Top 10 Favorite Stone Cold matches
I'll list my 10 favorite matches that Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestled in, as the Hall of Fame induction ceremony's this weekend:
10) Stone Cold vs. Bret Hart(Street fight), Raw is War, April 1997-This is also in favorite moments(Austin beating the crap out of the Hitman), which included Austin putting Bret in the Sharpshooter after bashing his knee with a chair(and not letting go) and then beating Bret up in an ambulance.
9) Stone Cold vs. The Rock(Intercontinental Title), DeGeneration X, Dec. 1997-The buildup was awesome(the part on Raw before Thanksgiving where Austin sent the "3:16" on Rock's beeper was funny), and included Austin giving D-Lo Brown the Stunner on his pick-up truck. Austin won the match and went on to throw the belt into a river.
8) Stone Cold winning the 1997 Royal Rumble, Royal Rumble, Jan. 1997-Self-explanatory. Austin entered at #5, and ended up alone in the ring quite a few times until Bret entered and while the end of the match saw Bret eliminate Austin, the refs were too busy breaking up a fight between Terry Funk and Mankind to notice so Austin quickly got back into the ring, eliminating Vader and the Undertaker while Bret eliminated Glen "Kane" Jacobs(fake Diesel), then eliminated Bret to win.
7) Stone Cold winning the 1998 Royal Rumble, Royal Rumble, Jan. 1998-Austin kept jumping people left and right in the weeks leading up to the Rumble, saying "Do onto others before they do onto him"(did he ever, giving stunners to everyone from Jeff Jarrett and Marc Mero, and beating up Mark Henry in a dressing room). When the glass shattered to signify his arrival(entering #24), everyone in the ring stopped and waited for the Rattlesnake, but Austin went through the crowd and entered the ring, and quickly eliminated Mero. Austin would go on to win, eliminating The Rock as Mike Tyson watched from a luxury box.
6) Stone Cold vs. The Undertaker(Buried Alive match), Rock Bottom, Dec. 1998-Another great buildup, though it was bizarre and wild as the Attitude era was in full force('Taker tried to embalm Austin alive, then later tied Austin on his symbol). Vince McMahon ordered that Austin had to win to enter the Royal Rumble after 'Taker interfered in Austin's title match(which he got, using a clause in his new contract that Shane signed him to after Vince fired him at Judgement Day) against the Rock(who had beaten Mankind in a one night tournament to crown a new WWE champ at Survivor Series when Vince turned on Mankind using the Montreal screwjob of Bret Hart; Shane turned on Austin in the semifinal match against Mankind). Austin won with Kane's help and a backhoe to guarantee his entry into the Royal Rumble.
5) Stone Cold vs. Vince McMahon(steel cage match), St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Feb. 1999-After the Royal Rumble that McMahon won, eliminating Austin with help from the Rock(after starting the match with Austin entering #1 and McMahon entering #2), McMahon gave up his guaranteed WWE title shot at WrestleMania, but Shawn Michaels(the Commissioner at the time), using a rule that said if the winner of the Rumble refused his title shot at WrestleMania then the runner-up got the title shot, gave Austin the title shot. Austin then put up his title shot if McMahon agreed to wrestle him one-on-one in a cage match. McMahon accepted, and Austin beat Vince to a bloody pulp(after knocking Vince off the cage through the announce table). But everytime Austin was about to step out of the cage, Vince would flip him off. Eventually, The Big Show(in his first WWE appearance since leaving WCW), entered through the canvas, but when he threw Austin into the cage, the cage broke and Austin climbed down to win the match and keep his title shot at WrestleMania.
4) Stone Cold vs. Dude Love(WWE Title), Over The Edge, May 1998-Vince McMahon tried to stack the deck against Austin by naming his confederates Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson as timekeeper and ring announcer, respectively, then by naming himself the special referee, and even ordered that if Austin attacked him during the match, he'd stop the match and award the title to Dude Love. But McMahon made three mistakes: First by running his mouth after Austin had Vince arrested on Raw, claiming that there wasn't anybody on the roster that could intimidate him. Later that night, after making himself the special referee in a match between Austin and the Undertaker, 'Taker chokeslammed Vince before Austin even got into the ring. So at OTE, 'Taker showed up to make sure Vince called the match fairly. His second mistake was that he kept changing the rules of the match midway through to make sure Dude Love had the advantage(first by making it no-disqualification, then making it falls-count-anywhere). When he refused to count Austin's pin of Dude, Vince was KO'ed by a chair shot aimed at Austin from Dude Love. The third mistake was saying "by my hand alone" would the pinfall count. With him down, and after 'Taker chokeslammed Patterson and Brisco through announce tables, Austin gave Dude the Stunner and used the unconscious McMahon's own hand to count the pinfall.
3) Stone Cold vs. Bret Hart(submission match), WrestleMania XIII, March 1997-Ken Shamrock(entering WWE after a successful stint in UFC) was the special referee. This match featured a double turn with Austin turning face and Bret turning heel(leading to a U.S. vs. Canada angle). Bret won the match with the Sharpshooter after Austin passed out from blood loss.
2) Stone Cold vs. The Rock(WWE title match), WrestleMania XV, March 1999-Vince's plan to keep Austin from becoming champ again went down in flames after Austin stunned the Rock and Mankind(the special referee) counted the pin.
1) Stone Cold vs. The Rock(WWE title match), WrestleMania X-Seven, March 2001-Austin had come back after having his neck surgery(which stemmed from his match with Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1997 when Owen did the Tombstone piledriver wrong) and won the 2001 Royal Rumble months earlier, becoming the first three-time winner of the Rumble. Like their WMXV match, The Rock entered the match as champ after beating Kurt Angle at No Way Out. While the result was the same(Austin winning and becoming champ again), the end was different, as Austin destroyed Rock with a steel chair and aligned himself with Vince McMahon of all people. Austin joining Vince was completely unexpected, so that's why I went with this match as my #1 favorite.
Honorable mention: Stone Cold vs. Kane vs. Undertaker(Triple Threat, WWE title), Breakdown, Sept. 1998(sure Austin lost, but this was one of the few times Vince was actually successful against Austin, by essentially making it a handicap match by ruling that Kane couldn't pin Undertaker and vice versa. McMahon didn't care that 'Taker and Kane simultaenously pinned Austin after a double chokeslam, only that the title was off of Austin's waist); Stone Cold vs. Undertaker(First Blood, WWE title), Fully Loaded, July 1999; Stone Cold vs. Shawn Michaels(WWE title), WrestleMania XIV, March 1998(Austin's first title win; this would have been on this list if Shawn wasn't extremely limited by his back injury).
10) Stone Cold vs. Bret Hart(Street fight), Raw is War, April 1997-This is also in favorite moments(Austin beating the crap out of the Hitman), which included Austin putting Bret in the Sharpshooter after bashing his knee with a chair(and not letting go) and then beating Bret up in an ambulance.
9) Stone Cold vs. The Rock(Intercontinental Title), DeGeneration X, Dec. 1997-The buildup was awesome(the part on Raw before Thanksgiving where Austin sent the "3:16" on Rock's beeper was funny), and included Austin giving D-Lo Brown the Stunner on his pick-up truck. Austin won the match and went on to throw the belt into a river.
8) Stone Cold winning the 1997 Royal Rumble, Royal Rumble, Jan. 1997-Self-explanatory. Austin entered at #5, and ended up alone in the ring quite a few times until Bret entered and while the end of the match saw Bret eliminate Austin, the refs were too busy breaking up a fight between Terry Funk and Mankind to notice so Austin quickly got back into the ring, eliminating Vader and the Undertaker while Bret eliminated Glen "Kane" Jacobs(fake Diesel), then eliminated Bret to win.
7) Stone Cold winning the 1998 Royal Rumble, Royal Rumble, Jan. 1998-Austin kept jumping people left and right in the weeks leading up to the Rumble, saying "Do onto others before they do onto him"(did he ever, giving stunners to everyone from Jeff Jarrett and Marc Mero, and beating up Mark Henry in a dressing room). When the glass shattered to signify his arrival(entering #24), everyone in the ring stopped and waited for the Rattlesnake, but Austin went through the crowd and entered the ring, and quickly eliminated Mero. Austin would go on to win, eliminating The Rock as Mike Tyson watched from a luxury box.
6) Stone Cold vs. The Undertaker(Buried Alive match), Rock Bottom, Dec. 1998-Another great buildup, though it was bizarre and wild as the Attitude era was in full force('Taker tried to embalm Austin alive, then later tied Austin on his symbol). Vince McMahon ordered that Austin had to win to enter the Royal Rumble after 'Taker interfered in Austin's title match(which he got, using a clause in his new contract that Shane signed him to after Vince fired him at Judgement Day) against the Rock(who had beaten Mankind in a one night tournament to crown a new WWE champ at Survivor Series when Vince turned on Mankind using the Montreal screwjob of Bret Hart; Shane turned on Austin in the semifinal match against Mankind). Austin won with Kane's help and a backhoe to guarantee his entry into the Royal Rumble.
5) Stone Cold vs. Vince McMahon(steel cage match), St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Feb. 1999-After the Royal Rumble that McMahon won, eliminating Austin with help from the Rock(after starting the match with Austin entering #1 and McMahon entering #2), McMahon gave up his guaranteed WWE title shot at WrestleMania, but Shawn Michaels(the Commissioner at the time), using a rule that said if the winner of the Rumble refused his title shot at WrestleMania then the runner-up got the title shot, gave Austin the title shot. Austin then put up his title shot if McMahon agreed to wrestle him one-on-one in a cage match. McMahon accepted, and Austin beat Vince to a bloody pulp(after knocking Vince off the cage through the announce table). But everytime Austin was about to step out of the cage, Vince would flip him off. Eventually, The Big Show(in his first WWE appearance since leaving WCW), entered through the canvas, but when he threw Austin into the cage, the cage broke and Austin climbed down to win the match and keep his title shot at WrestleMania.
4) Stone Cold vs. Dude Love(WWE Title), Over The Edge, May 1998-Vince McMahon tried to stack the deck against Austin by naming his confederates Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson as timekeeper and ring announcer, respectively, then by naming himself the special referee, and even ordered that if Austin attacked him during the match, he'd stop the match and award the title to Dude Love. But McMahon made three mistakes: First by running his mouth after Austin had Vince arrested on Raw, claiming that there wasn't anybody on the roster that could intimidate him. Later that night, after making himself the special referee in a match between Austin and the Undertaker, 'Taker chokeslammed Vince before Austin even got into the ring. So at OTE, 'Taker showed up to make sure Vince called the match fairly. His second mistake was that he kept changing the rules of the match midway through to make sure Dude Love had the advantage(first by making it no-disqualification, then making it falls-count-anywhere). When he refused to count Austin's pin of Dude, Vince was KO'ed by a chair shot aimed at Austin from Dude Love. The third mistake was saying "by my hand alone" would the pinfall count. With him down, and after 'Taker chokeslammed Patterson and Brisco through announce tables, Austin gave Dude the Stunner and used the unconscious McMahon's own hand to count the pinfall.
3) Stone Cold vs. Bret Hart(submission match), WrestleMania XIII, March 1997-Ken Shamrock(entering WWE after a successful stint in UFC) was the special referee. This match featured a double turn with Austin turning face and Bret turning heel(leading to a U.S. vs. Canada angle). Bret won the match with the Sharpshooter after Austin passed out from blood loss.
2) Stone Cold vs. The Rock(WWE title match), WrestleMania XV, March 1999-Vince's plan to keep Austin from becoming champ again went down in flames after Austin stunned the Rock and Mankind(the special referee) counted the pin.
1) Stone Cold vs. The Rock(WWE title match), WrestleMania X-Seven, March 2001-Austin had come back after having his neck surgery(which stemmed from his match with Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1997 when Owen did the Tombstone piledriver wrong) and won the 2001 Royal Rumble months earlier, becoming the first three-time winner of the Rumble. Like their WMXV match, The Rock entered the match as champ after beating Kurt Angle at No Way Out. While the result was the same(Austin winning and becoming champ again), the end was different, as Austin destroyed Rock with a steel chair and aligned himself with Vince McMahon of all people. Austin joining Vince was completely unexpected, so that's why I went with this match as my #1 favorite.
Honorable mention: Stone Cold vs. Kane vs. Undertaker(Triple Threat, WWE title), Breakdown, Sept. 1998(sure Austin lost, but this was one of the few times Vince was actually successful against Austin, by essentially making it a handicap match by ruling that Kane couldn't pin Undertaker and vice versa. McMahon didn't care that 'Taker and Kane simultaenously pinned Austin after a double chokeslam, only that the title was off of Austin's waist); Stone Cold vs. Undertaker(First Blood, WWE title), Fully Loaded, July 1999; Stone Cold vs. Shawn Michaels(WWE title), WrestleMania XIV, March 1998(Austin's first title win; this would have been on this list if Shawn wasn't extremely limited by his back injury).