10 reasons why Stone Cold was a greater attitude era star than the Rock

If you gave a time machine to a wrestling fan, the first thing he would probably do is go back into the Attitude Era. The Wrestling business was booming in thatperiod and still everything that the company produces is compared with the Attitude Era as a standard.Its fair to say that the competition from WCW was what pushed Vince McMahon to such a limit. There are many debates and questions that come up every time there is a mention about the Attitude Era and one of the questions that is still relevant today is : Who was better, Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock?Both Rock and Austin are two superstars without whom the history of professional wrestling would not be complete and it is incredibly hard to pick one among the two. However, if there had to be one winner, it has to be The Texas Rattlesnake and here are the reasons why.

#10 The way they went out

There are a lot of debates regarding how both superstars went out from the business. Austin reportedly was not satisfied with the push that he received towards the end of his career from Vince McMahon and simply walked out of the company.

However the fact that he was not fit to continue wrestling was out there to be seen for everyone which means that if he was fit, he would’ve stuck around much longer for the company. Rock on the other hand was still healthy when he left the company to pursue a career in Hollywood.

It would be unfair to say that Rock went glory hunting by jumping ships but considering how Austin had his last match, in which he put over Rock, he deserves respect for what he did for the future of the company.

#9 Beer, who doesnt love beer?

Having trademark gestures to your name is something that is always a good add on for a WWE Superstar. Hulk Hogan had them, Cena had them, and even Rock had his eyebrow raiser.

And now take, Austin, what was his trade mark gesture?

Bashing beer cans together and drinking them on live television or flipping the bird. The beer drinking moments that Austin had during the Attitude Era was nothing short of iconic and even today, there are people trying to replicate the idea.

He was someone who made beer and wrestling synonymous to an extent and if it wasn’t for Austin, we wouldn’t have had all those beer baths.

#8 Reaction from the crowd

Rock and Austin are two superstars who could’ve woken up any sleeping crowd with their mere presence. They had trade mark catchphrases which made the fans go wild and evoked reactions wherever they went.

Austin, however, had the luxury of running a top program in the Attitude Era which gave him a bigger reaction that the Rock. The human psychology of enjoying a good beating that the boss gets was the success story behind the reactions that Austin got and every time he did something to McMahon, the fans went wild.

This was there to be seen when he turned heel, joining hands with McMahon as well and every time, that glass shattering music emanating from the speakers and the WWE Universe would be standing on their feet to see the man who took rebelling against bosses to a whole new level.

#7 Austin wrestled longer

Now wrestling longer doesn’t mean making sporadic appearances, this is solely based on the years that the two superstars spent wrestling actively in the business.

Austin started his career in 1991 and went on to wrestle for 12 years while the Rock started his career in 1995 and was active for the next eight years.

Rock’s career was confined to only the WWE while Austin wrestled in WWE, ECW and WCW. The reason why Austin wins on the career length is because the doctors asked him not to wrestle after Owen Hart botched a pile driver and broke Austin’s neck.

If he had listened to his doctors, we might’ve still had WCW in business while WWE would’ve been long gone.

#6 A better resume

The achievements of these two superstars combined is simply awesome, it’s Austin who gets the edge over Rock when we look at the Resume.

Austin won the King of the Ring tournament which started his ascension to the top and has numerous title reigns to his name. Though Rock had title reigns that could compare to that of Austin’s, the King of the ring eluded him.

Along with this, Austin is also the only wrestler to win the Royal Rumble thrice in the WWE. That is more than John Cena to be precise. Being on top of the company might’ve been what contributed to the same but the end result is that, Austin has a better resume.

#5 Work between the ropes

It’s hard to find a line between the in ring work of these superstars but considering the career threatening injury that Austin had, he proved that he had the ability to adapt better than the Brahma Bull.

Austin might’ve not had a good move set during his run in WWE but considering the fact that he had an entirely different wrestling style before his neck injury, it deserves appreciation.

Also, he had one of the most recognizable finishers in the company even if it wasn’t one of those technical marvels. Rock on the other hand pretty much stuck to a single style and moved set with some alterations to those moves over the years.

#4 Its 2-1 in Austins favor

Head to head might not be applicable since the WWE is scripted or “fake” according to non–wrestling fans.

However, one wrestler having a better record over another simply means that he was more over among the fans and the company had more faith in him

This was the situation with Austin. Austin and Rock going against each other was simply one of the biggest draws that the WWE could have back in the Attitude Era. And this made the company book the superstars on WrestleMania thrice.

Austin ended up winning two matches (WrestleMania XV and WrestleMania X-Seven) compared to the one that Rock won at WrestleMania XIX which is a record that means a lot.

#3 The Attitude in Attitude Era

Ever wondered where all the Attitude in that Attitude Era came from? To be frank, the WWE has Paul Heyman’s ECW for the same as he was the one who presented such adult oriented booking in professional wrestling.

And one of the loudest voices of that ECW was none other than Steve Austin. Austin used to give intense promos against WCW who fired him and it proved to be the base of his character in WWE.

Once Austin came to the WWE and gave the 3:16 speech, all of a sudden the fans were witnessing a change in the product all together. The beer bashing, foul mouthed guy from Texas spread like wild fire and all of a sudden the entire roster started doing similar things which defined the Attitude Era.

#2 Decider in the Monday Night Wars

The Monday night wars were a crucial period for the entire wrestling business as two promotions were out to take each other out, and I mean literally out.

Both Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff played all the dirty tricks in the book to get the upper hand. The creative decision of Bischoff to turn Hulk Hogan and start the NWo angle proved to be a big blow for the WWE.

McMahon slowly started losing grip on the situation but he gave birth to the Attitude Era to counter the same. And what was the backbone angle for the Era; well it was the Boss vs. Rebel storyline with Austin and McMahon.

It was this storyline that helped WWE win in the end and it wouldn’t have been possible if Austin wasn’t there to give a fitting response to every evil deed that McMahon did.

#1 Vince McMahon said so

Now there is no one who knows the business better than Vince McMahon. He has been transforming professional wrestling for decades now and has seen it all. He has worked with almost every big name that stepped in between the squared circle and when asked about the comparison between Rock and Austin, the Boss chose the Texas Rattlesnake.

No matter who has a voice on this debate, none of them would match the precious words uttered by McMahon himself. It was his money that was on the line and those were his angles that Rock and Austin enacted.

So after all that, if McMahon says that Austin is better, well the boss has the final word to decide things up.