Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been conducting a number of Q&As with fans to help pass the time during the coronavirus pandemic. During a recent video he was asked to reflect on his rivalry with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, a man he clashed with at WrestleMania on three separate occasions and feuded with numerous times as the two biggest stars of The Attitude Era. “The Great One” started from the very beginning, back when Rock was still in the Nation of Domination and Austin was on his way to becoming the biggest babyface in the wrestling world.
“We get to the back that night, I see Vince McMahon, Steve Austin, and some of the agents backstage,” Johnson said. “Everyone collectively felt like, they said, ‘Did you feel that out there?’ I said, ‘I felt the Stunner, that’s for sure.’ And they said, ‘There’s something special between you and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.”
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Rock then recapped their three WrestleMania battles. At WrestleMania XV Austin was fresh off his recovery from suffering a broken neck against Owen Hart, but Johnson was one of the few guys he trusted. Fast forward two years and the pair met again at WrestleMania X-Seven, this time resulting in Austin turning heel, aligning with Vince McMahon and effectively ending the Attitude Era. Rock added a lot of that match came on the fly due to Austin’s neck.
“Every night was a different match,” Johnson said. “We knew the finish, whether he would win or I would win, but we had to call everything out in the ring. Basically, based on how he would feel… We would have a phenomenal match. The night before we went out for a steak dinner, myself, Austin, Pat Patterson. We were talking about the match, it was a nice quiet before the storm because who knows what would happen the next day.”
Johnson finally got his victory over Austin two years after that at WrestleMania 19. He revealed the pair shared an emotional moment seconds after the match ended.
“You can actually see me as I sit up and he’s laying there — in front of everybody — and I whisper to him, ‘I thank you so much for everything that you have done for me.’ And I said, ‘I love you,’ and I heard him say, ‘I love you, too.’”
