The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the two top stars of the Attitude Era who were often engaged in on-screen rivalries. Their immense popularity and talent brought prosperity to WWE that the company had never seen before. Considering that both of these all-time greats peaked at the same time, there are constant debates about who's the best.
In debating how great a wrestler is, there are various components to consider beyond in-ring ability. Hopefully analyzing these factors will help fans decide who's better between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
10 Selling Pay-Per-Views: Stone Cold
Before the creation of the WWE Network, WWE relied heavily on revenue from pay-per-view attendance and buys. Top stars were paid based on how much money they could draw as a pay-per-view attraction. In this area, a slight edge is given to Stone Cold Steve Austin because of the pay-per-view spike he brought to WWE from 1997-1999. During this time pay-per-view attendance and buy rates skyrocketed at a time where Steve Austin was one of the only top stars and The Rock was just starting to build momentum.
9 Durability: The Rock
Both The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin stepped away from the ring in 2003. The Rock was leaving the ring to dedicate his time towards a career in Hollywood, while Austin was unfortunately forced to retire due to injuries. This difference alone is why Austin hasn't competed in WWE since 2003 and The Rock has returned for a number of high profile matches. Additionally, throughout the course of their careers, it was Austin who often needed time off to recuperate from lingering injuries while The Rock remained mostly healthy.
8 Louder Crowd Pops: Stone Cold
It's universally recognized by the wrestling world that nobody made the fans get louder and rowdier than Stone Cold Steve Austin and his theme music on a nightly basis. This is not to say that The Rock never garnered loud crowd reactions when he entered arenas, as his crowd pops are louder than the current WWE stars could dream of getting.
However, The Rock is simply a close second in this department with the slight edge going to Austin. If you need proof, check out Austin's entrance during Mankind's first WWE Title win.
7 Championship Accolades: The Rock
Although title wins are pre-determined, The Rock undoubtedly has more championship accolades than Stone Cold. The Rock's 10 world championship reigns nearly double Stone Cold's six WWE Championship wins. Additionally, The Rock has held more variations of what WWE recognizes as a "world xhampionship" as he has held different eras of the WWE Championship, the WCW Championship, and the Undisputed Title.
6 Selling Merchandise: Stone Cold
While it's difficult to choose a winner, there is no debate as to who sold more merchandise between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. The proof is in the numbers, Austin's merchandise sales significantly outweighed The Rock's throughout the peaks of their careers. This might be attributed to the fact that The Rock would often wear extravagant shirts instead of his own merchandise on WWE television, or the fact that the "Austin 3:16" T-shirts are WWE's highest grossing merchandise product of all-time.
5 Comedic Ability: The Rock
Despite both wrestlers being must-see television on a nightly basis, The Rock is able to make fans laugh in ways Stone Cold can't. While Stone Cold's character was constantly about pure intensity and vigor, The Rock's character had a comedic side that came out during his never-ending trash talk. As a babyface, The Rock would roast the opposing heels into oblivion. However, as a heel, The Rock was so funny that crowds would laugh during his promos despite him directing his trash talk at them.
4 Better Matches: Stone Cold
Determining which star had the edge, when it comes to better matches, was extremely difficult as most people would agree Stone Cold and The Rock's in-ring ability were comparable. However, many fans don't realize how great of a wrestler Austin was prior to the catastrophic neck injury he suffered in the summer of 1997.
The most notable and prime example of Austin's wrestling skills were on display when he and Bret Hart put on one of WWE's most iconic matches at Wrestlemania 13. Although The Rock has been involved in a number of solid matches, none stand in comparison to Austin's best.
3 Being A Heel: The Rock
In the peak of their respective careers, Stone Cold had one major heel run while The Rock had two. While many people consider Stone Cold's time as a heel in 2001 to be a disaster, both of Rock's heel runs in 1999 and 2003 are looked at in a much more positive light. The Rock was the perfect choice to be Vince McMahon's "Corporate Champion" in 1999 and was even more perfect as a snobby Hollywood character in 2003. As a heel, The Rock was entertaining, funny, and hated, while his personas didn't feel forced. On the other hand, Austin's heel run appeared to be filled with desperate attempts to get fans to hate him.
2 Being A Babyface: Stone Cold
Despite both stars being extremely beloved and respected by fans, it can be argued that Austin's connection to them ran a little deeper than The Rock's. In matches against other all-time greats, fans never booed Austin in favor of nostalgia the way they did to The Rock at Wrestlemania X8. Additionally, the fans never turned on Austin as a babyface because they were fed up with his act the way The Rock was in portions of 2002 and 2003.
1 Acting: The Rock
When it comes to performing on the silver screen, The Rock gets the nod as being the better actor. Although Austin has had a few solid movie roles and television spots here and there, The Rock is arguably the most popular actor in Hollywood right now. Immense acting success has turned The Rock from just a wrestling superstar into a global household name.