The Rock Vs. Steve Austin | Wrestling Timelines

March 22, 2001 - The Sit-Down

Finally.

There are no vehicles. No mock funerals. No attempted drownings by a bridge. That stuff was great, but this is better. Rock is no longer a sell-out instrument of Vince McMahon’s. He is a megastar with agency, he’s on Austin’s stratospheric level, and Austin knows it.

Austin and Rock sit down with Jim Ross. Without the props, the tone is serious. The verbal interplay is so outstanding and believable that the widely criticised Debra angle is almost justified. Austin says he doesn’t like how Rock is talking about Debra. He says he’s getting hot; you believe it. “You might want to take a little bass out of your voice,” Austin says.

“Well, I might not,” Rock replies.

Austin then immediately retcons Debra’s involvement - “Bam, she’s a non-factor” - and brings it back to the title. In a great bit of foreshadowing, Austin, subverting their relationship, is close to getting up and smashing his friend Jim Ross for not asking him what the WWF title means to him.

Austin and Rock do concede that they bring out the best in one another, but that’s the extent of the mutual respect. They can’t expressly admit what the rivalry means to them.

Rock and Austin start pissing to see who can spray the farthest. Austin mocks Rock’s “just bring it” slogan; Rock belittles the 3:16 stuff and says why don’t you go ahead and try and whip the Rock’s ass.

Austin says, foreshadowing the finish, “I need to beat you, Rock. I need it more than anything you could ever imagine”.

These are two elite athletes and household names building incredible tension with only their words, their attitude. It’s almost like they’re shooting their own angle. That’s how lively and tense and off-the-cuff it all feels.