10 Wrestling Matches That Ruled With Builds That Sucked
3. The Rock Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWE WrestleMania XIX)
...and then it happened again.
A match that proved substantially more significant going out than it ever dared to be going in, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin's final WrestleMania battle was awesome and awe-inspiring like the two that came before them, but the build was heavy on fluff and f*ck all else.
Perhaps this was to protect 'The Rattlesnake'. His opponent was in peerless form in 2003, not least because he'd mentally left wrestling behind right as Austin was returning to it.
Dripping in audacious Hollywood pomp, 'The Great One' was p*ss funny verbally eviscerating Hulk Hogan before their WrestleMania X8 rematch at No Way Out that year, and only got funnier on the Triple H-dominated Monday Night Raw.
His persona brought an abysmally boring brand back from obscurity during the short spell he deigned it with his presence. Exposing 'The Game' as a charlatan of a headliner just by sharing a show with him, Rock got both Booker T and The Hurricane over just because he could, and just before Hunter flattened them both.
None of this particularly helped build the 'Show Of Shows' clash with Austin, but it could be argued it didn't need to. History informed everything, as it would once the 'Toughest S.O.B' took the last long walk after his loss.