2. Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - WrestleMania XIX
As mentioned in the last couple of entries, professional wrestling is a world where story often takes precedence over everything else. Has there ever been a more engaging, storied rivalry than the two biggest stars of a generation, anything bigger than Stone Cold vs. The Rock? It is testament to the quality of this story that we as an audience were able to believe and get behind the idea that if The Rock couldn't beat Austin at Mania, his career wouldn't be worth it. The guy had done it all, but this obsession with beating Austin at Mania was perfect and timeless, and as such when the third Rock Bottom was hit and the 1-2-3 followed, the release was palpable. There were a whole host of worries going in, with Austin spending time in hospital the night before. This would be his last match. It was also the only match between the two at WrestleMania that wasn't for the World Title, but in many ways it can be argued that a whole lot more was on the line. Rocky leaned over to tell Austin he loved him before celebrating, and that was that. The most lucrative feud in professional wrestling history was officially over.
John Bills
Contributor
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
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