"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is one of the most polarizing stars in WWE history. The six-time WWE Champion's initial run with WWE lasted between 1996-2003. However, Austin was one of the top stars in the Attitude Era alongside The Rock, and Austin's feud with Mr. McMahon turned the tide in WWE's favor in the Monday Night Wars, which saw them edge past WCW in the ratings.
The Texas Rattlesnake has had tremendous success both as a babyface and as a heel. The WWE Hall of Famer quickly rose to the top of the card, and he was always in the main event scene. Nonetheless, Austin would rarely lose in one-on-one competition, and it was a big deal when he ended up on the losing side of things.
9 Savio Vega
Steve Austin and Savio Vega feuded in the early part of Austin's WWE career in 1996, and their feud culminated in a Caribbean Strap match at In Your House: Beware of Dog. There was a caveat as Austin's manager Ted DiBiase would be fired if Austin failed to defeat Vega.
Austin and Vega's chemistry together is underrated, and this bout was competitive. Austin made life difficult for Vega, but Austin sustained his first singles loss on a WWE pay-per-view to Vega with the Million Dollar Man heading to WCW.
8 Bret Hart
Steve Austin goaded Bret Hart into returning to WWE after the Hitman was on an eight-month sabbatical after he dropped the WWE Championship to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 12. Moreover, Austin and the Hitman locked horns for the first time at Survivor Series 1996.
Austin and Hart knocked it out of the park in an excellent wrestling match that went back and forth. Nonetheless, the Hitman found a way to mark his return to WWE with a victory. At WrestleMania 13, Hart and Austin had a five-star epic with Ken Shamrock as the special guest referee in their submission match. Austin turned face, and Hart went the other way as a heel as they pulled off a magnificent double turn. The Hitman beat Austin once again, and the blood dripping down Austin's face is an iconic photo.
7 Kane
King of the Ring 1998 is fondly remembered for The Undertaker and Mankind's Hell in a Cell match. However, the main event was the First Blood match with Steve Austin putting his WWE Championship on the line against Kane. If the Big Red Machine failed to leave with the WWE Championship, he'd set himself on fire.
Austin and Kane had a decent match here but the crowd was burnt out from Undertaker and Mankind's clash. The cell was lowered during the match, and both Undertaker and Mankind interfered. Ultimately, the Deadman clocked Austin in the face with a steel chair that was intended for Mankind. The blood flowed from Austin's face, and Kane was crowned as the new WWE Champion.
6 Dude Love/Mankind
Steve Austin had no shortage of challengers after he won the WWE Championship for the first time at WrestleMania 14 at Shawn Michaels' expense. His first title defense came at Unforgiven: In Your House against Mick Foley in his Dude Love persona.
Austin retained the WWE Championship but he lost the match by disqualification. A few months later, Foley was back in his Mankind gimmick. Austin and Mankind locked horns in the semifinals of the Deadly Game tournament at Survivor Series 1998 with plenty of shenanigans. One of Mr. McMahon's stooges, Gerald Brisco clocked Austin with a weak-looking chair shot, and Mankind advanced to the final.
5 Triple H
The matches between Steve Austin and Triple H were always physical encounters with both men wanting to be at the top. The Game defended the WWE Championship against Steve Austin in an Anything Goes match that headlined No Mercy 1999.
Their encounter was fantastic, and Triple H retained the WWE Championship after Rock accidentally hit Austin in the sternum with a sledgehammer shot, and Triple H capitalized. However, their Three Stages of Hell match at No Way Out 2001 was miles better with the Game overcoming Austin again in a war of attrition.
4 Kurt Angle
Steve Austin and Kurt Angle's WWE Championship matches at SummerSlam and Unforgiven 2001 were superb clashes. The Olympic Gold Medalist had a refusal to stay down in their WWE Title match at SummerSlam, and he shed buckets of blood. Angle beat Austin but it was by disqualification, which meant that Austin retained the WWE Championship.
A month later at Unforgiven, Angle had the hometown support in Pittsburgh. Angle drew on the backing from his hometown fans as he forced Austin to submit to the Angle Lock, and he became a two-time WWE Champion with the locker room flooding out to congratulate Austin.
3 Chris Jericho
None of Chris Jericho's victories over Steve Austin were clean but he'll take them nevertheless. After Jericho beat Rock for the World Championship, he immediately turned his attention toward Austin, and the winner would be crowned as the inaugural Undisputed WWE Champion at Vengeance 2001.
There was outside interference from Booker T and Mr. McMahon. The number's game proved to be too much with Jericho making history as the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion. Two months later they were opponents at No Way Out 2002, and Jericho retained his title as the nWo interfered and they assaulted Austin.
2 The Undertaker
Steve Austin and The Undertaker had been rivals for several years, and their first one-on-one match on a WWE pay-per-view was for Undertaker's WWE Championship at In Your House: A Cold in Day. The Hart Foundation made their presence felt at ringside, but Undertaker retained the WWE Title with a Tombstone Piledriver.
Austin dominated their feud, but Undertaker overcame Austin at Over the Edge 1999 for his third WWE Championship. Their final meeting was a number one contender's match to determine the next challenger for the WWE Championship at Backlash 2002. Undertaker prevailed, and he became the only man to beat Austin three times on a WWE pay-per-view in a singles match.
1 The Rock
The rivalry between The Rock and Steve Austin is one of the greatest in WWE history. They faced off for the third time in five years at WrestleMania. No WWE Championship was on the line, and they were not in the main event at WrestleMania 19. Nevertheless, it was a superb wrestling match between two of the all-time greats.
Rock had never beaten Austin in a one-on-one match on a WWE pay-per-view. That finally changed with Rock connecting with a couple of Rock Bottoms which turned out to be Austin's final match for 19 years until he returned to action in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 38.