“Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson clashed for the final time at WrestleMania XIX back in 2003, putting a cap on their WrestleMania trilogy while bringing Austin’s legendary in-ring career to a close. “The Texas Rattlesnake” has spoken about that match many times over the years, but in a new interview on The Bump he admitted that he feels his retirement match could have been better.
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“Nobody really knew this was going to be my last match; The Rock knew, and a couple of guys in management knew. I was going to go ride off into the sunset. I defeated The Rock two times prior at WrestleMania, and at WrestleMania 17, we rocked the house… I thought the match was good, but it could have been better,” Austin said (h/t Wrestling Inc.).
He also talked about the brief interaction he had with “The Great One” following the match.
Right there, that part in the ring, he pushes Earl Hebner out of the way and says, ‘Hey man, I appreciate everything you did for. I just want you to know that I love you.’ I’m laying there with my eyes closed, and I said, ‘I love you, too.’ He meant it, and I meant it. Like we both said, we bring out the best in each other.”
Unlike the vast majority of retirements in pro wrestling, Austin has stuck to his guns and has never competed in a match since his final bout with The Rock. Meanwhile, Johnson continued to wrestle on a part-time basis until WrestleMania XX, then returned in 2011 for another part-time run that led to two WrestleMania matches with John Cena and one more reign as WWE Champion.
But if the two were to step in the ring in 2021, Austin feels he would have the win in the bag.
“Man, if you’re asking me, it’s gonna be ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. I would walk in there, stomp a mudhole in his ass and walk it dry,” he said while on A Little Late With Lilly Singh last month. “See, Rock’s been out there making all these movies. He’s the number one movie star in the world and I know he’s been in the gym, but I’m still pretty hard. I’m still pretty salty. I’m still leaning on theme beers. And to match us up right here, right now I’m predicting ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. I’m sure The Rock would tell you Dwayne Johnson.”
