The Rock vs Steve Austin - WrestleMania 19
Added 2024-11-17 17:00:12 +0000 UTCWatch: https://streamable.com/lokktd
Context from RW____96:
Some info on this match Austin was in hospital the night before, Austin thought he was having a heart attack but he was just dehydrated Austin said this “I was at the gym with Kevin Nash and my reflexes were very touchy that day. We were on recumbent bicycles and my feet kept twitching. I didn’t think anything of it. I left Nash and went to my room on the 27th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel and right before the elevator opened, my heart started beating out of my chest." Austin checked himself out of hospital to make the show. This is also Austin Retirement match which he kept a secret only a few people knew and fans had no idea but there was an tease to Austin retirement but very few realised at the time its on Austin Vest during his entrance it says O.M.R which turns out to mean One More Round. So this was a shock as he just returned in February this Mania was in March 2003 they kind of mention it in the video package but for more detail Austin walked out of WWE for 7 months due to frustration of how his character was being booked at the time before he walked out in June 2002 he just came off a mid card match at WM18 with Scott Hall the same show as Rock and Hogan that you watched when the crowd went crazy (Which The Rock would use as one of his reasons for turning Heel as there was cheering for Hogan and not him) then he was doing nothing of note for a month or 2 after WM then he was booked to lose to Brock Lesner on Raw in KOTR qualifier match which Austin thought it was dumb as he was willing to lose but on a random episode of RAW that was only advertised 1 week before hand and not have that match on PPV as Brock just debuted the night after WM18 and was being booked as the next big star so he walked on that RAW where he was going to lose to Brock This is Hollywood Rock which is Rocks heel character similar to Final Boss Rock This also has the best camera shot ever IMO during Austin Entrance it's when he is walking down the ramp and camera is following Austin down the Ramp
Comments
Its a tradition dating back to the territories to lose your last match before leaving the territory so they have a new star when you are gone. Pass the torch.
Nicholas Kramer
2024-11-18 23:41:25 +0000 UTCOh fuck yes I love this match. I think literally the only people who knew this was Austin’s last match were obviously himself, Rock, Vince and JR. First and only Mania in the north west. Brian Zane from Wrestling With Wregret was at this Mania. He was off to the right from the first half of the ramp when looking at the stage. The zoom in on The Rock on the turnbuckles in the ring is just as iconic a shot as Austin walking down the aisle. The old saying is “You go out on your back.” It was meant for the territories where you’d put someone over before you left but it’s translated to putting someone over in your last match. The two only people. I can think of that went over in their retirement match was Undertaker and Ric Flair. Also Austin’s best said “OMR” which stood for “One More Round”. Rock also pushes Hebner away after the pin because he wanted to speak to Austin and essentially thank him for putting him over.
Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett
2024-11-18 12:47:06 +0000 UTCIt's hard to explain just how hyped I was for this match as a kid . To this day I've never looked forward to a match as much as I did this one and it did not disappoint one bit
Drew Or Die
2024-11-18 03:40:41 +0000 UTCGreat match
Ryan Evans
2024-11-17 21:59:56 +0000 UTCI go back and watch this match often. I often say this is my favorite WrestleMania and one of my favorite WrestleMania stages. Also, The Rock at this time was only using the Hollywood for about a month. So this entrance was still new. That OMR on Austin's vest was an Easter egg. Austin said it meant "One More Run" which basically meant his last match. And it was until WrestleMania 38. Austin and the Rock was pretty much done full time by this point. Rock wrestled again at Backlash against Goldberg a month later, and made a few appearances later in 03 and 04. You didn't really see The Rock live in the arena until he came back in 2011. Austin was an on screen co-GM with Eric Bischoff until early 04 and Austin was gone. Austin did make more appearances on WWE TV than The Rock did before 2011. I think Vince, Jim Ross, and The Rock were some of the people who knew it was his last match. They have a documentary that came out about this show too called The Mania of WrestleMania (2004). After Austin, Brock, and The Rock left, they started building up stars like Randy Orton, Batista, and John Cena.
Christopher Barnes
2024-11-17 19:20:03 +0000 UTCThat's awesome!
Dport
2024-11-17 18:48:59 +0000 UTCSeattle baseball has a retract roof but even closed it isn't air tight and that night it was closed
Karen
2024-11-17 18:10:00 +0000 UTCFun fact: the blood on the mat was actually Vince’s. He and Hulk Hogan had a bizarrely awesome street fight in the match just before this one.
Ryan Redd
2024-11-17 18:06:38 +0000 UTCI was at Wrestlemania 19, sitting upper nose blead seats. But there were a lot of good matches that day.
Karen
2024-11-17 18:02:01 +0000 UTCYou're obviously Ill but well done to keep doing these. One of the best pro wrestling matches in history and very memorable helps. And amazing commentary from Jim Ross Too. Get well you two
Diruroru
2024-11-17 17:57:32 +0000 UTCFun reactions as always! 🩷 If they exchange the mat in WWE, it must be a quite new phenomenon. Usually, the ring mats are not changed. They might clean it and I've seen them use a spray to disinfect it in Japan. Hope everything is great with you three and everyone reading this. ❤️🌈
Jennifer Lindgren
2024-11-17 17:56:33 +0000 UTCAva was like 1 or 2 at the time lol. Her mom Rock's wife at the time was on the right, Rock's grandma in the middle and his mom on the left
cmike5290 .
2024-11-17 17:46:50 +0000 UTC
