10 Ways Stone Cold Steve Austin Changed WWE FOREVER

The “character” of Vince 'Mr.' McMahon was famously created in the wake of the Montreal Screwjob. The wily promoter took a terrible situation and rose from the ashes as the greatest heel in the history of professional wrestling. It wasn’t until he feuded with Stone Cold, however, that the character really flew.

While the grievance with Bret Hart was very real, the Hitman wasn’t around to defend himself or spar with the boss. Austin was the perfect foil for Mr McMahon - the blue collar, beer drinking good old boy versus the powerful, snooty Connecticut blue blood.

There’s a strong case to be made that it’s the best feud WWE ever ran, a three year war raging all the way up to the infamous handshake at Wrestlemania X-Seven. Without Stone Cold, most likely the Mr McMahon character would have quietly fizzled out after the screwjob blew over.

The two brought the best out of each other - the pop when Stone Cold hit the boss with that first stunner is still one of the all time best - and sewed the seeds for Vince to tangle with wrestlers from Cena to Punk to Bryan going forward.