One of Austins most entertaining feuds came after he retired from the ring. At WrestleMania XIX, he had his third WrestleMania match with The Rock, and the only one he lost. The next night on Raw, he was fired by Eric Bischoff on medical grounds and announced his retirement on WWE.com shortly after. He was later brought in by Linda McMahon as the new co-general manager of Monday Night Raw alongside Bischoff. Together the pair had a great chemistry and were involved in some of the most memorable backstage segments of WWE at the time, including the hugely entertaining Redneck Triathalon at Badd Blood 2003... and the subsequent hangover Eric Bischoff had the next night on Raw. Their odd couple relationship made for dynamic television and it boiled over by Survivor Series 2003 when Team Bischoff beat Team Austin for control of Raw, leaving Bischoff as the sole General Manager. Peace wouldnt last too long for Eric Bischoff, as Stone Cold came back a month later as the Sheriff of Monday Night Raw, complete with a badge so that everyone knew who was in charge and as sheriff, hed come down to the ring riding a Stone Cold ATV. The very first thing he did as sheriff was reverse Eric Bischoffs decision to fire Shawn Michaels, and he seemed to set to be thorn in Bischoff's side for the foreseeable future. While Austins full-time tenure in WWE wouldnt last much longer, he certainly made the most out of the time he had after he couldnt wrestle any more.
