Jim Ross Recalls The Rock vs. Steve Austin Rivalry, Austin Seeing Potential In Rock

On a recent episode of his podcast, “Grilling JR,” Jim Ross discussed a wide range of topics. During it, the AEW commentator talked about The Rock’s feud with Steve Austin and more. You can see some highlights below:

On The Rock catching Steve Austin’s eye in 1998: “Austin always had an eye out for the other talents as potential opponents. And he — you know, you look at The Rock from head to toe with his physique, his mannerisms, his ability to talk, et cetera, et cetera. And it really becomes that no-brainer. And Steve paid attention. He knew at some point in time that the day would come when he and Rock would begin some sort of little journey together. It wasn’t a little journey, because they headlined in one-on-one matches three WrestleManias. Three! That’s unheard of in today’s world.

“But they were so good and their chemistry was so flawless, they headlined WrestleMania 15, 17 and 19. And I remembered them all very well. I called all three of them, and it was a great honor to see the greatness in front of me that includes Austin and Rock. So it was good stuff, man. It was good stuff. I’m sure lucky and glad that I was doing my trade in that period of time.”

On Rock’s angle with Sgt. Slaughter where he was supposedly injured: “Yeah, it just kept feeding him material that he could carry with him and make better. That’s the thing about a great star, is that they take what the booking or creative committee presents them and they make it better.”

On Rock’s chemistry with Ken Shamrock: “Severn was a stop-gap. It got Rock to Shamrock, and then here they go again. And they just had that match down. I mean, they didn’t really have — maybe you could think about something. I don’t think I can think of any Shamrock-Rock match that was horrible, or not good. They were always solid as hell.”

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.