8 Times Stone Cold Steve Austin Lost Clean

by Liam Johnson

1. Vs. The Rock (WrestleMania XIX)

WWE

One of the most historic matches in WWE history saw WrestleMania's completed an epic trilogy as the curtain fell on Austin's career. Nobody knew it was coming. Austin had returned to WWE after an eight month absence after he famously walked out of the company in May of 2002, and it seemed like the fans and Austin himself were refreshed for one last prominent run at the top.

When WWE announced Austin vs. The Rock III for the excellent WrestleMania XIX, not everyone particularly wanted to see it. Even with The Rock freshly a heel, it felt like a match that was past its relevance. It felt like something WWE was doing just to give Rock his win back from the two prior bouts. The truth was that since the infamous Owen Hart piledriver at SummerSlam in 1997, Austin had been wrestling on borrowed time and it finally caught up with him. Doctors warned Austin he was risking paralysis and even death by continuing to compete. Austin made the choice to make 'Mania XIX his last match, but only he, Jim Ross, The Rock & likely Vince knew this when the opening bell rang.

As is tradition, Austin put over The Rock clean in his retirement match. At the close of the match, Rock visibly spoke to Austin in the ring, thanking him and telling him he loved him. Jim Ross did a wonderful job putting over Austin as he left without revealing he had indeed retired. Austin would officially announce his retirement on WWE.com a few days after the event.

Contributor
Contributor

Betting on being a brilliant brother to Bodhi since 2008 (-1 Asian Handicap). Find me @LiamJJohnson on Twitter where you might find some wonderful pearls of wisdom in a stout cocktail of profanity, football discussion and general musings. Or you might not. Depends how red my eyes are.