Debate is/was going on in chat. Who do yall got?

The Rock, Shawn is a better perfomer but Rock wasn't a self respecting Douchenozzle in real life

Shawn Michaels by a fucking mile.

This is NOT nearly as far as a gap as some people say it is. Rock has to be one of the most underated performers in the ring. Plus GoodMicWork made a vid about this possible matchup so check it out. For me these are my two personal favorite wrestlers period. Rock is my pure favorite but even I achknowledge that Shawn is the better of the two, but not by as large of leaps as some will tell you, like the obvious HBK Mark above me  

Shawn Michaels.

HBK

Open and shut case, the only thing HBK is better at is in ring, everything else the Rock has him beat. Let's not forget HBK was on top during one of the weaker eras, while Rock was on top during the strongest.

The Rock

I love both of them but overall, HBK Shawn Michaels.

Komodo Dragon wrote:

Open and shut case, the only thing HBK is better at is in ring, everything else the Rock has him beat. Let's not forget HBK was on top during one of the weaker eras, while Rock was on top during the strongest.

So HBK is better in-ring? Gotcha. TRE trying to get more votes for Rock with his misleading title.

It's hard to say because these two never worked together aside from a couple of irrelevant moments in the Attitude Era when HBK was retired. Rock was one of the main reasons I got into watching WWE in the late 90s while HBK was one of the main reasons I kept watching after Rock left. HBK has the advantage in ring. Overall it's hard to say but in 2002 if I had to choose between HBK returning and The Rock deciding not to go to Hollywood, I would've gone with Rock staying.

HBK...hands down

HBK all the way. HBK had it all, including charisma even though The Rock had that by a tad bit more than HBK, HBK had all of it which makes him better, especially in-ring.

Michael Hickenbottom <<<<<

all this bias ness going on

HBK all god damn day

I like The Rock a lot, and this is definitely closer than some would say, but I'd have to say Shawn is the better overall wrestler. The Rock is obviously more high profile outside the ring, but HBK was still wrestling on a fairly frequent basis into his 40's, and better than anyone on the roster at it. Right now, WWE lacks what Shawn Michaels brought them from 2002-2010 more than they lack what The Rock brought them in his last tenure. The Rock is, of course, one of the most charismatic performers of all-time, but HBK is no slouch and I don't feel Rock having the edge in one category should put him over a guy with HBK's longevity and consistent in-ring skill.

Rock. Rocks athleticism, for his size, is incredible, always was phenomenal. Other than HBK and Bret he was at third place most athletic. That says a fucking lot. His selling ability rivaled HBKS. HBK was better in ring, but by how much? Most of it was his mixture of submissions and high flying type spots, and he was real good with psychology too. Rock is 6'5 270, he doesnt need to do high flying spots and I admit his submissions were shit

Rocks selling > HBKs to me. Flipping 4 times when you get clotheslined is cool, but Rock is on another level. HBKs better in psychology,and despite what may seem like a demeaning comment before HBK has had incredible incredible showings of selling, but Rocks the consistently better seller. Rocks selling is a combonation of extreme realisticism mixed with over the top ness. He would go over the top for his feircest rivals like SCSA. In the cracks. Rock would act winded. Dumbass wrestling tards think Rock was "winded" against CM Punk. He wasnt. Thats how hes been selling for years, thats how he sellls in MOVIES. Again HBKs selling was amazing but Rock had everything, limp, swagger, presence, making himself look big making himself look small, even microexpressions down to a tee.

On the mic? Theyre not even fucking close. Not even fucking close. Charisma? Marketability? Who was a better face of the company? Again, not even fucking close. WWE skyrocketed when HBK passed the torch, not when he has it. The thread title says "overall", why are so many people ignoring everything other than in ring?

Again, WWE has pumped into your feeble and maleable minds that "so and so" is the greatest of all time. HBK is one of those. And he is one of the GOATS, but they havent given Rocks historic matches with Austin proper attention. Why would they? He split for Hollywood. They celebrate him when hes around, unless he has a super crazy hollywood accomplishment, then they can latch on to him like "look thats OUR guy!" His 5 star matches with Austin and with Brock  his great bouts with the legends of the attitude era, the way he worked soo well, he was soo crisp, rock vs taker vs kurt angle, vengeance 02  . Again HBK is amazing, one of the goats


Combine everything that it takes, not just in ring even though its most important and you get Rock with the slight slight edge, by a speck.

Shawn Michaels. And it's laughable that anyone with that answer gets deemed "biased."

People are trying to act like HBK couldn't cut a promo. Are you kidding me? I know that probably wasn't the intent, but you're telling me Shawn Michaels wasn't amazing on the mic, himself? Wasn't amazing at segment creativity? Let me put it like this...

The Rock might be able to "WOW" people with his promoing style, the type that he just jokes every time his opponent says something, while screaming it. But Shawn Michaels' psychology and logic are vastly better when in a promo battle with an opponent. I'm not going to say HBK is better in this regard, but I am breaking down the promoing elements like what DDD did with breaking down the elements of matches. HBK has a checkmark in both the psychology and logic departments as referenced before (You know, not having to rely on making jokes when in a serious non-title feud.), but also in the diverse sense. Through and through, a lot of the Rock promos are similar, not same, but similar. Where HBK can go from joking with DX, to losing his mind/soul against the Undertaker, etc etc. Where as Rock goes into the same feud with the same mentality, same lines. Granted, those lines are something HBK doesn't have - "Candy ass", "If you smell...", "It doesn't matter what you think" are all iconic one-liners, which is a big time edge to Rock. But they are practically said in the majority of his promos, so that's why HBK gets the diverse checkmark. Shawn Michaels oozes with charisma, but it still doesn't touch Rock's. But depending on the type of feud, I honestly would rather see an HBK promo than a Rock promo. Straight up, Rock is better on the microphone, but it's still about circumstance.

Both guys make the top-5 in WWE/F history, so it literally is splitting hairs. If WWE misses out on just one of these guys, IMO there's a chance WCW might be the company today. So love both, but if you're asking me who is the better overall performer, it has to be Shawn Michaels. There is a bigger gap in Rock-to-HBK's wrestling ability than HBK-to-Rock's promoing ability.