10 Monumental Happenings On Post-WrestleMania Raws

Steve Austin had insulted and attacked Vince McMahon in 1997 and enraged the WWF owner when he confronted Mike Tyson in their famous angle the night after Royal Rumble 1998. However, it was not until the night after WrestleMania XIV that all-out war was declared between wrestler and owner.

Austin had captured the WWF Title from Shawn Michaels at ’Mania XIV on March 29, 1998 in Boston, Massachusetts.

McMahon kicked off Raw the next night from Albany, New York: “I am pleased to present to you the new World Wrestling Federation champion, Stone Cold Steve Austin,” he said.

McMahon was there, ostensibly, to congratulate Austin and furnish him with a new WWF Title belt. However, the real purpose of his appearance was to establish his Mr. McMahon character as Austin’s nemesis.

Austin strode to the ring, snatched the new WWF belt from McMahon and dropped the old winged eagle title on the owner’s foot.

Composing himself, McMahon tried to wipe the slate clean with Austin. Any misunderstanding or ill will between them was to be forgiven and forgotten for the greater good of both parties. At least, that’s how McMahon framed it to his new champion:

“Together — and that’s the key word, and I want you to listen — together, Mr. Austin, with my vision and your charisma. Together, with my mental prowess and your physical prowess. Together, Mr. Austin, one day you might become the greatest WWF Champion of all-time.”

Seeing through the subterfuge, Austin replied: “Vince, let’s cut through the b.s. I know for a fact that you hate me. But that’s okay, that’s okay, because I hate you right back. What you gotta understand is, there ain’t no ‘we’. You ain’t gonna mould me, you ain’t gonna break me. What you see, Vince, is what you get. And if you don’t like that, tough luck.”

Realising the softly-softly approach was not having the desired effect, McMahon advised Austin: “Well, we can either do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way . . . You’re going to wind up doing it my way, anyway.”

Underestimating his champion, McMahon would fail to convert Austin to his way of thinking. No matter what McMahon said or did, Stone Cold would not be tamed. Austin ended the segment by flattening McMahon with a Stone Cold stunner. Vince was humiliated.

It was the beginning of a beautiful conflict between the renegade champion and tyrannical owner, which lifted the WWF to new heights and ended rival WCW’s near-two-year dominance of the Monday night ratings war.

Two weeks later, on April 13, the promise of the first match between Austin and McMahon propelled the WWF’s Raw to a 4.63 rating. In head-to-head competition, Monday Nitro that evening drew a 4.34. After 83 weeks, Nitro’s winning streak was over.