between each other that couldnt be ignored. But to fully appreciate this, let’s give this building a foundation.
Our episode starts, really, with the birth of what we know as Stone Cold Steve Austin. Starting his career in 1989, it would take Austin multiple years of working various promotions before finally having enough of not being chosen for a push that The Texas Rattlesnake was unleashed. Canonically, I think most would agree that The 1996 King of the Ring tournament saw the birth of The Bionic Redneck with his Austin 3:16 promo, with the rest of 1996 and the early part of 1997 saw Austin focusing on the babyface Bret The Hitman Hart. We will definitely be diving deeper into the feud between Austin and Bret that was showcased with their submission match at Wrestlemania 13, a match that’s extremely highly regarded, and personally one of my favorite matches of all time. This match ended in the one of the best examples of a double turn; the babyface Hitman holding the Sharpshooter on long after the bell had been rung, turning him heel; and the heel Austin, not tapping out but simply having his body give out due to the excessive amount of blood loss, and also refusing assistance with being helped to the back. This helped the audience fall in love with Austin, as his brash attitude, generally being pissed off at everything and everyone, was paired with in ring intensity and a singular focus on being the best and the champ. The next rung on the ladder for Austin was the Intercontinental Championship, and this would incidentally have Austin face off against another Hart, this time Bret’s brother Owen, who was the current IC Champion. At Summerslam 1997, Owen and Austin would face off for the IC Championship in a match that saw Owen perform a Tombstone Piledriver on Austin that would bruise Stone Cold’s spinal cord and sideline him legitimately to the fall. Even though Austin still overcame this injury to win the match, and therefore the Intercontinental Championship, in the week’s following the pay per view, Vince McMahon would strip Austin of the title. In the interim, an enraged and incensed Austin would constantly interfere in the matches between Owen and Faarooq for the Intercontinental Championship, one to ensure that Owen would win; and in many more to safeguard that the championship would stay around Owen’s waist; Austin had that focus on getting his belt back, and also on revenge. Stone Cold would ultimately get his IC Championship back at Survivor Series 1997; it was right around this time that Faarooq and his stablemates in The Nation of Domination decided to give Austin some receipts for his interference in Faarooq’s matches with Owen in the previous months for that same Intercontinental Championship. In one of these scuffles, one of the Nation members grabs the IC Championship and steals it. That Nation of Domination member is The Rock.
The Final Boss we see nowadays is not the man we were seeing in 1997. Debuting in late 1996, the son of “Soulman” Rocky Johnson would quickly climb the ranks and grab the Intercontinental Championship himself on February 13, 1997 on an Episode of Raw against HHH. During this time, he was still being presented as a “blue chip prospect”, as he comes from a huge wrestling family, i’m sure you’ve all seen that Bloodline family tree graphic by now, and pairing that with his undeniable charisma seemed like an easy babyface. However, the fans loathed him, in no doubt due to the perceived nepotism and the self assured attitude that often bordered on the egotistical. It would take a return from a legitimate knee injury for the Rock to turn, lashing out back at the fans that had booed and hissed at him. Joining The Nation of Domination stable with Faarooq, D’Lo, and Kama (and later Mark Henry), The Rock would see his star soon begin to rise, threatening the leadership within the Nation, as Faarooq, who we now was Ron Simmons, was the leader of not only the Nation stable, but also a backstage leader and mentor to the Rock as well. Following orders, it would be a backstage beatdown of Intercontinental Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin following Austin’s Survivor Series 1997 win, and the Rock’s stealing of that IC Champion, that our feud canonically begins
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The Rock would spend all of November 1997 declaring himself the best damn Intercontinental Champion ever” before Austin set his sights on regaining the belt. At the D-Generation X: In Your House ppv in December, Austin did just that. We’re not going to focus too much on that match, as it’s essentially a 5 minute squash match, because far more important happens the following night. On that Monday Night’s Raw, Austin was ordered to defend his championship against the Rock; in the ultimate act of defiance, Austin forfeits the IC Championship by yeeting it into the dark, cold River in Portland, Maine. This would be significant for a few different reasons; for one, it cemented Stone Cold as the ultimate antihero that would defy his boss on national television, a feat that anybody walking the planet would love to do; secondly, this would set up by far the biggest feud of the Attitude Era, Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon; and thirdly, this would help lay the frame for the Rock to act as Vince’s proxy in more wrestling based matches as The Corporate Champion, which we’ll cover in a minute.
>>>>>>>>>The calendar turning to 1998 saw diverging paths for our two focal stars; for The Rock, he would hold onto the IC Title for the longest run with that championship since The Honkey Tonk Man, feuding with the likes of Ken Shamrock, while Austin would win the 1998 Royal Rumble, where he would lastly eliminatethe Rock. Finally getting his shot at the World Championship, Austin would feud with champion Shawn Michaels and D-Generation X, culminating with the Austin vs Shawn with Mike Tyson as special guest referee match at Wrestlemania 14. With Austin’s win, McMahon would confront Austin about his rebellious nature, instead wishing that Vince had a more “Corporate Champion”, someone who would do what they were told. The rest of 1998 would see Austin and Vince battling back and forth, while The Rock would be overthrowing Faarooq as the leader of the Nation. It was during this time that the Rock would be showcasing his otherworldly talent on the microphone, garnering him the type of fan support that it was time for Rocky to break through that glass ceiling and firmly ascend to the main event picture. It’s actually kind of wild when you think about how quickly the Rock got to this tier, as it would be just about two years after his debut that the Rock had not only achieved his first World Championship, but that his popularity was at the level that he had started to penetrate the cultural zeitgeist.
This brings us to the Breakdown: In Your House PPV September 27th 1998. WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin is defending his championship in a triple threat match against kane and the undertaker; both kane and taker pin stone cold simultaneously, so Vince vacates the belt the following night on Raw. Vince also stipulates that Austin would be the referee in a match between Taker and Kane at Judgement Day. During this match, Austin would refuse to count for either man and would attack both instead. Vince would fire Austin, only for Stone Cold to be resigned by Shane McMahon just in time for the 1998 Survivor Series; this Survivor Series featured a tournament to crownd a new WWF Champion, due to the results of that Undertaker and kane Match. During this time, Mankind was being used as the stooge to do Vince’s heavy lifting in the ring; Austin was set to face off against Mankind in the semifinals. Shane ends up doublecrossing Austin, insuring Mankind’s victory in this round. Mankind would unfortunately lose in the finals to The Rock; The Rock however would align himself with Vince post win as the centerpiece of The Corporation stable as The Corporate Champion, with Vince betraying Mankind, and both the Father and Son McMahon, as well as The Rock, effectively screwing over Stone Cold. This was a bold move by McMahon, as the Rock was by far the most charismatic talent in the Fed at the time, and the crowds erupted every time they saw him. Turning him heel for this proved to be a brilliant move, however. r.
The year 1999 is really where we start to get cooking. While Austin would enter into a short program with Undertaker, and the Rock would tidy up some loose ends with Mankind, the focal point going into Wrestlemania season was clearly on the newfound cultural icon of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the rising superstar and Corporate Champion the Rock. One of the more memorable stops along this journey is the infamous beer truck segment on RAW, which saw Stone Cold drenching the entire corporation in some frosty cold steveweiser. But really, the early part of 1999 is all about Wrestlemania 15.
The First Union Center in Philadelphia was where this year’s showcase of the immortals was taking place. Since Stone Cold and Vince had been going through various steel cage matches, and the Rock had bestowed upon Mick Foley an unhealthy amount of chairshots, our main event match for the World’s Championship would be fought under no disqualification rules.
The main event was the lone bright spot on an otherwise mediocre card;
Austin and Rock tore the house down, in an epic Attitude-style era brawl that went around the arena, but ended the only way it could: with Austin defeating The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner after dodging multiple of the Rock's finishers. Austin then did the same to his arch-enemy, Vince McMahon, and then celebrated with the fired-up Philly crowd with a much-deserved beer (or 10).
Steve Austin was champion once again, defeating the Corporation and it’s Champion, but The Rock and Vince McMahon weren't going to take defeat lying down, and began the feud leading to Rock and Austin's rematch at Backlash 1999. In a recreation of their Intercontinental Title feud less than two years before, The Rock stole the championship belt, which Austin had remade into his own Broken Skull Title belt. However, given this was the Attitude Era, this wasn't a mere homage — The Rock not only threw Austin's belt into the river, but he threw Austin himself into the river.
The Rock reappeared with the belt to "eulogize" Austin on "Monday Night Raw," but the Texas Rattlesnake crashed his own funeral to beat up The Brahma Bull.
Backlash 1999 was the last PPV that WWE had the “in your house” attached to, taking place April 25th 1999 in Providence, Rhode Island. Austin and The Rock met again at Backlash in a rematch that was debatably better than their WrestleMania XV bout, and definitely crazier. Plenty of shenanigans take place, with one memorable sequence in particular; While out the ring, Austin tried to put The Rock thrhough the Spanish announcers' table but it was reversed into a Rock Bottom through the announce desk; Rock then stole a Spanish headset and insulted one of the Spanish announcers and Austin. Rock also took a camera from the production crew and stood on the remaining table above Austin and pointed the camera over him to mock him. After this he showed the crowd, declaring himself to be their champion but as he turned back the camera was confronted with Austin giving him the finger; Austin then delivered a Stone Cold Stunner to Rocky through the last remaining announce table. The match ended much like the last, with Steve Austin vanquishing The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner (and a belt shot to the face) to retain the championship. These two back-to-back ppvs were outstanding matches, and achieved the outcome of having not one, but two talents in the company that were so white hot popular that it made for an embarrassment of riches.
After Backlash, The Rock would be fired from the Corporation due to not being able to regain the championship, not only turning him babyface, but also shooting him to that Austin-esque level where he deservingly could be the face of the company. Stone Cold, meanwhile, would enter into a short program with Undertaker, and then lose the championship to Mankind at Summerslam. By the time the fall came around, Austin’s history of back and neck issues were finally catching up with him, so he was ran over by a car so he could undergo treatment and recoup. During this time, HHH would slide into the heel role voided by the Rock; i humbly suggest our own episode featuring the feud between HHH and Mick Foley to remind yourself of the type of heel HHH would become. The Rock, meanwhile, casually slid into the top babyface role, and in essence, into Austin’s role as the protagonist against The McMahon Family and their various corporations. Also during this time, one of my favorite tag teams of all time, The Rock and Sock Connection was born, and the infamous “This is your life” segment on Raw.
Getting back to the task at hand, it wouldnt be until Backlash 2000, in Rock’s match with WWF Champion HHH, that Stone Cold would return, intervening on Rocky’s behalf so that The Great One could net his fourth overall world championship. Austin and The Rock shared a celebratory post-match beer, one of the only friendly times in their rivalry.
When Austin returned from his spinal fusion surgery, it might have been just over a calendar year, but a new millennium had started, and the landscape in the WWE was drastically different. The Undertaker was the American Badass, Kurt Angle was a new main eventer, Triple H was a multi-time WWE Champion, and The Rock had taken his spot as the top guy. For the first and only time in WWE history, the company was headlined by two Mount Rushmore-level stars at the same time. By this point, the Rock had either achieved the same, or arguably at the time, more a prestige than Austin, depending on who you talked to. This enviable position turns enviable when you realize that at this time, both The Rock and Stone Cold are both babyface, meaning that the road map to get to these two touching gloves again was a careful trip that had to be planned.
The lightning in a bottle moment came the next month at Royal Rumble 2001. The Rock and Austin staring each other down in a throwback to Hogan and Ultimate Warrior at Royal Rumble 1990. The Rock and Austin locked eyes and started throwing hambones while the New Orleans crowd lost their motherfuckin minds. This time, The Rock got the better of the exchange, but was dumped by Kane before he could eliminate Austin. Austin would win the Rumble in what would be his third Rumble win, punching his ticket to the Main Event of Wrestlemania 17.
Austin had won the Royal Rumble, while The Rock regained the title at No Way Out. The Rock would not have the champions advantage heading into this version of the showcase of the immortals however, as we’re heading to the Houston Astrodome in Texas.
Just before we get to the introductions for our main event between The Rock and Stone Cold, we’re informed that a surprise no disqualification stipulation was added. During the match, the two brawled inside and outside of the ring, with both men bleeding after hitting each other with the ring bell. The Rock attempted to place Austin in a Sharpshooter hold, but Austin reversed it into a Sharpshooter of his own. After Rock reached the ropes to force a break, Austin applied the Million Dollar Dream, a submission hold best known from his former gimmick, The Ringmaster. Shortly after, Rock used Austin's own finishing maneuver on Austin by executing a Stunner. Vince McMahon then came to ringside to observe the match. When Rock tried to pin Austin after the People's Elbow, McMahon seized Rock's leg and pulled him off Austin, breaking the pin attempt. After chasing McMahon around the ring, Austin responded by using Rock's signature move, the Rock Bottom. Later, Rock executed a Rock Bottom for a near fall. After Rock attacked McMahon, he was given a Stunner by Austin for a near fall. After Rock kicked out of the Stunner, McMahon handed Austin a steel chair to hit Rock with at Austin's request, revealing that Austin had sided with McMahon, a man he once considered his nemesis. With this, Austin turned heel.[17] Austin attacked Rock with the steel chair, hitting him sixteen times, before pinning him and becoming the new WWF Champion. The show ended with Austin and McMahon shaking hands and sharing beers. The image of Austin shaking hands with "Satan himself" as JR called him is one of the most indelible in WWE history. The Attitude Era was over and ended in the only way it could: following the greatest match between its two biggest stars.
Following their WrestleMania X7 match, we actually see sort of a script reversal for the two; its The Rock that takes time off, although not for injury, but to film "The Scorpion King,"; during this time, the sell of WCW and ECW to the WWE happens, and we get the Invasion storyline. Stone Cold turns face, then heel again, becoming the leader of the WCW-ECW Alliance. While The Rock returned and set his sights on winning the WCW Championship from Booker T, The Great One made clear he didn't forget Austin's betrayal just eight months before.
We’ll fastforward through the Invasion angle quickly, as we dont really get a true rematch to the Wrestlemania X7 bout; instead, at Survivor Series, we get a "Winner Take All," elimination match pitting the WWE's best against the Alliances' for control of the unified company. The match was suitably entertaining and concluded with the final two survivors: The Rock and Steve Austin. Following a brief bout, The Rock defeated Austin after interference from Kurt Angle (who had — stay with us here — betrayed the Alliance after betraying the WWE). The Alliance was defeated, the Invasion was over, and The Rock had gotten revenge against Steve Austin for his actions at WrestleMania X7. So effectively, Austin vs. Rock was the endgame for the Invasion, and ended the WCW brand.
Despite having arguably the best roster in the history of pro wrestling, WWE in early 2002 was a creative mess. Triple H was back from injury as the de-facto top face, but was losing fan enthusiasm by the week; Chris Jericho was a lame-duck undisputed champion nobody besides me and the rest of his learning tree branches took seriously; and The Rock and Steve Austin were both still mega-over as babyfaces, but were increasingly directionless. Into this boiling stew came the NWO, which were failing to connect as a main event-level heel faction, as the fans really just wanted to cheer Hulk Hogan. Between these factors, the Rock still attempting to start his Hollywood career, Austin’s injuries and creative differences with management, and that classic OVW 2002 class that saw the debuts of John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, and the rise of Brock Lesnar to main event-status, a lot of our feud during this time sort of gets lost in the sauce. However, we should see this entire era culminate, really, at Wrestlemania 19.
The setup was simple: Rock had declared "he'd done it all in WWE ... except defeat Stone Cold at WrestleMania." Incensed that the WWE Universe had voted Stone Cold as the Superstar of the Decade, The Rock wanted one final shot at The Texas Rattlesnake. So, here we are.
March 30th, 2003. Safeco Field, Seattle, Washington. 54,000 have filled the home of the Seattle Seahawks as our third and final bout in this historic trilogy is taking place. This isn’t for a championship, this isn’t to settle a feud, really. Throughout this whole story, the entirety of these two men’s beef with one another is who gets to be at the top. Whether it was Austin with his DTA “dont trust anybody” attitude, or the Rock who had catchphrases being plucked out of thing air, this was truly a story of who would stand at the top of the mountain. The match began with Austin and The Rock brawling in the ring, which ended up at ringside. Throughout the match, The Rock worked over Austin's leg, which included applying a Sharpshooter on Austin. The Rock then began to constantly taunt Austin, as he put on his vest and imitated his taunts and mannerisms, which led both to use their finishers with unsuccessful pin attempts. Austin performed the Stone Cold Stunner on The Rock for a near-fall, much to Austin's dismay. After he failed to win with the People's Elbow, The Rock then performed two Rock Bottoms on Austin for two near-falls. The Rock performed a third Rock Bottom on Austin, winning the match. The Rock leans over Austin as the crowd erupts; we learn later Rock is thanking Austin for giving him a run for the ages. Rocky, we couldn’t agree more or be more appreciative.
Canonically, this is the end of this feud. The Rock would slowly morph into the Hollywood Rock version of himself as his acting career was starting to take off. He’d return to face off against John Cena in a once in a lifetime match….twice…and then he would complete his pokemon-style evolution into The Final Boss, waiting in the shadows to no doubt help write the final chapter in The Bloodline storyline.
Stone Cold Steve Austin himself would become an on screen authority figure of sorts during the remainder of his too short career. He wouldnt really have a proper match until his return at Wrestlemania 38, which wasnt really a match per se, moreso a good ol fashioned texas ass whoopin to Kevin Owen’s around AT&T Stadium.
Both The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin are pillars in the history of American professional wrestling. Never before had two stars reached beyond the pinnacle of the sport to infuse the greater cultural pantheon simultaneously, and one of the biggest factors that made this work was their mid card feud before both broke through to the main event spotlight. Through a confluence of larger than life personalities and character work, to having the perfect foiles to their respective storylines, to having almost unparalleled chemistry between the ropes, the late 90s and early 2000s were abuzz with the near mythological nature of the multiyear feud between The People’s Champion, and The Bionic Redneck.
To the Rock and STone Cold Steve Austin, thank both of you for the memories you gaves us and for the sacrifices you made.
And with that, this brings us to the end of the rewind for the week!
I appreciate you spending some time with me this week to relive some classic wrestling drama.
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Fellow fan, im’ your host Benza Lance, and i’ll see ya next with when we roll it back with another feud, to rewind