To anyone voicing their opinion on Rock going over Austin, or even just voting Rock, thank you.
I solemnly swear I'm not being sarcastic. You've made this final much more exciting than it was anticipated to be, and I understand your general perception in regards to the situation at hand, so I understand why Rocky has as many votes as he does.
With that being said, despite the surprising amount of support Rock has amassed, I still don't see a justifiable reason for him to beat Austin here other than to promote intrigue. The best theory is "Rock is a hero for slaying Lesnar", and even that's debunked by kayfabe itself (Rock almost got killed by Lesnar coming into this match)
The fact of the matter is, Rock voters are bringing up small factors, while the Austin supporters are bringing up prime factors. What's to stop me from bringing up opposing small factors like "Steve Austin fought through a broken neck", or "Steve Austin could infiltrate hospitals and even the arena where the Austin's got a gun episode took place, so he must be crafty." And yet, they're still better arguments than "Rock was nice to the New Age Outlaws" or "Rock was funny".
I'm going to go ahead and give the Rock supporters some fuel, as I haven't seen this argument pop up yet. Everyone knows The Rock is extremely charismatic, but charisma sells tickets and merchandise, therefore making Rock a massive draw in his own regard.
Now, I'm going to go ahead and provide a counter-point: Actions speak louder than words. The Rock has had many famous segments over the years, but they mostly relied on his mic skills as opposed to what he did in those promos. On the contrary, Austin provided us with the gun episode, the beer truck, the zamboni, the supermarket fight, blowing up the DX Express, pouring cement in Vince's car, the hospital beatdown, numerous interferences in matches, the Sharpshooter pass-out, dozens and dozens of Stunners and many, many more, relying on little to no words and yet, leaving a powerful impression on us all, perhaps more than Rock's promos could.
And then of course, you've got the three main factors brought up by myself and others, Rock's damage, Austin's impact and Austin's win/loss record with Rock.
As stated at Wreslemania 17: Both men need to win
and neither man can afford to lose. And as I've stated, when both men needed the win equally, such as the WZT final, Austin always came out on top, especially with the advantages he has in this match.
Again, I'm not angry or upset with anyone voting Rock as he's a legendary performer in his own right, but Austin would simply not lose this match and there's absolutely no shame in Rock losing here.