The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Two icons of the pro wrestling business who are inextricably linked to each other. 

The Rock sat down with Mark Kerr, the UFC legend that Rock is playing in his new film, “The Smashing Machine” on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel. During the interview, a picture of Steve Austin popped up on a screen placed in between the men, which led to Rock describing his love for Austin.

“This guy helped me so much, Mark. He was on top of the world. And he saw just a little bit of potential in me, but also smart enough to know, he’s like, “Man, we got some chemistry, man. Me and you.” And I was not in a position to say, “Hey, let’s me and you work together. Let’s go headline WrestleMania.” He had to say it. And he went to Vince McMahon in 1999, in January of ’99, I think, and he said, “I want to main event WrestleMania with The Rock.” And the rest is history.”

Rock shared a story about being Austin’s final opponent at WrestleMania 19, up until Austin returned to take on Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. 

“And he didn’t have to because he was the biggest star in wrestling, but he did. He put me over. And when I was pinning him, I rock bottomed him three times, by the way, you know, he’s like Kurt Angle, he had a broken neck in wrestling. And after the one, two, three, I leaned down in his ear. I said, I love you, man. He was like, “I love you, too.” We had that moment. What a moment, man.”

“The Smashing Machine” is currently playing in theaters, and for the first time in his career, Rock is expected to be in consideration for an Academy Award for his performance in the film. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Sports Illustrated YouTube Channel and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.