14 Greatest Rubber Matches In Wrestling History

4. Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. The Rock - WWE Wrestlemania 19

As the two biggest stars of wrestling's greatest boom period in the States, Austin and Rock were always bound to be closely linked. The duo were natural rivals, acting as polarising counterpoints to one another. Austin was the red neck, beer-swilling, working class hero and The Rock was an egotistical, handsome, natural athlete with a prestigious lineage and a physique carved from marble. The initial rivalry dates back as far as 1998, when The Rock became WWE Champion at a Deadly Games tournament at Survivor Series. Mr McMahon manipulated the competition to ensure The Rock walked away as champion. Mankind kept The Corporate Champion busy until Wrestlemania 15, by which time Austin had jumped all of McMahon's hurdles to enter the championship match and win the title. In 2001, Austin won the Royal Rumble for a third time to set up another headline bout against The Rock at Wrestlemania 17. This time it was Austin who would turn heel, siding with his greatest enemy, Vince McMahon, to clinch the title. The set-up for their third and final Wrestlemania match was straightforward enough. The Rock announced he had achieved everything he had wanted to in wrestling besides one thing, beating Steve Austin at WrestleMania. Austin accepted The Rock's challenge and the two tormented each other for weeks. Austin even helped The Hurricane pick up a victory over The Rock on Monday Night Raw. The match begins with a brawl, quickly spilling out of the ring. The intensity keeps up, and the People's Champion starts to target Austin's bad knee. Before long, the two steal each other's finishers but can't put the other man down for the three count. After a few near misses for each man, Rocky manages to hit three consecutive Rock Bottoms on Stone Cold to finally put the Texas Rattlesnake down for the win. The match marked the end of an era, as Austin retired from in-ring competition and The Rock appeared in WWE less and less as his film career took off. It feels like the official ending of WWE's Attitude Era, with its two greatest icons facing off for one last hurrah and Steve Austin going out on his back to uphold one of the long-held traditions of the sport.