Jim Ross Recalls The Rock Stepping Up In Steve Austin’s Absence

On a recent episode of his podcast, Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed The Rock having a pivotal year in WWE in 2000, where he ascended to the top of WWE while Stone Cold Steve Austin was sidelined with an injury. Here are the highlights:

Jim Ross on the moment with The Rock in WWE: “Oh yeah, absolutely. It gave him an opportunity, and Dwayne always took advantage of his opportunities. He’s a game day player. That’s what happens when you get the great athlete, the ball player in you to come out. And yeah, he was just at the right place at the right time — and more importantly, he was ready. He was ready to ascend to the top. Austin’s injury gave him the door open, and it seemed to work out really well. At the end of the day, it obviously has worked out extremely well.”

On the challenge of losing the company’s top star at the time: “Big challenge, big challenge. And you wonder how well you’re going to do without your star, without Stone Cold. Because make no doubt about it, he was — the show was built around him. He was the biggest star we had to that date. He was the biggest star that we ever had. So you never know exactly how it’s going to be received.

“But those guys came out without Austin and delivered. And I think if they took that as a personal challenge, that ‘We’re going to get an opportunity to shine here, or the spotlight is going to be on us. So let’s deliver. Let’s go out there and take care of business.’ And they did, and I was very proud and happily surprised at the positive results that that match yielded.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Grilling JR podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.