Austin and Rock's final match

[mcstoklasa]

Just a few questions I have regarding peoples opinions at the time on here.

Was everyone expecting the booking to be a third straight win for Austin?

Were people surpised when Austin jobbed cleanly? Considering it was rare for him to do so.

Did you think it would be Austin's last match at the time? I don't seem to recall there being any indication that it would be, other than his health problems.

If he never wrestles again, then he went out well.

[The Ichi]

Yeah, I thought Austin would win again and Rock would continue to have a meltdown. Would have made for some good comedy but I'm glad the Rock got a win too.

[DavidArquette]

I kinda thought Austin was gonna win again and was pretty surprised when he lost. I also didn't know this would be his last match as I don't think it was mentioned at all during the build up.

I have to say this is my least favourite of their matches. Not that it's a bad match, I think each one got worse.

[Perpetual Nirvana]

Didn't they run the "Goldberg is coming" promo right before this match? I seem to remember that they did. I also seem to remember after seeing that thinking The Rock was gonna win and come out the next night and brag about having done it all only to get speared out of his boots by Goldberg. Which is exactly what happened. I was actually right for once.

[CM Dazz]

Wow, this is all just fuzzy to me.

[Greer]

Looking back now it seems to be my favorite match of the three.

No titles, no McMahons.

Just 2 guys fighting for their spot as the best.

I had no clue it would be Austin's last match and I assumed Austin would go over though.

[ToyfareMark]

Jan 3, 2011 15:09:29 GMT -5 Perpetual Nirvana said:

Didn't they run the "Goldberg is coming" promo right before this match? I seem to remember that they did. I also seem to remember after seeing that thinking The Rock was gonna win and come out the next night and brag about having done it all only to get speared out of his boots by Goldberg. Which is exactly what happened. I was actually right for once.

They ran the Goldberg promo several times throughout the night. My guess is they wanted people ready to chant for him at Raw the next night.

[Deleted]

Had no idea at the time it would be austins last match i doubt anyone did.

But this match of all the encounters between these two has become a little more sentimental when watching it now, due to what austin went through with him goin to the hospital the night before and than still wrestling , and putting on one hell of a match.

And as much as it sounds ridiculous i think austin is gonna wrestle again he said he can do the current wwe schedule for 2yrs , well im thinkin when wwe does finally lose the PG rating when the matel deal runs dry by i believe 2015.

[Free Hat]

No, from the way they'd built it up it seemed obvious to me that the Rock was going to win. I was somewhat surprised that he went over clean though, if only because he was the heel.

As for Austin, no, I had no idea it would be his last match.

[FUNK_US/BRODUS]

This was my favourite match between the two. I always prefer clean matches with no interference or overbooking. This was just 2 guys, 1 fall to a finish.

[repomark]

Like with many others - totally assumed Austin would win and had absolutely no idea it would be his last match.

The segments on this match in the "Mania of Wrestlemania" documentary - charting the back story of how Austin had convulsions directly before and the bond between he and the Rock is excellent for anyone who hasn't seen it. Cracking documentary - its available on the WM20 DVD set.

[i.Sarita.com]

Jan 3, 2011 15:51:47 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Had no idea at the time it would be austins last match i doubt anyone did.

But this match of all the encounters between these two has become a little more sentimental when watching it now, due to what austin went through with him goin to the hospital the night before and than still wrestling , and putting on one hell of a match.

And as much as it sounds ridiculous i think austin is gonna wrestle again he said he can do the current wwe schedule for 2yrs , well im thinkin when wwe does finally lose the PG rating when the matel deal runs dry by i believe 2015.

Stone Cold could probably barely move now in a ring, let alone in another 4 years.

[DamnYankee]

Jan 3, 2011 17:22:45 GMT -5 i.Sarita.com said:

Jan 3, 2011 15:51:47 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Had no idea at the time it would be austins last match i doubt anyone did.

But this match of all the encounters between these two has become a little more sentimental when watching it now, due to what austin went through with him goin to the hospital the night before and than still wrestling , and putting on one hell of a match.

And as much as it sounds ridiculous i think austin is gonna wrestle again he said he can do the current wwe schedule for 2yrs , well im thinkin when wwe does finally lose the PG rating when the matel deal runs dry by i believe 2015.

Stone Cold could probably barely move now in a ring, let alone in another 4 years.

I believe he's actually gone on record in saying that he is physically fit to work a few matches. However, he just feels it isn't worth it. Especially with his neck in the condition that it's in.

[punksdisciple]

This thread made me put the WM XIX dvd in and watch the match.

[rapidfire187]

Jan 3, 2011 14:52:10 GMT -5 mcstoklasa said:

Just a few questions I have regarding peoples opinions at the time on here.

Was everyone expecting the booking to be a third straight win for Austin?

Were people surpised when Austin jobbed cleanly? Considering it was rare for him to do so.

Did you think it would be Austin's last match at the time? I don't seem to recall there being any indication that it would be, other than his health problems.

If he never wrestles again, then he went out well.

I personally expected The Rock to finally get a win over him. I just didn't think it'd make sense for Austin to have 3 straight Wrestlemania victories over The Rock.

I was not surprised that Austin lost cleanly. Actually, I don't think Austin had a problem with losing. The one time he had an issue was when they wanted him to lose to Brock in an unadvertised match on Raw. His reasoning was that the match should be treated like a big deal and promoted as such (and he was right IMO).

I remember the next night on Raw when Eric Bischoff said something to Austin like "I Know that your Dr. said you can't wrestle because of your neck" or something, I was like "WTF?". Seriously, that was the WORST send off ever. There was no indication that he'd be retiring, I didn't read anything about it online either. It was just a random announcement that Bischoff made during a promo. Lame.