Arguably the biggest star in WWE history, Stone Cold Steve Austin defined the Attitude Era with his rebellious persona and tendency to drink lots of beer. It was a simple but effective gimmick, and his finishing move was the same: the Stone Cold Stunner, a jawbreaker where Austin would put his opponent into a three-quarter facelock before falling into a seated position on the mat.
Over the years, Austin has delivered countless Stunners, from his prime all the way into retirement. As a result, anybody who’s anybody has taken a Stunner. However, not all of them are great, so let’s look at some of the worst stunners alongside some of the best ones.
10 Best: Scott Hall (WrestleMania X8, 3/17/2002)
There are lots of wrestlers who sell the Stone Cold Stunner by briefly freezing and following over, which is perfectly serviceable. But the true legends of being Stunned tend to take the straightforward move by overselling it, making it seem even more powerful than it is.
Scott Hall has one of the best in terms of overselling, as it makes his 6-foot-7 body seem like a spring-loaded action figure. In this WrestleMania match, Austin gave Hall two Stunners back to back, the second which sent Hall springboarding off the ground onto his back, getting a surprising amount of air in the process.
9 Worst: Jim Ross (Ground Zero: In Your House, 9/7/1997)
This Stunner happened during a promo where Dude Love and an angry Steve Austin were vacating the Tag Team Titles due to Austin’s injury. Good Ol’ JR, ever the voice of reason, said it was the right thing to do and wished Austin well, and ended up eating a Stunner for his efforts.
Jim Ross’ sell of the move is fine, but it’s in the set-up where it’s a bit wonky. The idea is that Austin kicks you in the gut so that you’re doubled over, making the move easier to perform, but here JR immediately stands back up, forcing Austin to struggle to get him back in position.
8 Best: Sgt. Slaughter (Raw, 3/23/1998)
Sgt. Slaughter is underrated for some of his wacky sells, but some fans remember his awesome sell of the Stone Cold Stunner. He often sold it like he was taking a Neckbreaker, RKO style, but on this pre-WrestleMania XIV episode of Raw, he basically flipped over and took a neck and shoulder bump like he was in an All Japan Pro Wrestling match.
Some fans refer to this instance of the Stunner as the “Stone Cold Snapmare” for how Slaughter rolls over Austin.
7 Worst: A Whole Group of NPCs (Sunday Night Heat, 6/6/1999)
In one infamous segment on a 1999 Sunday Night Heat, Steve Austin ran down to the ring to deliver a series of Stunners to everyone in sight, including referees, security guards, Sgt. Slaughter, and Val Venis and the results were disastrous.
In the process of spamming the move, he ends up Stunnering some referees that have no idea how to take it, and even at one point completely misses a dude, who sells it anyway. Just a mess.
6 Best: Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania XX, 3/14/2004)
In the most hated WrestleMania match of all time, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg -- two bored stars on their way out of the company -- put on a half-hearted dream match that the fans openly rebelled against.
Steve Austin was a guest referee here and served a valuable purpose in making the crowd happy in the post-match as he delivered Stunners to both men. Goldberg’s was serviceable, but Brock Lesnar did a Rock-esque flop backwards that was extremely funny.
5 Worst: Donald Trump (WrestleMania 23, 4/1/2007)
Donald Trump is the first and, to date, only United States President to take a Stone Cold Stunner, and his is notably terrible. It happened in the aftermath of the “Battle of the Billionaires” match where Vince ended up getting his head shaved.
In the post-match celebration, as it often goes, Austin decided to deliver a Stunner, but Trump’s body just kind of bent over in taking the Stunner. And then he does his best to fall over. On the bright side, it did mess up his weird hair in the process.
4 Best: Rusev (WrestleMania 32, 4/3/2006)
Steve Austin is no stranger to a modern WWE guest appearance, so many current and active wrestling stars have taken Austin’s signature move, including Rusev, who seemed to go to the Scott Hall School of Stunner Selling. After defeating the New Day at WrestleMania 32, the League of Nations celebrated in the ring only to get attacked by Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and Austin, who all performed their finishers.
That’s when we saw Rusev’s sell of the Stunner -- just like Hall, he sprung backwards, but then rolled back into the corner. This wasn’t a one-time thing either -- Rusev sold John Cena’s Springboard Stunner in the same exact way.
3 Worst: Linda McMahon (Raw, 10/3/2005)
What’s the deal with rich people being unable to take Stunners? As rough as Trump’s was, Linda McMahon has the distinction of being involved in what many fans consider to be the worst Stunner of all time.
On the special “Raw Homecoming” episode of Monday Night Raw, Steve Austin delivered Stunners to every single member of the McMahon family, last and least of all Linda. Just as Steve Austin tries to go for the jawbreaker, McMahon turns her head and basically corkscrews out of the facelock, making it look more like an impressive escape than a successful execution.
2 Best: The Rock (Every Single Time)
Every time The Rock took a Stone Cold Stunner, it was a classic. According to The Rock, he and Austin regularly bet bases of beer on how ridiculously Rocky could sell the Stunner, and the result made for some of the wildest Stunners of all time.
The Rock’s most subdued sells of the move were silly and theatrical at best, and his best ones often involved him hopping back, bouncing off the mat, and flopping feet over head. They’re beautiful.
1 Worst: Vince McMahon (Raw, 10/29/2001)
The evil authority figure of Attitude Era WWE, Vince McMahon was Steve Austin’s most powerful enemy, and as a result took many Stone Cold Stunners over the course of their rivalry. That said, McMahon was actually terrible at taking Stunners. According to Austin himself, Vince never took it the same way twice, and it never looked good.
The worst one happened in the aftermath of a Shane/Vince WrestleMania X-7 rematch on Raw. Amidst all the Invasion drama, Austin delivered a Stunner to McMahon, and Vince not only fell to his knees too early, but also threw his arms out, making the move look even more awkward.