Steve Austin He was arguably the biggest star in the Attitude Era. As Austin turned his face to WrestleMania 13 and became one of the biggest babyfaces in WWE history, the Texas rattlesnake continued to be rebellious, for which the WWE Universe adored him. Austin sold a lot of merchandise in the Attitude Era, but Austin needed to have a few dance partners to have unparalleled success. Although Austin was the main star of the company, several heels managed to elevate Austin to the next level.
It wasn’t always easy for Austin to be on top, and there were obstacles in his way that he had to overcome. Some heels managed to get the upper hand on Austin, which is a big problem. However, Austin was involved in several memorable matches and segments against the biggest heels in WWE history.
10 kane
Steve Austin clinched his first WWE Championship in WrestleMania 14but Kane was the man responsible for ending his first WWE Championship reign in king of the ring 1998 in a First Blood match. The Big Red Machine beating Austin for the WWE title was a big deal considering Austin was the top prospect in WWE.
Kane’s WWE Championship reign was not a long one for this world as Austin regained his crown on the following episode of Raw just 24 hours later. The title change was huge, and Kane was a threat to Austin’s WWE Championship until the fall of 1998.
9 mick foley
Mick Foley faced Steve Austin under several different gimmicks, and in his character as Dude Love, he was Austin’s first major challenger during his maiden run for the WWE Championship. The two were no strangers to each other, as they were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in 1997.
Austin and Dude Love faced off for the WWE Championship in the spring of 1998. Austin won their feud, but it resumed with Love reverting to his Mankind persona. The former WWE Tag Team Champions had some good battles with Foley, an underrated rival for Austin.
8 Owen Hart
The rivalry between Steve Austin and Owen Hart began when the King of Harts pinned Austin in their 10-man tag team match at At Your House: Canadian Stampede. However, in summer festival 1997, Hart dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Austin, but this match is best remembered for Hart missing a Tombstone Piledriver.
This move shortened Austin’s career as he had temporary paralysis and neck pain for the rest of his career. However, Austin relinquished the Intercontinental Championship, but upon his return to in-ring competition, he regained the gold from Hart at survival series 1997.
7 shawn michaels
Steve Austin had the biggest match of his career when he headlined WrestleMania for the first time in WrestleMania 14 and challenged Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship. Unfortunately, Michaels was not in his prime as he suffered a serious back injury in 1998. royal rumble in a casket fight with Michaels visibly in pain.
If Michaels had been fully fit, this would have been one of the best main events in WrestleMania history. Nonetheless, it was a pivotal night in Austin’s career as he defeated Michaels with a Stunner to become WWE Champion for the first time.
6 kurt’s angle
Kurt Angle cemented his place as a top star in late 2000 as he was the reigning WWE Champion. Austin and Angle battled for the WWE Championship in a few competitive matches. The peak of their rivalry was in the Invasion angle when the roles were reversed with Austin as rude and Ángulo as a face.
The Olympic gold medalist faced Austin, and after the Invasion angle, the roles were reversed once again with Austin as a babyface and Angle as a heel. One of his most outstanding fights was in Revenge 2001 when Austin and Angle battled for the WWE Championship in a four-man tournament to crown the first WWE Undisputed Champion with Austin retaining.
5 Triple H
Triple H was on the rise to become a certified main eventer in 1999, and he jumped at the opportunity with both hands. Triple H floored Austin with vicious steel chair strikes after he failed to win the WWE Championship in summer festival. Triple H fixed that a night later by beating Mankind for the title, and the pair squared off on Mercilessly with Triple H defeating Austin in a successful WWE title defense.
Both men were good talkers on the mic, and Triple H was the man responsible for Austin getting run over in survival series 1999 when he ordered Rikishi to do it. Austin and Triple H’s match went to a no-contest at survival series 2000. Without a doubt, his best match was his Three Stages of Hell match at No exit 2001 with Triple H defeating Austin.
4 the undertaker
Surprisingly, Steve Austin and The Undertaker’s in-ring chemistry was barely present in their series of matches, but their matches were always highly anticipated. Austin and Undertaker were Tag Team Champions briefly in 1998, and faced each other for the WWE Championship a year later.
Undertaker finished Austin’s WWE Championship run in over the edge 1999 with Undertaker as Corporate Ministry leader. A month later, Austin regained the title from Undertaker and defeated him in a First Blood match at Fully charged. Austin and Undertaker are two of the all-time greats, and Deadman pushed Austin to the limit.
3 Bret Hart
One of the greatest double turns in WWE history occurred on WrestleMania 13 when Steve Austin and Bret Hart faced each other in a submissions match with Ken Shamrock as the special guest referee. Austin won the hearts of the crowd with his performance and the blood dripping down his face was an iconic WrestleMania moment.
Austin and Hart had exceptional chemistry together and Austin’s fight with Hart took Austin to the next level. Hitman is one of the all-time greats, and his brilliance created some sublime coincidences and moments with Austin outdoing himself as one of the company’s best babyfaces.
2 The rock
Without a doubt, Steve Austin’s biggest rival in the ring is The Rock. They are two of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era, and their feud wowed the audience. Austin and Rock originally battled for the Intercontinental Championship in late 1997, and were the bottom two at the 1998 Royal Rumble with Austin eliminating Rock to win it.
Austin and Rock could speak into the microphone and both could enter the ring. WrestleMania 15 it was the first of their trilogy of WrestleMania matches with Austin defeating Rock for his first WWE Championship reign. Rock was one of the most important heels in Austin’s career, and Rock finally managed to beat his great rival in wrestling 19 in Austin’s final game for 19 years.
1 mr mcmahon
The rivalry that turned the tide in WWE’s favor at Monday Night Wars with WCW was that of Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon going head-to-head. Many people would like to attack managers with whom they have disagreements in the workplace, but that cannot be done because they would be fired on the spot.
McMahon is one of the greatest heels in WWE history and he did everything in his power to make sure Austin didn’t have the WWE Championship. At times, McMahon’s devious plans worked out, but Austin found a way to ensure McMahon got his comeuppance that fans salivated to witness. Austin and McMahon’s taunting back and forth was fantastic to watch, and Austin’s actions grew even more when he got into a feud with the WWE wrestling boss.