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| source// wwe.com |
The 1990s were an incredible time for professional wrestling. As World Championship Wrestling changed the rules of the game, the World Wrestling Federation was forced to evolve and embrace a grittier product in order to claw its way back into the Monday Night Wars.
One man stood proud at the front of the resurgence, a man who would go on to become wrestling’s biggest star during wrestling’s most lucrative era.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was the number one guy in WWF for a number of years, and as such he was the man relied upon to headline the biggest shows and generate the biggest numbers for the company. He did it with aplomb, giving us some of the most memorable moments in WrestleMania history in the process.
He also did it while amassing a laundry list of injuries, and in hindsight it is incredible that he was able to perform at such a high level for so long, given his health. Even so, Austin left the squared circle with a surprisingly small number of WrestleMania matches under his belt.
He performed at seven ‘Manias, three of which saw him face off against his greatest rival, The Rock.
But how do the matches stand up against each other? His trilogy with Rocky is wrestling’s equivalent of The Godfather movies, an intricate story taking place over number of years full of emotion and intensity. Can anything stand above these matches? And did he take part in any true stinkers at the Showcase of the Immortals?
7. Vs. Scott Hall – WrestleMania X8
In answer to the question posed at the introduction: yes, yes he did.
The New World Order made their debut in the World Wrestling Federation in February 2002 at the No Way Out PPV, and that was about as good as it got for them. The group was thrust into major storylines straight away, but the long-desired Hulk Hogan/Steve Austin match wasn’t to be.
Hogan was to go up against The Rock, with Austin left to deal with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
The whole thing came with a huge side order of underwhelming. Austin’s mood and relationship with the company at the time was’t the greatest, something that is easy to understand given the dark holes in his personal life at the time. Hall wasn’t doing too great himself, openly stating now that at the time his ‘fake life’ was all that was keeping him going.
It didn’t bode well for their big ‘Mania showdown.
The match itself was just sort of there. A year earlier Austin was in the main event of arguably the greatest wrestling show of all-time. This match was middle of the card nothingness, and the efforts of both men did justice to its position. It went under about ten minutes, and Austin easily picked up the win despite the distraction of Kevin Nash on the outside.
With Hogan’s forced face turn later in the show, the nWo in WWE was pretty much dead in the water, a month after first showing back up in ‘New York’.
6. Vs. Savio Vega – WrestleMania XII
It is easy to forget that when Steve Austin arrived in the WWF, he was seemingly locked in a blood feud with Savio Vega for what felt like forever. The two squared off at WrestleMania XII, during which time Austin was still accompanied to the ring by ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase and carried the Million Dollar Championship with him.
Hindsight is a glorious thing, but looking back at this match there is nothing to suggest that Austin was just a couple of years away from becoming the biggest star in the business. Austin’s character seems constrained to say the least, but the flipside of this is that his in-ring work is absolutely golden.
Austin controls the match and gets some good stuff out of Vega, who was never anything more than a solid midcard hand in the WWF of the 1990s. DiBiase gets involved for the finish, causing the distraction and allowing Austin to clock Vega with the Million Dollar strap and slap on the Million Dollar Dream for the win.
Austin’s first WrestleMania and a first WrestleMania win, but by no means a classic or anything.
5. Vs. The Rock – WrestleMania XV
The first meeting between the two icons at WrestleMania is without a doubt the weakest of the three matches, but this isn’t to say it’s a dud. Far from it in fact, as the two superstars continued to drag the WWF further away from the ailing WCW. The Attitude Era was in full flow at this point, and as such the match comes with all sorts of extras.
Vince McMahon attempts to replace Mankind as the special guest referee, a decision overturned by Shawn Michaels (then commissioner). HBK also bans the Corporation from ringside, ensuring a one-on-one battle between Stone Cold and The Great One. The two start off with a lot of fast brawling, making their way up the aisle to add an element of chaos to the battle.
The Spanish announce table is broken before the two finally make it back to the ring, and a wrestling match almost threatens to break out. There are numerous ref bumps, including a succession of referees taken out by Rock and Vince McMahon. Mankind eventually returns to even up the odds and retake his place as special referee, and somehow within all the madness Austin hits a number of Stunners to pick up the victory.
There is a lot of mess surrounding the match, but it is still a heck of a lot of fun. The weakest of the three for sure, but still a lot to love here.
4. Vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XIV
It may only be the fourth best match on this list, but an argument can also be made for this being one of the most important matches in the history of WWE, or WWF as it was known as then. WrestleMania XIV was the PPV that kicked off the Attitude Era, with the coronation of Stone Cold Steve Austin as ‘the man’.
The undercard was stacked, with Triple H defending the European Championship against Owen Hart, The Rock defending the IC strap against a red-hot Ken Shamrock, Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie continuing their blood feud with the New Age Outlaws and the Brothers of Destruction meeting at WrestleMania for the first time.
The main event of the night saw Stone Cold ascend to the top of the World Wrestling Federation, defeating Shawn Michaels to win the WWF Championship. Mike Tyson was the special enforcer for the match, and had recently joined DX to stack the odds firmly against the Texas Rattlesnake.
The odds are overcome, of course, and a terribly fast count from Tyson notwithstanding this is a vastly underrated match. Michaels was working through a serious back injury, an injury that would end his in-ring career for four years. The involvement of Tyson ensured some major mainstream attention too, and he would go on to knock HBK out after the match. Tyson and Austin left the building side-by-side with arms raised, two bad motherf*ckers.
Austin would soon head off to the stratosphere to become the biggest star in professional wrestling. Not a bad match to do it in.
3. Vs. The Rock – WrestleMania XIX
The final chapter in the greatest in-ring rivalry in the history of professional wrestling, this was the perfect ending to the Rock and Austin story. There were very big question marks coming into this match beforehand, with Austin’s health a very serious concern to fans and WWE officials.
This would be his last ever match.
The only match in the trilogy that wasn’t for the richest prize in the game, this was as emotional a wrestling match as you are bound to find. The Rock needed to beat Austin, and he needed to do it on the biggest stage. When John Cena tells people that they need to cement their legacy by defeating him, this is the feeling he is trying to create.
The Rock had done it all, but if he couldn’t beat Austin at WrestleMania then what was it really worth?
He was able to come out on top, and the finish of the match has stayed with me for a very long time. Rocky hit Austin with three straight Rock Bottoms, and even then I was convinced Austin would find a way to kick out. It wasn’t possible that The Rock would finally defeat him cleanly at ‘Mania. But defeat him he did, and the emotion was palpable.
In the post-match, Rocky leaned over to tell Austin he loved him before beginning his celebrations, and like that the rivalry that defined the most lucrative period in professional wrestling history was over with Austin’s in-ring career.
2. Vs. The Rock – WrestleMania X-Seven
The main event of the greatest wrestling show of all-time, this was also the highlight of the epic Austin/Rock WrestleMania trilogy. The two biggest names in the game put on a match worthy of headlining the biggest show in the sport, a match that was arguably the apex of the Attitude Era.
The botched Invasion angle would begin soon after, and fans would shift from adoration into apathy.
The match itself is your typical Austin/Rock bout, just turned up to 11. The pace is fast, the brawling comes with an urgency that only these two could create. The event took place in Texas, and as such the crowd is rabid in their love of Austin, something that should have caused the angle at the end of the match to be changed.
That angle is one that we thought we would never see. In order to regain the WWF Championship that he obsessed over so much, Austin had to get in bed with the devil himself. After being at each other’s throats for a number of years, Austin and Vince McMahon joined forces to make sure Austin won the match, and then shared one of the most shocking and iconic handshakes in the history of, erm, handshakes.
In many ways, this is the iconic Stone Cold Steve Austin match. It was the end of his superstar run as the hottest babyface on the planet, and the many moments that led to him gaining such status were referenced throughout the match. The paranoia was getting to him, however, and this was his moment to jump into it with his entire being.
The match was epic, the crowd were on fire and the story told was iconic, summing up an entire era.
What more could a fan want?
1. Vs. Bret Hart – WrestleMania XIII
Simply put, this is one of the greatest matches in the history of WrestleMania.
It was the match that made Steve Austin a megastar, the match that kicked Bret Hart off on his way to a great heel run and a match that set the stall out for Attitude Era main events to come. It was an absolute lesson in ring psychology, and it pulled off arguably the greatest double turn in professional wrestling history.
Steve Austin was a genuine loose cannon at the moment, an angry man tired of being held down whose pride was everything, a man who would stop at nothing to show his viciousness. Bret Hart was well on the way to becoming an ornery old veteran, someone who had achieved everything yet still didn’t seem to get the requisite respect from the company.
Austin was greeted with boos, Hart with a mixture of boos and cheers. This isn’t to say the crowd wasn’t totally invested, far from it, and right off the bat the action is fast and intense. They brawl to start, something that was still fairly rare at the time and added extra tension to the match.
A Submission Match, Hart worked over Austin’s dodgy knees throughout as the crowd slowly got behind the seemingly indestructible Stone Cold. All of which led to one of the most memorable and iconic images of the entire decade, if not the history of professional wrestling. Austin had been busted wide open, and as Hart slapped the Sharpshooter on him he tried with all of his might to push out of it.
The image of Austin, screaming in pain, blood dripping out of his bald head and down to his teeth but refusing, flat-out refusing to give in is one that defined him as a character. Moments later Austin would pass out, and special referee Ken Shamrock raises Hart’s arm in victory.
On the surface, professional wrestling is about matches where one competitor wins and the other loses. This match is proof that there is so much more to the art. Austin lost the match, but this was arguably the biggest win of his career from a reputation and popularity standpoint.
It also removed any indecision when it came to company thinking. They had their next star. The era of Stone Cold Steve Austin was about to begin.
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