The final match of Steve Austin at WrestleMania 19 against The Rock took the wrestling world by surprise. Austin returned in 2003 shortly after his walkout the previous year due to disagreements with WWE management. The return was short-lived as Austin realized his neck injury was making the risks too high to continue wrestling.

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Austin suffering the injury about six years prior against Owen Hart followed him for the rest of his career. WrestleMania 19 was a loaded card with multiple main event caliber matches, but Austin vs Rock had the biggest name value. The retirement of Austin ended the career of the industry’s biggest draw. A glimpse back at what went into Austin’s final match is worth it for the interesting tidbits.

8 Austin Refused To Let WWE Promote It As His Final Match

Steve Austin WrestleMania 19

One of the biggest questions about Steve Austin’s final match is why WWE didn’t promote it as such before the act. WrestleMania 19 would have likely had even more hype and received more buy rates if the audience knew it was their final chance to watch Austin wrestle a match.

RELATED: Every Match From WrestleMania 19, Ranked From Worst To Best

Jim Ross revealed on his podcast that Austin didn’t want to promote this and wanted to have the match as planned. Austin made the personal decision to retire during the build after getting bad news from his doctors, but he didn’t feel it was appropriate to add to the story he was telling with The Rock.

7 First Serious Match In His Return

Steve Austin Vs Eric Bischoff

WWE fans were hyped for the return of Steve Austin in 2003 when he returned after walking out about nine months prior. Austin was frustrated with his creative and didn’t want to put over Brock Lesnar in an unadvertised match on Raw.

The return of Austin came at No Way Out 2003 against Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff. Austin had two squash matches beating down Bischoff before his WrestleMania 19 bout against The Rock. It would turn out to be the first serious and last overall match of Austin in that chapter of his career.

6 WWE Documented Backstage Footage For "The Mania Of WrestleMania"

WrestleMania 19

The ambitious project of WWE to release a documentary about WrestleMania 19 didn’t see it making movie theaters or bigger television networks. WWE released The Mania of WrestleMania on the same network as Smackdown as part of the WrestleMania 20 week events.

The documentary was about the biggest matches from WrestleMania 19 and the stories of the talent behind the scenes. Steve Austin was filmed discussing his final match and the nerves that went into it for captivating entertainment to the diehard fan.

5 The Rock Broke Character After Pin Fall

Hollywood Rock

WWE turned The Rock heel for his comeback in 2003 knowing it would culminate in huge matches with Steve Austin and Goldberg as faces. Hollywood Rock had the infamous run here for arguably the most compelling character of Rock’s legendary career.

There was one moment of Rock breaking character after he pinned Austin to win the match. Rock visibly put his head next to Austin’s and said a few words before giving him a supportive slap to the chest. The timing of Rock getting ready to leave after the following month and knowing how to easily get heat with this character allowed him to break kayfabe for a few seconds knowing it was Austin’s final match.

4 A Fan Poll Was Part Of Build

Steve Austin The Rock

The original story for Steve Austin’s final match against The Rock featured a fan vote mentioned of all things. WWE’s special for the Raw 10th anniversary saw fans voting on major awards. Austin got more votes than The Rock and other legends as the superstar of the decade.

RELATED: The Rock vs. Steve Austin: 10 Things Most Fans Don’t Realize About Their Rivalry

Rock brought up in promos that he was upset about losing that award to Austin and also started referencing their WrestleMania history of losing the prior two matches. The angle explained the obsession Rock had with beating Austin on the biggest stage.

3 The Rock Needed Three Rock Bottoms To Beat Him

The Rock Bottom

Steve Austin and The Rock knew that WrestleMania 19 would be their final match against each other and wanted to leave nothing in the tank. Both men kicked out of each other’s finishers and even executed the other’s moves in the ring to add to the classic match.

Rock hitting the Stone Cold Stoner and Austin hitting the Rock Bottom each created huge pops. However, Austin kicked out of Rock’s Rock Bottom to continue the match with more false finishes. Rock needed to execute three Rock Bottoms before he pinned Austin to score the massive victory.

2 Vince Felt Kurt Angle Vs. Brock Lesnar Was Better Choice For Main Event

Brock Lesnar Vs Kurt Angle

The card order heading into WrestleMania 19 was a huge topic with multiple matches having an argument for the main event. Fans believed that Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle, The Rock vs Steve Austin, and Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon all had arguments to close the show.

Austin and Rock clearly had the greatest star power as the two biggest names of their generation. However, Vince McMahon opted to go with Lesnar vs Angle due to wanting to build towards the future. Austin retiring and Rock getting ready to move to acting full-time made more sense for them to semi-main event with the younger names getting the main event.

1 Austin Wanted To Lose

The Rock Vs Steve Austin

The old school belief of Steve Austin believed that someone leaving the territory should do business on the way out. Austin was more than happy to lose to The Rock when it became apparent that he wouldn’t be wrestling again.

WWE wanted Rock to have momentum heading into his next match against a debuting Goldberg. Austin’s loss added to the allure of Hollywood Rock and helped set up his following program. The desire to lose a final match also gave Austin a long walk with cheers to end his legendary career.