10 Beautiful Moments Of Respect In Wrestling
3. The Rock Expresses His Love
The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the two biggest stars of WWE's fabled Attitude Era. That specificity may not be required.
There was a sense of camaraderie to the relationship - Austin and Rock would bet cases of beer on how aggressively/ridiculously the latter would sell the Stunner, which explains his quite insane flop to the ropes - but also a distinct competitive edge. They were gunning for the main event. They were sharks circling the same waters, particularly in late 2000, by which point they were in competition for the same top babyface role.
At WrestleMania XIX, it was Austin's turn to put Rock over at the apex of their illustrious WrestleMania trilogy. Austin had bested Rock at XV and X-Seven, but, ahead of Goldberg's debut, and the end of Austin's in-ring career, the Texas Rattlesnake went out on his back. That's essentially how he went in; mired in health issues, Austin on the eve of the show was hospitalised with severe dehydration. His neck was hanging by a thread. It took an herculean effort, but he put his body through hell one last time to deliver a great match worthy of the feud and indeed his seminal legacy.
To the man made of the iron that had sharpened him, Rock threw Earl Hebner out of the way, kneeled beside him, and told him he loved him, breaking character because it didn't matter.
This moment, the culmination of their shared journey to the stratosphere, was more important than fiction.