Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the centerpieces of The Attitude Era. Every promo involving the duo was compelling. And, all their matches were guaranteed barn burners. The chemistry both men had in the ring left nothing to be desired. When it came to wrestling, both men gave it all, telling a story with their bodies. Their feud produced some of the most memorable moments in WWE’s Attitude Era. That said, we finally know why The Rock always oversold the Stone Cold Stunner.
The sound of the glass shattering is synonymous with the Texas Rattle Snake. Stone Cold exuded the vibe of a tough redneck who went around ‘stunning’ people with his finisher. And nobody sold it better than his biggest rival, The Rock.
Every time The Rock was hit with the stunner, he rolled back spectacularly. The Brahma Bull once revealed why he oversold the Stone Cold Stunner.
Why did The Rock oversell The Stone Cold Stunner?
Taking to Twitter, The Rock reacted to a video of him overselling the Stone Cold Stunner on multiple occasions. The Great One reminisced about his awesome run in WWE. The Rock revealed that he always oversold the Stone Cold Stunner to make Steve Austin laugh.
He also added that the crowd noise masked Steve Austin’s reaction to the oversell. According to him, after he took the stunner bump, Austin would go- “Jesuuuus Chriiist”.
He wrote- “Good Lord, this was an awesome time in pro wrestling. Electrifying crowds! The crazy stunner bumps I would take started by me trying to make @steveaustinBSR laugh. If it weren’t for the crowds going batshit, you could hear Steve say, ‘Jesuuuus Chriiist.'”
The Stone Cold Stunner is probably one of the most entertaining finishers to watch. Even other superstars like Austin Theory have a unique way to oversell the Stone Cold Stunner. At WrestleMania 38, Theory tasted the Stunner and launched himself high up and oversold the move as if he was falling into the void.
The Stone Cold Stunner was not Steve Austin’s brainchild
Surprisingly, Stone Cold Steve Austin did not come up with his iconic finishing move. Although The Stunner is made famous by him, it was pitched by Michael Hayes. In WWE’s Biography on Stone Cold Steve Austin, the multi-time Champion gave credit to Michael Hayes for suggesting the move.
Before his Stone Cold gimmick, Austin was known as the “Ringmaster”. His transition to a new gimmick birthed the legendary move.
“I was using the Million Dollar Dream and I needed to get away from that. And it was a great idea… I owe that all to Michael Hayes.”
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