40 Greatest Stories Wrestling Ever Told
3. Austin vs. McMahon (WWF, 1997-1999)
Technically, the Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon saga rolled on far beyond 1999, but it was that clutch period between 1997's first stunner in Madison Square Garden until right before Austin's time off due to injury in late-'99 that people discuss with a smile when talking about their rivalry. There's a solid reason for that.
It provided banter-filled chaos every single week, and their feud turned Raw into must see television that even WCW's almighty nWo couldn't compete with. At heart, it was a simple tale: Austin was the rebellious employee refusing to buckle for his overbearing boss. Both men knew their place in the story, and they stuck to it.
McMahon didn't mind looking like a chump or getting egg on his face, and 'Stone Cold' found new ways to humiliate the beleaguered WWF owner then somehow survive without being cast out of the company. Iconic skits like the beer bath segment or Austin kicking lumps out of Vince in hospital would go down in history as some of WWE's finest.
Pictures like the one above take wrestling fans of a certain vintage right back to their youth too. Anyone watching between 1997-1999 lived vicariously through Austin's one man mission to inflict as much pain and misery on McMahon as humanly possible. That merriment made Raw Is War appointment TV.
2001's twist and the union that followed Austin's heel turn didn't really work out, but the fed didn't know that without trying it. Besides, they'd been riding Austin vs. McMahon for years anyway.
Timeless.