Ask any WWE Superstar what it takes to be a great champion and almost all of them will tell you that charisma plays a major role. Over the course of the nearly fifty-year history of the WWE Championship, many of the most legendary titlists have backed up this theory with their quick wit and motivational microphone skills: “Superstar” Billy Graham, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels. But while all were certainly entertaining in their own way, they all take a backseat to The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
After The Rock finally moved past his war with Mankind, the WWE Champion found himself on a collision course with Stone Cold. The result—one of the most entertaining and charismatic rivalries to ever grace a WWE ring.
From the moment The Rock entered WWE, it was clear he was dripping with personality. Not once did he ever show a sliver of trepidation when speaking to a sold-out crowd. Stone Cold displayed the same level of confidence… but his excellence was not second nature.
“When I look back at my promos from World Class Championship Wrestling and the few I did as ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin (in WCW), I pretty much blew. But goddamn, they were real. They weren’t scripted. That forced me to learn my A-game. There are very few people who just start out with an A-game—I wasn’t one of them.
“I remember when they put me and Brian Pillman together as the Hollywood Blondes [in 1993]. Pillman was always a really good talker. We used to ride down the road together, and I’d look over and there’s Pillman reading a vocabulary book. He was always working on getting better. That’s when I thought, ‘If this guy is going to go this far, I better bring myself up to speed.’ Then I went to ECW and got some more opportunity and learned even more.”
By the time he reached WWE, more specifically his rivalry with The Rock, Austin was a star showman. His catchphrases, such as “That’s the bottom line ’cause Stone Cold said so” and “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass,” were consistently repeated by fans all over the globe. And it wasn’t just the spoken word that made him so popular—it was also his actions, particularly his beer drinking and bird flipping. Fans simply loved the working-class hero who wasn’t afraid to be a little edgy.
As the rivalry neared WrestleMania XV, Austin’s edginess reached a whole new level when he drove a monster beer truck into an arena and soaked down The Rock, Shane, and Mr. McMahon. The sight of Stone Cold operating the giant beer hose is still used on WWE highlight reels today. But what many don’t realize is that it didn’t go quite as planned for Austin.
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock.
“When they hit me with that idea, I said, ‘damn, that’s badass,’?” recalls Austin. “But what they didn’t see on camera was me trying to give myself a drink. The only problem was that I forgot to take my thumb off the nozzle, causing all this beer to come shooting at me. If I had tonsils, it would’ve washed them right down my throat. But we were live, and when that red light’s on, I’m always going to regain my composure very quickly. So I acted like nothing happened, but damn, it turned my eyelids inside out. But the funniest part was watching Vince do that crazy swim thing he did.”
While Austin appeared to be having a good time on camera, in reality, a bitter divorce was causing mountains of stress in his personal life. Recognizing the pressure was mounting, WWE arranged for Stone Cold to be flown to Philadelphia, the site of WrestleMania XV, on a private jet. The gesture helped relieve him of some anxiety, but it failed to fully clear his head while he was packing for the trip.
“I was going through so much at that time. Man, I even forgot to pack my [signature] vest. Here it is, the biggest night of the year, and I don’t have my vest. I had to walk to the ring with a T-shirt on.”
Once March 28, 1999, came, Stone Cold put his personal issues on hold and focused solely on his WrestleMania match with The Rock. Both Superstars took full advantage of the no-disqualification stipulation and battled much of the match outside the ring, utilizing various weapons found around the arena, including the enormous WrestleMania XV sign that hung above the entryway. In the end, Austin nailed The Rock with a Stunner, causing the champ to bounce around the ring like a pinball. Once he finally settled, Stone Cold went for the pin and the win.
To the outsider, Austin’s celebration looked much like his WrestleMania XIV postmatch bash. Inside, though, the feeling couldn’t have been any different.
“It was a tough night at the office,” says Austin. “I remember it being such a tremendous relief when we got the three count in and the bell rang. At the time, Coors Light was on tap, and they threw me a couple of those silver cans and when I clicked those damn things together and stood up on that turnbuckle, I remember thinking to myself ‘I made it,’ meaning I made it through the match that I was so stressed about, in spite of all the distractions going on in my personal life.”
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Stone Cold defeated the Brahma Bull again at the following month’s Backlash Pay-Per-View. The win temporarily ended the Austin-Rock rivalry, but the real story of the night happened just moments after his victory. As the show reached its conclusion, an innocent Stephanie McMahon was seen in the back of a limousine, preparing to leave for the night. Before the car left, however, the evil Undertaker revealed himself as the driver. He locked Stephanie inside the vehicle and sped off.
The next night on Raw, the Deadman’s Ministry of Darkness carried a restrained Stephanie to the ring on an oversized Undertaker symbol. According to the Deadman, if Mr. McMahon failed to give him ownership of WWE, the Phenom was going to perform a black wedding ceremony, uniting himself and the boss’s daughter forever. Both Ken Shamrock and Big Show tried to stop the dark plan, but neither could penetrate the Ministry’s defenses. Finally, just moments before the ceremony was to be completed, the most unlikely of heroes ran to the ring to save the day: Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The champ cleared house of the Undertaker’s henchmen before finally untying Stephanie, who showed her appreciation by wrapping her arms around Austin and giving him an emotional embrace. Fans couldn’t believe their eyes; Stone Cold had just saved his archrival’s daughter. But he didn’t do it for Mr. McMahon; he did it because it was the right thing to do.
Unfortunately for Austin, his heroism was rewarded with a title defense against Undertaker at Over the Edge. Marred by controversial officiating by special guest referee Shane McMahon, the match concluded with the Deadman ending Stone Cold’s third WWE Championship reign with a simple rollup.
