During his full-time career, Stone Cold Steve Austin competed in some of the biggest matches that WWE has ever seen.
His trio of WrestleMania matches with The Rock are the stuff of legend, and his bout with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 is widely regarded as one of the greatest matches ever.
However, sandwiched in among those four WrestleMania classics is arguably one of the most important nights of his career. At WrestleMania 14, Austin won the World Championship for the first time defeating Shawn Michaels, with boxing legend Mike Tyson counting the pin. While Austin was already on the rise, the win continued his rise to superstardom and cemented him as the biggest star in the company.
Despite this, and his admiration for Michaels, Austin has admitted that he isn’t a fan of the match. During an appearance on UpUpDownDown’s WWE 2K23 live stream, the legend said that due to HBK being injured, they weren’t able to put on the match they could have done.
“That was a big deal for me as it is for everybody. The match, on a one to five, is a two. I mean, Shawn, I consider from bell to bell, when the bell rings from the beginning to the end, I consider Shawn to have no peers. Now, Bret as far as realism, you can’t top him. Flair is my traveling World Champion. I mean, he’s the man. But from bell to bell talent wise, no one can lace Shawn Michaels boots.
So to go out there and have a lackluster match with him and in the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania, and that was a sold out show and it’s a small building compared to nowadays, that was a big deal. We had Mike Tyson there. I remember when Vince told me one time he said, ‘You know, I’m thinking about bringing Mike Tyson in.’ I said, ‘Why are you going to bring in Mike? He’s like, ‘Why am I going to bring in Mike? Because he’s really, really over.’
When Mike came in, me and Mike hit it off, and he was over. He brought a lot to it, so it was cool being out there with Mike. Me and Shawn could have had a way better match, but he was in a bad place. He was injured. I was just red hot. When I got the stunner on him, Mike quick-counted me. He didn’t give me that slow championship pace.
But to answer your question, I hated that match. I love Shawn. I have the utmost respect for him, but I don’t consider that to be a good match at all.”
Steve Austin Linked With WrestleMania Comeback
At WrestleMania 38, Steve Austin ended a 19-year retirement to get back in the ring with Kevin Owens. The match went so well that it is believed that the WWE Hall of Famer would be open to wrestling again. This led to pitches being made for matches with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, both of which he turned down. Although it was reported as recently as March 13th that WWE was still trying to get Austin to compete.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co