Every Stone Cold Steve Austin WrestleMania Match Ranked, According To Cagematch.net
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is unquestionably one of the biggest names in the entire history of professional wrestling, having cemented a legacy in WWE like only a handful of top stars that came before him, or afterward for that matter, ever could.RELATED: Stone Cold's Highest Rated PPV Matches, According To Cagematch.netDespite only seven WrestleMania appearances in a wrestling capacity throughout his illustrious career, some of the most important and absolute greatest moments from Steve Austin's WWE run took place at 'Mania. "The Texas Rattlesnake's" best matches at The Granddaddy Of Them All are considered the greatest of all time by many fans.
7 Vs. Scott Hall (WrestleMania X8 - 3.65)
Steve Austin and the great late Scott Hall are two awesome wrestlers who, under normal circumstances and in their prime, could have delivered a WrestleMania bout for the ages. Unfortunately, neither man was in the best place when they met in 2002, resulting in a somewhat subpar match.
While far from being a total dud, Austin's 'Mania bout with the former Razor Ramon felt like any other ordinary match apart from the fantastic Stunner in the end, ultimately leaving fans disappointed as they expected more.
6 Vs. Savio Vega (WrestleMania XII - 4.46)
Austin joined WWE in late 1995 and, before becoming "Stone Cold", made his WrestleMania debut still as "The Ringmaster" accompanied by the legendary Ted DiBiase. It happened at the 12th edition of the event, taking on Savio Vega.
The two had a solid contest that evening, with Austin ultimately winning his first match at The Show Of Shows by submission. They had a better match at Beware of Dog a few months later, a strap match which Austin purposely lost in order to get rid of DiBiase, as per the pre-match stipulation.
5 Vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE Championship (WrestleMania XIV - 7.25)
The rise of "Stone Cold" caught fire in early 1998, when the rebellious Royal Rumble winner stood face-to-face with Mike Tyson on Monday Night Raw. During the build-up to WrestleMania, the iconic boxer opposed Austin by siding with WWE Champion Shawn Michaels and his group, D-Generation X.
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Michaels walked into the huge match with a career-ending back injury, which may have prevented this bout from appearing any higher on the list. Nonetheless, it was a memorable bout that saw Steve Austin capture his first WWE Championship, with Mike Tyson himself crowning "The Rattlesnake" by counting the pinfall.
4 No DQ Match Vs. The Rock - WWE Championship (WrestleMania XV - 7.43)
More often than not, the first match of the legendary Austin vs. Rock trilogy at WrestleMania is not as highly regarded as the other two. That is evident in its Cagematch rating as well.
Still, it was a very good WrestleMania main event of the Attitude Era. "The Bionic Redneck" and The Corporation's WWE Champion brawled all over the arena, climaxing with Austin's third WWE Championship victory after a Stone Cold Stunner.
3 Vs. The Rock (WrestleMania XIX - 8.42)
As mentioned previously, The Rock and Steve Austin had many matches against each other, so it was only fitting that the final match of the Texan's career happened against arguably his greatest rival.
"Stone Cold" returned to WWE in early 2003 after having a fallout with Vince McMahon's promotion the previous year, quickly dispatching Eric Bischoff at No Way Out before embarking on one last rivalry with The Rock, who had just introduced his "Hollywood Rock" heel gimmick.
As always, the two knocked it out of the part one last time at WrestleMania XIX in Austin's last match, which he lost after being hit with three consecutive Rock Bottoms.
2 No DQ Match Vs. The Rock - WWE Championship (WrestleMania X-Seven - 9.36)
The second match of the trilogy, which main evented WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 for the WWE Championship, is considered the best my most wrestling fans. People remember everything that happened in this famous match, as well as its epic build-up. My way, anyone!?
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The match featured a number of jaw-dropping nearfalls, dramatic nearfalls and awesome callbacks to previous moments from Steve Austin's career, like the finishes of his bangers with Bret Hart at both Survivor Series 1996 and WrestleMania 13 being brought back as believable false finishes. It was a true classic.
1 Submission Match Vs. Bret Hart (WrestleMania 13 - 9.67)
Steve Austin's best WrestleMania matchup, and unquestionably the most important one, was his epic submission match with Bret Hart at 'Mania 13. The bout that "The Hitman" put together trying to resemble a school fight, ultimately turned out to be the greatest WrestleMania match of all time, according to Cagematch.
Their violent contest relied heavily on brawling all over ringside that looked very realistic, before it became a norm with the Attitude Era. The selling by both men was excellent, the in-ring psychology was top-notch and, above all else, the storytelling was beyond perfect.
No words can describe the final image of Austin, lying in a pool of his own blood, choosing to pass out from the pain of the Sharpshooter rather than quit, or the amazing double-turn that sent the career of "The Texas Rattlesnake" straight into the stratosphere.
