"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is one of the biggest stars in the history of wrestling. His rise in the 90s helped turn wrestling from a television program to a hit TV show. His time on the top carried most of the Attitude Era, and he is still one of the most well-known celebrities on the planet.
Before he was a main event attraction at the WWE, Steve Austin spent most of his early career at WCW. He didn't lose a ton of matches in his career and rarely took "clean losses" in the ring. Everyone knows about his clean losses to the likes of Bret Hart and The Rock, but this list will examine ten forgotten clean losses of Austin's illustrious wrestling career.
10 Vs Savio Vega - WWE Superstars Of Wrestling
Austin arrived to the WWE as "The Ringmaster" in late 1995. He eventually started adopting the name "Steve Austin" and wrestled his first match on Raw against Savio Vega.
That match ended in a double count-out, but Vega would score a clean victory over Austin at WWE Superstars Of Wrestling on April 2, 1996. Not only was the victory clean, but it was also the first singles loss of Austin's WWE career.
9 Vs. Ricky Steamboat - Clash of the Champions 28
Many fans argue that Steve Austin was a much better wrestler at WCW. This was before neck and leg injuries plagued the Rattlesnake. A great example of Austin putting on a great match was against Ricky Steamboat at Clash of the Champions 28.
The two had the best bout of the evening, competing for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. The match was a masterclass in wrestling and Steamboat took a clean win via a cradle pin.
8 Vs. Dustin Rhodes - Halloween Havoc 1993
Dustin Rhodes and Steve Austin had a long history before "Goldust" and "Stone Cold" starred in the Attitude Era. This match ended up being more of a brawl than a wrestling match.
It seemed Austin had scored a dirty win with his feet on the ropes, but the ref saw Austin's dirty move and didn't give him the win. Dustin rolled Austin up to score a clean victory against his future WWE foe.
7 Vs. Rob Van Dam - SmackDown Sep 4, 2001
There is a case to be made that this is not a clean pinfall win, but this match comes down to psychology. RVD fought a clean match throughout. The two actually put on a great bout. Austin at one point grabbed a chair which Van Dam kicked away from him. The kick did not lead to a pinfall win.
Later, Austin hit a Stunner and instead of going for the pinfall victory he attempted an Ankle Lock on Van Dam to mock Kurt Angle. Angle's music and video played, and it forced Austin away from RVD leading to a pinfall roll-up win. No person helped Van Dam win this match other than Steve Austin, so it should be considered a clean loss.
6 Vs. Paul Roma - WCW Saturday Night
Paul Roma is best remembered at WCW for his time in a tag team unit with Paul Orndorff as Pretty Wonderful. One of the stranger early losses of Austin's career happened on an episode of WCW Saturday Night in 1993.
Roma and Austin's main event match bounced all over the inside and outside the ring. Roma scored a roll-up pinfall victory with no interference. It wasn't until after the match that Brian Pillman and Arn Anderson arrived to the ring.
5 Vs. The Undertaker & Kane - Breakdown: In Your House
This triple threat match for the WWE Championship was essentially a handicap match. The Brothers of Destruction (Kane and Undertaker) worked as a unit to destroy Austin. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was still made to look very strong in this match.
At times, it even felt like he could pull it off. Kane and Undertaker double Chokeslammed Austin and both pinned him. The two of them were declared winners of the match.
4 Vs. Mankind Vs. Triple H - SummerSlam 1999
According to Mick Foley's book, Austin had such serious issues with one of his knees that he was unable to work a singles match. WWE creative brought Mankind into the fold to help carry the weight of the match.
A triple threat match is "anything goes" and, shockingly, Mankind ended up earning a pinfall victory over Austin and Triple H. He would lose the title the next night on Raw making the clean loss Austin suffered virtually pointless.
3 Vs. Triple H - No Way Out 2001
By 2001, Triple H was being positioned as the next "guy" after Austin. In between winning the Royal Rumble 2001 and his match with The Rock at WrestleMania 17, Austin took on Triple H at No Way Out.
Austin began to have clear limitations, but this match was one of the last classics of his career. In a Three Stages of Hell Match, Triple H not only got one clean win but two.
2 Vs. Kurt Angle - Unforgiven 2001
This was the feud that featured the infamous milk truck moment from Kurt Angle. Angle was the hometown kid in Pittsburg for this match for the WWE Championship. This match was as solid as their bout at SummerSlam.
With Angle's family at ringside, he reversed a Stunner that led to an ankle lock and a submission win for Angle. The caveat with this match was that Austin had a hand under the ring, but Austin was going to tap regardless.
1 Vs. The Hart Foundation - In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede
Few fans thought the Hart Foundation would not leave Calgary, Canada as a loser at In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede. Austin was an absolute stud in this match. Although he did suffer a clean loss, this match put him over as a wrestler in so many ways.
Austin knew he was a heel in the eyes of the crowd and taunted them the whole time. Of all the Harts, Owen ended up scoring the roll-up causing Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock, & The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal & Road Warrior Hawk) to take the L in Calgary.