Big fan of both, but I always liked Austin a little more. His intensity and attitude was always more appealing to me as a kid and even now as an adult. Not to mention having the much better theme music as well. The epic sound of the glass breaking is probably the best intro to a theme song in WWE history.
He was also further proof that it's not just what you say but how you say it. Cursing and talking about whipping someone's ass isn't exactly unique or distinctive dialogue, but Austin's remarkable level of charisma, intensity and his deep Texas thang to go with it made his insults and threats seem 100 times funnier and cooler than if anyone else was doing it. The Rock was similar in his own way; At least half of his jokes and put-downs were no less juvenile or childish than most of Cena's were/are, but the charisma and magnetism he gave off every time he would insult an opponent was funny enough to the point where you wouldn't even notice.
I also loved his heel run in 2001 better than most. I still believe he and Vince joining forces and shaking hands at the end of WM X-7 is an awesome and iconic moment, and tis a shame the heel run didn't exactly go as they planned it. Nevertheless, without it we wouldn't have seen a different side of Stone Cold that we saw, we would have never got to see the Austin that did the comedic skits with Kurt Angle, that tried to cheer up Vince by playing the guitar, that competed with Kurt Angle to win over Vince's approval more, etc. On the flip side, some of the most vile and intense things he ever did happened during this time as well. beating up Jim Ross, beating down Michael Cole, brutalizing The Hardy Boyz and Lita with steel chairs, prank calling the office and telling them that the Undertaker's wife was involved in a car accident that mangled her face, etc.
