8 Times Stone Cold Was Actually In The Wrong Against Vince McMahon

Publish date: 2024-06-24

At the 1996 King Of The Ring, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin delivered the iconic “Austin 3:16” speech and was on his way to superstardom. Over a year later, Vince McMahon delivered the “Bret Screwed Bret” speech and instantly became the biggest heel in the company. As McMahon revealed himself as the owner of the company, Austin was on the rise as an antihero. The two were natural opponents.

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With The Attitude Era on the rise, more and more fans were tuning in to see the antics of Stone Cold and McMahon. The fans were always behind the Texas Rattlesnake no matter how wrong his actions were.

8 Bang 3:16

Vince McMahon warned Austin that there would be hell to pay if he didn't raise the hand of either Kane or The Undertaker at Judgement Day. Naturally, Stone Cold didn’t listen, and despite being forced to referee the match, refused to count the fall and was fired for his insubordination.

While celebrating the next night on Raw, Austin actually kidnapped his former boss. Austin then tormented The Chairman for the duration of Raw before scaring the daylights out of Vince, threatening to murder him on live TV. Thankfully, it was all a ploy to terrorize the CEO, and the gun was a mere pop gun loaded with a “Bang 3:16” flag.

7 Vandalizing The 'Vette

A week prior to Vince’s kidnapping, the ornery Rattlesnake came to Raw with nefarious, criminal intentions. The Bionic Redneck drove into Raw in a massive cement truck. He then famously unloaded the truck’s payload all over Vince McMahon’s prized Corvette.

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No matter how often the man might have felt provoked, that kind of vandalism is just not called for and should have landed 'Stone Cold' in jail. But WWE exists in its own bubble universe, so fans ate all of it up.

6 The Bedpan Attack

After being put in the hospital thanks to an unexpected attack, The Chairman had to watch Raw from his hospital bed instead of the arena. He also had to endure Mick Foley trying to cheer him up with balloon animals, party clowns, and Mr. Socko.

Austin then made his presence known, impersonating a doctor to beat the heck out of Vince. He even unloaded on him with a bedpan, in what was one of the most iconic moments in Raw history.

5 “You Ruined It!”

Vince McMahon and the WWE scored a massive coup when they signed Mike Tyson to appear as their guest at the 1998 Royal Rumble and then have a huge role heading into WrestleMania XIV. Tyson and his entourage headed to Raw after the Rumble to stand with Vince McMahon while he delivered the big announcement.

But instead of it being a glorious moment for Vince McMahon, it turned out to be a nightmare, as Austin made his presence known and proceeded to flip off the boxing champion.

4 Stunning All Of The McMahons At Homecoming

It had been several years since Monday Night Raw was on USA and several more since The Texas Rattlesnake was an active competitor. But that didn’t mean that when Raw returned to USA that bygones were going to be bygones. Not only did Austin pick up where he left off by stunning Vince, he took out the whole family.

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While a strong case could have been made for Shane and Stephanie to have deserved a stunner or two, Linda had been nothing but nice to Steve. She even helped get him reinstated a time or two and did not deserve a Stunner at all.

3 “The Real Stone Cold”

After shockingly turning heel at WrestleMania X-Seven, Stone Cold spent the next several months doing all he could to win over the affections of Vince McMahon. He was doing his best to be Vince’s greatest friend while making a fool of Kurt Angle in the process.

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McMahon was tolerating this new iteration of the goofy Bionic Redneck, until the Alliance came to town. McMahon knew he needed all hands on deck and that meant having “The Real Stone Cold.” But instead of getting the real Austin, he turned his back on Vince and all of WWE.

2 The Stunner At The Garden

Owen Hart inadvertently and irrevocably changed the fate of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin forever when he botched a tombstone and broke the Rattlesnake's neck. It also forced Austin to take some time off of taking bumps. He grabbed the microphone and cut all kinds of promos, and stunned any and every authority figure for stopping him from getting back in the ring.

In the home base of WWE, Madison Square Garden, Vince McMahon tried his best to get Austin to realize that he needed to heal and stay away from the ring. Austin claimed he appreciated that Vince and the WWE cared for him, before delivering the gut shot kick and a Stone Cold Stunner to The Chairman.

1 Walking Out In 2002

With a rocket ship strapped to Brock Lesnar, Vince McMahon decided to book Austin to lose to Brock in a King Of The Ring qualifier on Raw. That loss would have come with zero build up and zero promotion to try and get a big rating. Austin not only disagreed with the booking, he walked out on the very company that made him.

After being disrespected in other promotions, he once again felt disrespected by the man that helped make him a star and took his ball and went home. Nowadays on just about every platform he’s a part of, Austin says it’s the biggest mistake he’s ever made.

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