During the Attitude Era, there wasn't a bigger star than Stone Cold Steve Austin. His feud with Mr. McMahon and his associates like Triple H, The Rock, and more, Austin was the man who almost single-handily helped WWE beat WCW into submission and win the Monday Night Wars.
However, in 2002-03, Austin saw his career slowing down, and the end was near. He broke his neck years earlier in a match with Owen Hart, and things were getting worse by this time. As a result, Austin knew that he was about to hang it up and worked to the end with mixed results. Not including house shows, here is a look at the least 10 matches of Austin's career based on TV shows and PPV events.
10 VS. BOOKER T (RAW 5/13/02)
Stone Cold Steve Austin had a great feud with Booker T when the former WCW Champion showed up in WWE. This included the fantastic fight throughout the grocery store that people still talk about today.
The two also fought once in the final 10 matches of Austin's career, and it left a lot to be desired. At this time, Booker was in the nWo, and it was a lumberjack match that had everyone against Austin, and Booker T still lost to a lame rollup in five minutes.
9 VS. BIG SHOW (INSURREXTION 2002)
One of the final feuds of Steve Austin's career was inexplicably against Big Show. The two started as friends and partners until Big Show betrayed him and joined the nWo as WCW history repeated itself with strange bedfellows in the faction.
The two fought at Insurrextion, and it was a match with a ref bump, nWo interference, and Stone Cold still getting a cheap win with two Stunners to win a match that lasted 16 minutes and felt longer than that.
8 W/ BIG SHOW VS. NWO (RAW 4/22/02)
Big Show and Stone Cold were teaming up to fight the nWo. This match saw Austin and Show fight Scott Hall and X-Pac. The match wasn't that bad, as Hall and X-Pac were still both able to go, even if Austin was slowed down, and Big Show was slow at this time.
However, what brings this match down was the heel turn from Big Show that everyone saw coming at the end of the match.
7 W/ BRADSHAW & RIC FLAIR VS. NWO (RAW 5/6/02)
During the feud between Stone Cold Steve Austin and the nWo, he had Nature Boy Ric Flair on his side. However, at the same time, Austin never trusted Flair, and the entire thing was convoluted. This match saw one of the times that they were on the same page.
Austin teams with Bradshaw and Flair to take on Scott Hall, X-Pac, and Big Show. This was two weeks after the Big Show heel turn. Then, at the end of this match, Flair turned heel and betrayed Austin by hitting him with a chair. The Austin betrayals wouldn't stop in 2002.
6 W/ BRADSHAW VS. NWO (RAW 4/29/02)
The week after the Big Show heel turn and the week before the Ric Flair heel turn, Austin teamed with Bradshaw to battle Scott Hall and X-Pac. The good news, and the reason this match ranks above the others, is that no one turned on Austin in this match.
Flair was the referee and counted the three to give Bradshaw and Austin the win, although he hinted at the turn to come the next week.
5 VS. ERIC BISCHOFF (NO WAY OUT 2003)
Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out of WWE in June 2002 and his career there was over with. However, he came back in 2003 for two matches to end his career on the right note. There was one "match" that was not included on here, and that was a Raw battle with Eric Bishoff that just saw Austin beating him up.
However, the two did fight at No Way Out that year as well. Austin hit three Stunners on Bischoff at No Way Out to get the win without needing to do too much.
4 VS. UNDERTAKER (BACKLASH 2002)
Stone Cold Steve Austin was struggling at this point in 2002. He had already walked out once on the company and was two months away from walking out for good. To try to appease him, WWE booked him in a feud with his long-time nemesis Undertaker.
The two men battled at Backlash 2002, and it was a number one contender's match for the WWE Championship. Ric Flair was the referee, and this was a month before Flair turned on him. Austin brought in a chair, which Undertaker kicked into Austin's face, and then Taker won while Austin's foot was on the ropes.
3 VS. RIC FLAIR AND BIG SHOW (JUDGMENT DAY 2002)
The Ric Flair heel turn on Monday Night Raw led to the Nature Boy using his power as an authority figure to book a handicap match where he and Big Show took on Austin it Judgment Day 2002.
The match was too long for a handicap match, checking in at 15 minutes, and it ended with a run-in. X-Pac came down to help Big Show and Flair but missed his kick and hit Show, which allowed Austin to hit the Stunner for the win.
2 VS. RIC FLAIR (RAW 6/3/02)
After Judgment Day 2002, Stone Cold had only one more match in 2002, and it was a great one. In no surprise, while Austin struggled to get good matches out of the nWo and Big Show that year, he was able to get a great match out of Nature Boy Ric Flair when they went one-on-one on Monday Night Raw.
The two had a great match that saw Austin beat Flair with the Stunner. This was his last match for a long time, as Austin walked out the next week when WWE wanted him to lose to Brock Lesnar on free TV.
1 VS. THE ROCK (WRESTLEMANIA XIX)
The best match of the end of Austin's career was the last match of his career. At WrestleMania XIX, Stone Cold Steve Austin returned to the big stage one last time to fight The Rock. This was their third time wrestling at WrestleMania, with Austin winning the first two times.
This time around, it was finally time for The Rock to win, and he did in one of the best matches of either man's career. This was the end for Austin, as he went out on his back and never looked back.