8 Times Stone Cold Steve Austin Lost Clean
4. Vs. Mankind Vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 1999)
SummerSlam 1999 was a curious one. The planned main event for the show had the babyface champion Austin defending against Triple H, who had been pushed to the main event scene as a heel, following some, shall we say, 'radical' changes to his look.
Triple H was supposed to win this match. Now, there are two conflicting reports to what changed this. Some claimed that Austin refused to lose to Triple H, although Mick Foley claims in his book that Austin had knee ligament issues and couldn't work a full singles match. Whichever reason is true, WWE's solution was to bring Mankind back into the equation and make the bout a triple threat. Foley would go on to pin Austin clean in the middle of the ring but would ultimately lose the title to Triple H the following night on Raw, rendering this all a bit pointless.
The delayed crowd reaction really said it all. People were stunned that Foley had won. What had happened!? More to the point, why had it happened?