Their Greatest Rival: Stone Cold Steve Austin

[TheKingofKings20222]

Ok, so I've decided to start doing a daily thread on here called, their greatest rival. It's pretty simple, I name the wrestler, you name their greatest rival and why you think so. I decided to start this out with none other than one of, if not the, greatest WWE superstar of all time, Stone Cold Steve Austin!


Ok, so you think about some of the great feud's Austin has had. The Rock, HHH, Undertaker, Corporation, Ministry, etc. But one feud stands out head and shoulders above the rest, and that is....


Stone Cold VS Mr. McMahon

This is undoubtedly the feud that put WWE in the position to win the Monday Night Wars. Without this feud, it's hard to tell where Austin, or the WWE would be. Each and every week was something different and just when you didn't think it could get any more entertaining, Austin would up the ante once more.


That's my opinion, what's yours?

 

[jtolliver23]

I agree his feud with Vinny Mac was one of the greatest he had, but I have to say his greatest feud would be with Bret Hart. His feud with Bret is what catapulted Stone Cold into being a main event level star. Specifically their match at Wrestlemania 13 showed the world what type of entertainer Steve Austin was. I believe that if it wasn't for this feud he had with the Hitman, Stone Cold would not have become the level of star that he was.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

The Rock

Every time they faced each other, they had classic matches. The buildup to their matches were epic too, for example when Stone Cold drove a beer truck before Wrestlemania 15 and gave Rock, Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon a beer bath. The classic promos before Wrestlemania 17 and Wrestlemania 19, Stealing each others finishers, etc. Perhaps one of the greatest rivalries in WWE history.

 

[Pegusus Fill_T]

On screen it would be Vinnie Mac. It was their feud which defined the Attitude era. In real life, it would be none other than the Rock. When you think about the attitude era, you instantly think about SCSA and The Rock. The Rock at times was more over than Steve and at present is more popular too. Both had it all. Both were not ring technicians but were pretty good in the ring. Both were gold on the mic (although I prefer the Rock more) and both had some memorable moments. You ask someone who the 'man' of the WWE is and the anwser will be polarizing between Steve and the Rock

 

[xavyer]

Definitly Austin/McMahon, this feud revolutionized wrestling, it was the working class hero vs the Boss, it was entertaning,fun and unpredictible, Vince tried everything to put out, or to tame Stone Cold, but he kept coming back for more with a lot of funny stuff, i agree with the fact that if it wasn't for the Hit Man, Stone Cold wouldn't have been on the map, and i disagree with the fact that the Rock was better than Austin, if it wasn't for McMahon trowing The Rock into the mix, Austin wouldn't have put him over, so there's absolutley no way in hell that the Rock is better than Austin, but that's for another thread, in my opinion, Austin is the one who practicly gave the WWE a victory during the monday night wars.........

 

[suleman09]

99.99% of people are going to say McMahon. And so am I lol

Becasue this feud was probably the most important feud and game changing feud EVER.

 

[ted sheckler]

As great as Rock vs Stone Cold was.. and Stone Cold and Bret. I gotta go along with everyone else and say Vince was his biggest rival. It was the story arch that kicked the attitude era into high gear and made Austin a legend.

 

[asiatic7]

I think a great rivalry is when both guys involved, game gets elevated. With that said, I'm going with the Rock. The Rock and Steve Austin had one of the greatest Trilogies in Wrestlemania history. All three matches were epic and also the build towards the matches were intriguing. They were polar opposites, Stone Cold: A beer drinking redneck, working man's champion. The Rock: The corporate, $500 shirt wearing "it" factor personified.

Two guys from opposite ends of the spectrum who came together to create magic. I'm not taking anything away from the Vince rivalry. Steve found his way to the top by being a brash, vulgar, redneck from texas, but the feud with "the boss" solidified his standing in the hearts of people everywhere. Who doesn't want to kick their asshole bosses ass every now and then? People could relate to that rivalry, but athletically, there is nothing Vince did to bring out the very best in Austin, so I gotta say Rocky was his greatest foe...

 

[asiatic7]

As great as Rock vs Stone Cold was.. and Stone Cold and Bret. I gotta go along with everyone else and say Vince was his biggest rival. It was the story arch that kicked the attitude era into high gear and made Austin a legend.

The one thing about that rivalry that I really enjoyed was that it brought out another side of the Hitman that we never knew exsisted! We were used to Bret relying on his technical prowess and ring acumen to get the duke. Stone Cold forced Bret to fight his fight, even though Bret always trumped Austin, he had to become a different animal to do so.

I haven't seen Bret that vicious since he destroyed Bad News Brown's battle royal trophy!

 

[midgensa]

It is the obvious answer ... and that is Mr. McMahon.

As great as his feuds with The Rock were ... and they were great and legendary ... the entirety of his career is based on his feuding with Vince.

People always talk about how much money Stone Cold made Vince McMahon, but they often to forget to mention the reverse. These two were PERFECT for each other and made for the most entertaining moments in wrestling history.

 

[mrpops]

When i think of the absolute pinnacle of pro wrestling at its best....its always WM17 Stone Cold Vs The Rock. There is nothing bigger than those 2. The 2 best ever in the best era ever at the best wrestlemania of all time.

The epic build-up alone trumps stone cold/mcmahon. Mcmahon was an awesome rival no doubt, but he couldnt wrestle worth shit. When i look back i remember stone cold/vince storylines only and not the crap matches.

But with stone cold/rock i got amazing matches, amazing promos(both funny and serious). That too me is enough to give it to the rock.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Bret Hart, The Rock, and Mr. McMahon all have good arguments, and I could see any of of those being okay. But in terms of biggest rival overall, it would have to be Vince. Every time you see something talking about the attitude era, one of the first things they say is "Austin beat up the boss and who doesn't want to beat up your boss." That sums it up right there.

With Bret, Austin was able to become more credible and begin his build. This was where the true beginning started. The Rock was his greatest contemporary. The Rock and Austin were most popular guys and the "best" WWE had at the time. For the most part, when you think of one, you think of the other. But McMahon is probably the rival most identified with Austin and vice versa.

 

[EastCoastFan]

Vince was a great personality and was Austin's biggest enemy, but he really wasn't a wrestler, so my vote for Austin's greatest rival goes to The Rock. They main-evented WrestleMania twice plus made the card a third time and had all kinds of other matches in between. "The People's Champion" was also arguably the only one who was as over with the crowd as Austin was.

 

[tpf926]

I know that most people would say Vince McMahon, but really Austin was at his finest when he was going against the Hart Foundation. His matches and feud with Bret Hart alone was excellent, but when Bret joined up with the Hart Foundation, Austin was at his best. It was worth watching WWE every week to see what Austin would do to get his hands on Bret with Owen, Bulldog, and Anvil trying to stop him.

It really showed how tough Austin was during this time period because he was at a numbers disadvantage and rarely came out on top to end each raw, yet he kept doing the same thing week after week. He'd fight the Hart's, eventually get beat up and come back out and do it again. To me, this got Austin even more over and although he was not fighting for the title, he was by far the top face on the show.

 

[HBsam31]

I have to agree with everyone. Mr. McMahon helped make Stone Cold and it was one of the greatest rivalries of all time. They were perfect for each other. The interactions between the two were again some of the best all time. Some could argue The Rock and it would be a good argument, but I think Mr. McMahon takes it.

 

[Lowdown]

Bret put Austin into stardom. But once Vince became the Mr. McMahon charatcer, he needed someone to be the counter-balance. So Vince is Austin's biggest rival. Bret and Rock had lengthy feuds with him, with Rock facing him at three WM matches. However, the constant plots to keep the belt off Austin, from having him arrested, starting the Corporation and Corporate Ministry, catapulted Austin even more. It was must see TV whenever they were on-screen together.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The feud with McMahon, which culminated in their joining forces (Austin always said "Dont Trust a rattlesnake") definately put him on the map, establishing him as the popular anti authority figure and made it possible to book him almost exclusively against heels, which the fans wanted, while not sacrificing his "anti authority" personna.

However, Austin's feud vs Rock was his best. Austin did some great work vs McMahon, DX (winning his 1st World Title, may have been his most important feud if not his best), Undertaker, Hart (first feud that really elevated Austin into a legit top level star attraction), but Austin vs Rock produced some electric matches, aided by the fact that they were undoubtedly the two biggest stars of the time, just slightly above Foley, Triple H, & Taker in WWE. When they battled at WrestleMania it was special because you really didnt know who would win, they were both so big and their feudr always so intense. Add in Austin's heel turn and alliance with McMahon (not as big a surprise as Andre's heel turn in 87 or Hogan's in 96 but close), this was an electric feud. These two guys, for combining great matches, great characters, popularity with the audience, this was the most "big moment feel" feud since Hogan-Andre and Flair-Dusty in the 80s.

Austin had multiple great feuds, but Austin-Rock was the best.