WWE: Top 25 Stone Cold Steve Austin Moments

20. "Stone Cold Stunner, One More Time! One More Time!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyLtu6MGr-E As mentioned in #22, grand returns are epic. Some more than others, depending on the superstar making the return. Superstars like Triple H, the Undertaker, Kane, and Shawn Michaels are fine examples of superstars returning after an extended hiatus and coming back to rule in the ring. But Stone Cold Steve Austin's return at No Way Out 2003 was truly extraordinary because we saw it coming for weeks on end after Eric Bischoff called out the story of how Austin walked out on the business back in 2002. And when he returned, all the energy of the Attitude Era and the fans were behind him. From early January 2003 to February Bischoff demanded to hear Austin's side of the story of why he told Vince McMahon to shove it. Over the weeks Bischoff played around with the concept of Steve Austin coming over to the Raw brand, even toying with announcer Jim Ross and firing him for thinking he convinced Austin not to show up. After being pressured by Vince for the signing of Austin for Raw, only for Bischoff to say "no", and with Jim Ross returning to announce that the Rattlesnake will show up at No Way Out 2003, Vince signed one of the first matches for the pay-per-view: Eric Bischoff versus Stone Cold Steve Austin. When the time came for the Rattlesnake to come out of the den, he came back in full force. Bischoff, pleading Austin to forfeit the match before it even got under way, played the role of coward when the famous entrance music played unexpectedly, with Stone Cold marching down the ramp to deliver his first can of whoop-ass in nearly a year. Stone Cold put the beating of a lifetime on Bischoff, marking his return in style and putting a huge exclamation mark in the WWE that would forever change the course of business throughout 2003. What's more memorable other than Austin returning is Jim Ross's commentary during Bischoff's annihilation; the sheer amount of enthusiasm and jubilation when Austin stunned Bischoff over and over again sold the show to me as a fan, declaring "Stone Cold Stunner, one more time! One more time!"