Vince McMahon's 20 Biggest Real-Life Feuds

5. Steve Austin

Without question Vince McMahon's biggest on-screen rival was Stone Cold Steve Austin. As strong as the relationships have been at times between McMahon and his top talents over the years, history says it's inevitable that they experience some degree of fallout. Hogan, Warrior, Punk and more have all had their issues with Vince, but Austin's was the one that likely caught Vince the most off-guard. In the other scenarios, the heat with his top talents was a slow burn, and could be seen coming from a far. The fire with Austin grew quickly but quietly and culminated in Austin walking out of the company after an egregious, almost suspicious plan to have Austin put over a green Brock Lesnar, clean, on a free episode of RAW. Austin balked, left the company and held hostility towards the Chairman until his return to WWE 8 months later. Though not as long as their on-screen feud and not nearly as heated, the real Austin vs. McMahon feud did shake the foundation of WWE when the two parted ways in 2002. Austin wasted months of the last year of his in-ring career on the sidelines and McMahon lost millions of dollars by losing not just a top superstar, but THE top superstar, unexpectedly. The reunion, while welcomed and happy, saw Austin in only a handful of matches before injuries forced him to retire in mid 2003.