Austin Region, Fourth Round, 3 Stages of Hell Match:(1) Steve Austin vs. (5) Triple H

[klunderbunker]

This is a fourth round match in the Austin Region and it is a 3 Stages of Hell. It will be held at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Assume one week has passed since the previous round, meaning all damage might not be healed.

Rules: This is a 2/3 falls match. The first fall is a street fight, the second fall is a ladder match and the third fall is a steel cage match which can be won by pinfall, submission or escaping the cage.

#1. Steve Austin

VS.

#5. Triple H​

Polls will be open for five days following a one day period for discussion. Voting will be based on who you feel is the greater of the two competitors. Post your reasons for why your pick should win below. Remember that this is non-spam and the most votes in the poll win. Any ties will be broken by the amount of posts of support for each candidate, with one vote per poster.


Also remember that this is a non-spam forum. If you post a response without giving a reason for your selection, it will be penalized for spam and deleted.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

This match happened at No Way Out 2001. Triple H beat Stone Cold 2-1. This seems like a very bad draw for The Texas Rattlesnake. The Game could walk away with this if people considered stipulations in these tournaments.

I do. Vote Triple H.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

WOOOW! What a draw! This was an Austin who came back for blood, nearly killed Rikishi and then we had H revealed as the master baiter all along.

Austin was hot, and they gave H the rub with that double KO pin. So yea, H has booked himself into another winning predicament.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

So we have Austin, who basically had a walk over Kane in an 30-Minute Ironman match and Triple H, who barely survived the Steel Cage match against Dusty Rhodes. That's one for Austin.

Triple H and Austin has battled it out in a very good 2/3 falls match in 2001. First fall was normal match, second was either No DQs or FCA and third one was Steel Cage match. H won that one, barely. That a half for Triple H.

Also we have the fact that Austin is overall the bigger star out of the two.

Please everyone, take into account this: "Assume one week has passed since the previous round, meaning all damage might not be healed"

If HHH had an easier match last week, I'd vote him, but as of now, Stone Cold Steve Austin gets my vote.

Vote Austin.

 

[OYDK]

Yeah HHH beat Austin in this very match, but he did it by luckily passing out on top of him. Had the "momentum" gone the other way, Austin falls on top of HHH and wins. If there was one match that literally could have gone either way, it was that one. That being said, I still haven't decided yet. Austin was the bigger star but HHH does hold a few wins over him and an serious argument can be made for him to go over here.

Austin should win, but the stip makes it difficult to vote against The Game. Tough. Sway me folks.

 

[SSJPhenom]

Steve Austin must have shitty luck because as has already been said, this exact match happened and Trips won. I don't wanna hear no shit about Austin out of his prime either because he was still the hottest thing in the business at that point in time and Trips still won.

Have to give it to Trips.

 

[Dave]

Uh, stating the obvious... This match pretty much already happened at No Way Out in 2001 and Triple H won the match. Yes, he might have fallen on top of Austin in the end to win but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Nothing to suggest that it wouldn't happen here again. And besides, with Austin winning the second match of the three in 2001, and that now being changed to a Ladder Match, i fancy Triple H even more than I did before. Triple H would beat Austin in a ladder match and a Steel Cage, there is no doubt. Triple H wins this one hands down.

Vote: Triple H.

 

[rbv13]

I'm one of those losers who just randomly votes for their own reasons. Last year I voted for best looking wife/girlfriend most associated with the guy. This year is "who has done the most for the business." Going Triple H.

Currently standing Austin crushes in the ring but H has been tremendous for the industry.

 

[nightmare]

Hunter won this before.

He has had success longer. 14 world titles among others.

He is about as far atop the ladder as you can go without being named Vince.

Triple H has been part of some of the best factions ever & is the man who has brought the NXT brand from farm system to legit brand.

Austin was big, but HHH is bigger. He wins this.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

Using the "this match already happened, so the result will be exactly the same" logic is probably the most ass backwards argument used in this tournament.

I would argue the exact opposite, no way does Trips go over Austin in two separate Three Stages of Hell matches. If anything Austin is booked to go over considering past history between these two in this style of match.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

In no universe is HHH as big as Austin, I'm glad hes got a cushy office job and has had a long career that didn't end due to neck injury but Austin is arguably the most popular wrestler of all time, HHH has never hit that level and is at best 1 tier under guys like Austin, Rock and Hogan, it's not a knock but there is a big difference between Austins tier and HHH's tier.

All that aside this is a very good match that could go either way. I understand HHH has beaten Austin in this match up but we're talking about a time where Austin got his revenge at Survivor Series, hadn't been wrestling most of the previous year, the same year HHH and The Rock did wonders helping bridge that gap so it makes perfect sense for HHH to win that particular 3 stages of hell match, that's not the situation here and considering that it's not a good reason to vote for HHH not to mention Austin was not at his peak at that point either.

Austin at his peak was not infallible like Hogan and Warrior were, he could be beat if the situation was too great but I wouldn't consider this match to be one of those situations. Austin at his peak was pretty damn hard to put down and it would usually take alot more than a beating to put him away in a big match, as such I think I gotta go with him. It's a very close match though so I could see my mind changing by voting time.

 

[NSL]

This match happened at No Way Out 2001. Triple H beat Stone Cold 2-1. This seems like a very bad draw for The Texas Rattlesnake. The Game could walk away with this if people considered stipulations in these tournaments.

I do. Vote Triple H.

Except:

Please everyone, take into account this: "Assume one week has passed since the previous round, meaning all damage might not be healed"

If HHH had an easier match last week, I'd vote him, but as of now, Stone Cold Steve Austin gets my vote.

Vote Austin.

This is what makes the difference for me.

Stone Cold fought a typical main event match for him, going 30 minutes with Kane. Triple H won a Steel Cage match against a man that has a history of doing well in them, and generally doesn't stay down easy.

HHH is coming into this way more banged up than Austin, and I don't think it was all that close to begin with. Austin in 97-98 was bigger than any 2 year stretch of HHH's career.

Austin gets my vote.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Fantastic stipulation for these two! The 3 Stages of Hell match they fought at No Way Out 2001 is a classic, one of my all-time favourite matches!

There's several things to take into consideration here, such as damage from the previous round (HHH will surely be coming in more banged up than Austin), type of gimmick at each stage of this match, and previous history between the pair.

In the Street Fight, I've got to give the advantage to Triple H. Austin is a brawler, but Trips is the master in this kind of brutal match, just look at the Street Fight with Cactus Jack at the Royal Rumble 2000. Any advantage Stone Cold has by beginning this match fresher will be taken away within moments when Hunter pulls out the sledgehammer. He's sicker and more twisted than Austin and would definitely take the first fall. The heel usually does in these type of matches.

The ladder and cage matches are tougher to call for me. Both men have had success with these gimmicks, so I'm leaning towards a Stone Cold victory in the ladder match fall, knocking Helmsley off the ladder through a table and managing to climb to the top.

Cage match....I'm going Triple H, with interference from DX as Austin is attempting to climb over the cage. So many times Austin was screwed, and this is no exception.

Winner: Triple H

 

[Gallops77]

This makes it tough for me to pick Austin, but I do anyway.

His third round match with Kane was less taxing on him than Triple H's third round steel cage match against Dusty. Don't get me wrong, it's close and definitely comes down to the third fall in the steel cage. But because of Triple H still being banged up from the war he had with The American Dream, Stone Cold is able to capitalize and finish him off with a Stunner.

I know Triple H has done a lot for the business, but Stone Cold is really what turned the Monday Night Wars around for the WWF and without him, we might still be watching Nitro with David Arquette on his 3rd World Title Reign.

Austin advances to the Austin Region Finals.

 

[nightmare]

The match damage thing really should not bear too much weight here. I cannot remember a time when it was mentioned so early.


I want to focus on something here. I know how big Austin was & loved every minute of it. At what point, though, does a short stellar run become trumped by a longer legacy & list of accomplishments? As legendary as guys like Goldberg, Warrior & Austin were, their runs at the top were short lived for various reasons. Anything after falls into the what if category of possibilities. Legendary? Very much so, but short.



HHH has done it all & transitioned a great & memorable career into helping shape the future landscape of this business. Like him or hate him, the guy has done more than Austin did. More titles, part of a few important factions, huge matches in history & a strong force behind what is now a thriving brand instead of just a farm system. Austin was legit & the man that tilted a war in the favor of his side that produced a run of epic proportions. Hunter has changed the game & is ushering in a new guard, bringing us things & matches we never thought would happen. Austin may have outside the business success due to his in ring career, but Hunter has used his in ring accomplishments to take this business to different heights of success. Nobody would have ever expected a little training ground in Florida to be so huge now & bring in so many huge names. Rhodes is the one who helped mold the more homegrown talent, but HHH has pushed the whole thing to new heights & helped to bring the next crop of legends to the main stage.


I really cant fault a vote for Austin. I am just saying I hold HHH a bit higher & think his entire career impact probably trumps a legendary, yet short, run at the top.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

There's no way Austin loses the same match to HHH, or anyone else for that matter, twice. It was an absolute war the first time and HHH luckily fell the right way. Austin is just flat out better and if we're going by each guy in his prime, which would be Austin in 1998/99, Austin wins.

 

[Bernkastel]

I've weighed my options and I've decided to back Austin here. It's close though. But Austin's peak popularity and impact on the modern industry with the WWE being able to completely rebound against WCW and later buying out its competition on the back of Austin is something that will be remembered by fans and historians for a very long time. And it is hard to top something like that. Very few wrestlers can say that they have. Triple H can't, even if he is the heir apparent to Vince Jr's empire.

As far as the match goes, yeah Trips beat Austin. In the same kind of match no less. But it can be argued that Austin was not at his peak. Like when Punk and Bryan defeated Cena, John was not at his peak. The kayfabe argument can cause people to lose all signs of rationale, and in this situation I do not see a peak Trips being able to overcome a peak Austin in the same situation.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

Voted Austin for the sole reason that I prefer the narrative of it. Triple H dominating for ages and then losing when it counts to the real top name is like 1/2 his character. Both are tough bastards, and I love imagining any match between them, but I think in the end, protagonist should defeat antagonist. Austin defeats Helmsley in a very closely fought bah-gawd slobbaknocka.

 

[Tastycles]

I like Austin, and he was probably better, but variety is the spice of life and as Triple H actually won this actual fight when it happened, I'm backing him.

 

[Prince Vee]

As the most said, this is more of the match that took place at No Way Out. Moreover, I would consider Steel Cage match as Triple H's court. Steve Austin might get the first fall by winning the street fight, but the Game comes back strongly winning the Ladder Match and Steel Cage, winning the match 2-1!

Vote for Triple H

 

[ShinChan]

Both are included in the greatest wrestlers of all times.

Yes, Longevity favours Triple H. NxT also favours him. The match with Steve Austin where he won also favours him.

But I think that Austin is much better than Triple H. He was the face of the WWE for quite a time which Triple H could never accomplish.