Every WWE Gimmick Match And The Wrestlers That Defined Them
17. Submission Match - Stone Cold Steve Austin
It can only be Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Austin, having dropped the Million Dollar Dream from his act in order to evolve it, didn't even enter WrestleMania 13 with a signature hold. This, serendipitously, further cast Bret Hart as the embittered former hero that had alienated his fans; he entered the match with an advantage, and he still complained about the lack of respect afforded him.
Armed only with guts, balls, and fortitude, Austin endured countless, inventive variations of Hart's painful and protected Sharpshooter with claret pissing out of his forehead in the most quintessentially badass visual ever crafted in a WWE ring. A submission specialist has never before nor since applied a hold with such mastery and conviction, and a hold has never been sold with such pained defiance.
The match made Austin as a headline-level antihero; he, in turn, makes this match.