The Rock Picks His G.O.A.T., Says Steve Austin Is Second

By Joshua Gagnon

The WWE on FOX Twitter account asked fans "Who is your G.O.A.T.?" in a contest between The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The Rock responded, making his own personal pick ? Downtown Bruno.

"In wrestling? Easy answer; when I was 15 (broke & evicted) this man let me live with him in Nashville. Downtown Bruno. Most don't know who Bruno is but a few do.

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"My brother @steveaustinBSR comes in a very close 2nd. [laughing emoji] Cheers to life's wild and unpredictable journey. #goat"

Downtown Bruno is also known for his work in WWE as Harvey Wippleman. As Bruno, he worked the Memphis area in the mid to late 1980s, helping out Rock when he was at a low point in his life. In 1991, Sid Vicious helped get him into WWE as a manager, later as a road agent, and currently as a concierge for WWE.

Wippleman joined WWE After the Bell earlier this year and talked about getting offered the job with WWE, initially thinking it was a prank.

"The way we did it was I would get there early with my ring crew, set up the ring and I would sit in the box office to sell pre-sale tickets until Eddie arrived, and he'd take over the box office," Wippleman said. "So I was sitting in the box office answering the phone. People would call and ask, 'Is Jerry Lawler on the card tonight? Is Bill Dundee on the card tonight? How much are tickets?' So I get one call, 'Yes, can I speak to Bruno Lauer?' My real name. I said yes. 'This is Howard Finkel from the WWE. We're interested in talking with you. A friend of yours named Sid Eudy recommended you for a tryout,' and I thought it was Tom Prichard, 'Dirty White Boy,' calling pulling my chain, so I hung up. Sitting in that box office in that little room there and the phone rang again.

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"He said, 'This is Howard Finkel from the WWE. We want to know if you're interested in coming up. We're familiar with your work Downtown Bruno.' You know Howard. He's an encyclopedia of the business. He said, 'Look, if you don't believe me, here's the phone number,' and he game me the number. He said, 'You can call me back.' Then I will. The damn phone in the box office couldn't dial out. So I was like, 'Oh my god.' I went to Chilly Willy, who was working in the ring crew, and was like, 'You sit here in the box office. When people come into the box office just make their change, whatever.' So I went to a payphone down the street, and it went right to Howard's desk."

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