Stone Cold Steve Austin is arguably the biggest star in the entire history of professional wrestling. After a successful midcard run in WCW and a brief spell in ECW, it was in WWE that Austin truly became a star as the face of the company during the Attitude Era. Between 1996 and 2003, Austin became a six-time WWE Champion and a three-time Royal Rumble Match winner, among other impressive accomplishments.
Stone Cold Steve Austin's Definitive 21 Best Wrestling Matches, Ranked
Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the biggest WWE stars of all time, but he also did great in WCW and ECW. Here are Austin's best matches, ranked.
Stone Cold, who had always been known as a tremendous in-ring worker, was forced to change his style after a serious neck injury in 1997. But it didn't stop the charismatic Austin from becoming the biggest star in the business, working with some of the all-time greats during his legendary WWE career. Here are Steve Austin's greatest rivals in WWE, ranked by chemistry.
Steve Austin's WWE Run | 1995-2003 |
|---|---|
WWE Accomplishments |
|
10 Kane
Kane Defeated Steve Austin For The WWE Championship
Feuded In | 1998 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
Steve Austin was on top of the world during his first WWE Championship reign. Nobody could dethrone The Texas Rattlesnake, not even with Vince McMahon changing the rules on the fly during Austin's matches. After months of humiliation, McMahon booked Austin in an impossible title defense at King of the Ring 1998 - a First Blood Match against themasked Big Red Machine, Kane.
Steve Austin, being Steve Austin, put up one hell of a fight, but it just wasn't enough.Mankind and The Undertaker both ran in, with an accidental chair shot from the latter busting Stone Cold's bald head wide open, making Kane the new champion. Austin regained the strap one night later on Raw in a very entertaining bout. That marked the end of their singles feud, although the two continued to interact over the years.
9 The Undertaker
Stone Cold & The Undertaker Headlined SummerSlam 1998
Feuded In | 1997-2002 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
If Steve Austin and Kane only faced off in a couple of major singles matches, the complete opposite must be said for Austin andThe Undertaker. The two WWE megastars feuded countless times over the years, from an In Your House WWE Title match in 1997, to the iconic main event of SummerSlam 1998, to The American Badass challenging a heel Stone Cold after WrestleMania 17.
While they did have some good matches against each other, the number of disappointing ones was higher.WWE legend Jim Ross claims they weren't compatible from a psychological and timing standpoint. Steve Austin and The Undertaker are two of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, but no matter how hard they (or management) tried, their matches usually lacked something special.
8 Savio Vega
Steve Austin & Savio Vega Had An Underrated Feud In 1996
Feuded In | 1996 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes | Steve Austin Made His WrestleMania Debut Against Savio Vega |
Savio Vega was Steve Austin's first rival in WWE. Stone Cold made his WrestleMania debut against the Puerto Rican wrestler, who was also competing in his first 'Mania, and the two had a pretty good ten-minute midcard bout.
Their feud didn't stop there, with Vega getting his win back in a Caribbean Strap Match at thechaotic In Your House 8: Beware of Dog event. Austin's loss was the best thing that could've happened to his career at the time, as it forced his then-manager, Ted DiBiase, to leave WWE.
7 Shawn Michaels
Stone Cold Won His First WWE Championship Against The Heartbreak Kid
Feuded In | 1997-1998 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin didn't need to face each other numerous times to share a lot of history together. After (somehow) winning the World Tag Team Championship together in the spring of 1997, the pair had a match at that year's King of the Ring which ended in a draw.
Shawn Michaels Best WWE Matches
Shawn Michaels made history by participating in some of the best matches in WWE history.
They resumed their program a few months later, with Austin chasing HBK's WWE Championship after winning the 1998 Royal Rumble. Austin and Michaels having a pretty fun matchup at WrestleMania 14 despite the soon-to-be-retired Heartbreak Kid working with a broken back proves they had great chemistry inside the ropes.
6 Kurt Angle
Steve Austin Had Great On-Air Chemistry With Kurt Angle
Feuded In | 2001 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
Kurt Angle made his WWE main roster debut at Survivor Series 1999, the same night Stone Cold was written off television for nearly a year. By the time Steve Austin returned,The Olympic Gold Medalist was already involved in the WWE Title picture. It didn't take long for Austin and Angle to face off inside the squared circle. The two legends had a tremendous feud over the WWE Championship the following year.
After a classic battle at SummerSlam 2001 ended via DQ, Angle managed to win Austin's WWE Championship at Unforgiven. The Texas Rattlesnake regained the gold a few weeks later, taking the WWE Title into the mini-tournament for the Undisputed Championship at Vengeance. There, Austin retained the gold against Angle, before going on to lose to Chris Jericho in the main event. They never failed to deliver inside the ring.
5 Mick Foley
Stone Cold Had A Brilliant Feud With Dude Love
Feuded In | 1998 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
As we mentioned earlier, Steve Austin won his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 14, but Vince McMahon was on a mission to make Austin's life miserable. Mick Foley was McMahon's first choice to take the title off Stone Cold.
Foley, wrestling as Dude Love, and Steve Austin had some of the most chaotic and entertaining brawls of theAttitude Era. Their matches at Unforgiven and Over the Edge were overbooked masterpieces, particularly the latter. Despite all the shenanigans, Austin walked out of this rivalry with his championship intact.
4 Vince McMahon
Austin Vs. McMahon Defined The Attitude Era
Feuded In | 1997-2001 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches | St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1999 |
Notes |
|
Theiconic rivalry between Stone Cold Steve Austin and the evil Mr. McMahon defined the Attitude Era. Their feud was, for the most part, absolutely perfect. The only reason why it's not placed even higher on this list is because Austin and McMahon rarely faced off inside the ring.
Aside from the entertaining steel cage match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1999, McMahon always had someone else doing his dirty work for him. That totally fit Mr. McMahon's character, though, and made the storyline even better.
3 Triple H
Two Bitter Rivals Who Later Became World Tag Team Champions
Feuded In | 1999-2001 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
Stone Cold's final WWE PPV match before undergoing neck surgery was against Triple H at No Mercy 1999. The Game scored a huge win to retain the WWE Championship, but they'd do even better after The Texas Rattlesnake returned. Their feud intensified when Triple H announced he'd orchestrated Rikishi's backstage attack at Survivor Series 1999.
TS Report: Subscribe and never miss what matters
Their feud culminated with a violent Three Stages of Hell Match at No Way Out 2001. As Austin was about to main event WrestleMania 17, most fans assumed he'd win, but Triple H walked out the winner. After 'Mania, the hated rivals joined forces asThe Two Man Power Trip, and would go on to hold the WWE (Austin), Intercontinental (Triple H) and World Tag Team Championships at the same time.
2 The Rock
Steve Austin Vs. The Rock Happened At Three Different WrestleManias
Feuded In | 1997-2003 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock had a one-of-a-kind feud in the Attitude Era. They were the two biggest names in professional wrestling, and two of the most charismatic personalities in the world of entertainment. Each and every single time they met inside the ropes, it was special.
Rock and Austin faced each other at three different editions of WrestleMania: 15, 17 and 19. The first two matches took place in the main event, and Austin won Rock's WWE Championship on both occasions. At 'Mania 19, The Great One finally defeated Austin in the latter's last match as a full-time competitor.
1 Bret Hart
The Iconic Double-Turn With Bret Hart Launched Stone Cold Into The Stratosphere
Feuded In | 1996-1997 |
|---|---|
Notable Matches |
|
Notes |
|
It's not easy to choose between Austin vs. The Rock and Austin vs. Bret Hart. Both are way too special in different ways, and it's easy to understand why someone would choose either feud for the top spot. In this article, Stone Cold's legendary rivalry with The Hitman takes it.
Every Bret Hart Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin Match, Explored
Bret Hart and Steve Austin had an all-time great WWE feud that turned Stone Cold into a megastar. Let's explore every major Austin vs. Bret match.
They delivered so many classics in the ring, and all of their matches felt different. This awesome storyline launched Stone Cold into the stratosphere, particularly after the iconic double-turn at WrestleMania 13. Bret Hart always brought out the best from Steve Austin, and vice versa.
