My Top 5 Stone Cold Steve Austin Matches

Intro

Bionic Redneck. Bulletproof. And. What, are pefect ways to describe the man that helped shape my teenage years, but, all of this fails in comparison, to when the sound of shattering glass, would send the fans in attendence into a state of unparralled euphoria, upon his entrance, his adility to resonate within the ever growing changes of this industry, has always been a mission statement for. If you want it bad enough, you can achieve it, which I find inspiring, and that's the bottom line because Stone Cold said so. 

5. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs HHH No Mercy 2001

I remember watcing this at my friends house on a inset day from school, and my god it was great, the match had a two out of three falls stipulation, sowed into its dna, and what that made for was, a bloodfilled riot, the violence was reminiscent of something that would come from the early eighties, as the blood flowed, the violence sold the story, if Austin lost, then he would not feature in the main event of Wrestlemania 17. The Game was hell bent on not making that happen, their rivalry to this point had seen. Attempted murder, on two occasions, a decent tv match for the belt get ruined by Hunter, and of course a stop off at that years Royal Rumble. Austin got the win, whilst being caped in his own blood, and would go on to face The Rock, at the show of shows, whilst Hunter had a meeting with the deadman, as the legendary streak continued.

4 Stone Cold vs HHH No Mercy 1999

This match repressented the changing of the guard, HHH was the champion heading into this show, even though at this point HHH had only been champion for a month, it was clear that this was the route that WWF were going to go down. The heel Champion to lead the company, at a time when all of their shots turned into gold, this No dq Match symbalised a break from the norm, as, our Bionic Redneck was due to take time off in just under a month, the match was a passing of the torch, from fighting in the fans, to both men showing why they were the best at moment in time, I must've watched this match at least twenty times as a kid. Both mens careers after this match would take differant turns. Austin would go on a hiatus, in order to get surgery for an old neck injury, that had resurfaced. And HHH would go on to lose the belt, and get it back over the weeks that followed.

3 Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels Wrestlemania 14

I get asked this all the time from my friends, why was this match so important at the time. In the early part of 1998, the attitude was yet to spark into life, from the volcano it was born in. Stone Cold was a red hot run, whilst his opponent. Shawn Michaels was the Champion, who was personally struggling to live the life of a champion, two months before Mania, Shawn injured his back, at the Royal Rumble, in a Casket match against The Undertaker. This would have a devastating, long lasting effects on his career. So when you add all of this together, and it made for a fascinating complex match. Shawns time carrying the company, had come to an end. Steve got the win, and the rest is history, a new attitude swept through the WWF, that would become their most financially beneficial time period. Shawn was forced to chew a bitter pill, whilst the Austin, and attitude era had not just begun, it managed to gain some feet, and ran, whilst it was figuring out, how to walk.

2 Stone Cold Steve Austin vs The Rock Wrestlemania 17

As time winds on, this match has grown on me, from when I first watched it, all of those years ago. I loved the storyline going into it, but I didn't feel the match lived up to the hype, however, when you take in all of the major aspects, this has made for a great rewatch over the years, from the cameras flashing at the sight of their square off, to the level of violence echoing the times, and how they were changing, the after effect of this match, has a mixed bag attatched to it. The Rock would go on to film the Scorpion King, and start a career that would smash the world of Hollywood, whilst Injuries would riddle the rattlesnake, until his retirement at Wrestlemania 19, at the hands of The Great One. Steve got the win over The rock on this night, and he was then booed out of the building, when he shook hands with. He who shall not be named. Steve's profit would then start to fall, as the rest of the year unfolded.

Bret Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin Wrestlemania 13

Many fans consider this to be, the best match of both mens careers, and I don't disagree. This is a perfect example of, violence being soaked in blood, allowing the story of the match to form into art, this was perfect. Bret got the win after austin refused to tap, passing from the pain of a sharpshooter, as the blood dripped down steve's broken body, this is the definition of a star making performance, just perfect.