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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: The Legacy of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – Disc 3

April 23, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: The Legacy of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – Disc 3  

Austin discusses the 1999 Rock feud. Austin had to learn how to drive a monster truck so that he could destroy a car that the Rock “owned.”

 

WWF Backlash
April 4, 1999

Steve Austin© vs. The Rock [WWF Championship] [No Holds Barred]

Shane McMahon is the referee. The Rock came to the ring with Austin’s Smoking Skull Championship. Austin is not allowed to touch Shane McMahon.

Austin flew to the ring and immediately started brawling with Rock. They quickly ended up on the floor. They were brawling in the big PPV entrance setup. There was this great moment where Austin sort of just tripped and fell over when he went to hit Rock. He just stuck up his middle fingers and made it look he meant to. This brawling on the PPV entrance setup went on for a long time. They ended up back near the ring. Austin called for a piledriver through the SAT, but Rock low blowed him and hit a Rock Bottom through it instead. Rock picked up a camera and started filming Austin. Rock got distracted, which allowed Austin to give him a stunner through another table while Rock still had the camera on. Great stuff. Back in the ring, Rock shoved Austin into Shane. Rock gave Austin the Rock Bottom: 1…2…NO! Shane accidentally hit Rock with the belt. Austin pinned him, but Shane refused to count to three. Vince McMahon came down with the Smoking Skull belt. He hit Shane in the head with it. I’m not sure why. New ref in the ring. Rock smacked Austin with the WWF belt: 1…2…NO! Austin came back with a stunner and a belt shot: 1…2…3!

An absolutely wild match that showed how The Rock was nearly as great of a brawler as Austin. The overbooking was perfect within the context of the Austin/McMahon story and the time period, and it contributed to the finishing sequence. While I like their Wrestlemania 1999 match more than most, this was clearly a noticeable step up from that encounter.

Match Rating: ****1/4

 

We fast forward to Austin’s comeback at the end of 2000. Austin requested to work with Eddie Guerrero, because he was such a fan of his.

 

WWF Smackdown
November 16, 2000

Steve Austin vs. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie was trying to bait Austin to the ring. We saw Austin trap The Radicalz backstage in a room. Eddie was then panicking, as Austin made his way to the ring.

Austin ran through Eddie for a bit. Eddie used a chair to go after Austin’s knees, and he briefly had control after that. Austin quickly came back and finished Eddie with a stunner.

Just a short, but well-worked television match. WWE often throws on forgettable Guerrero matches on these DVDs. At best, they just serve to make the company look foolish for waiting too long to push the man to the main event.

Match Rating: **3/4

 

WWF Survivor Series
November 19, 2000

Steve Austin vs. Triple H [No DQ]

I don’t think I’ve seen this one before, and I also don’t think I’ve heard anything good about it. We shall see…

The crowd was very hot when Austin came out, but they quieted down fairly quickly though. Austin and HHH eventually started brawling near the stage and the surrounding areas. They made their way back to the ringside area. Austin busted HHH open with a monitor. HHH cut him off with a neckbreaker in the ring and then worked him over. HHH went to pedigree Austin through the steps, but Austin put him through a table instead. Austin made a comeback and wanted to Pillman-ize HHH’s neck. HHH crawled away though. They brawled to the backstage area. There were two very awkward cuts in the action, as HHH baited Austin to the parking lot. Not sure what that was about. HHH was trying to run Austin over with a car. Austin used a fork-lift to pick up HHH in the car though. He raised the car high in the air and then dropped the car to the ground that surely should have killed HHH.

That finish was nearly unintentionally salvaged by HHH’s horrific acting.

This was not very good. It just seemed like the fans did not care about their feud at all and didn’t really seem all that interested in watching them do the Austin brawl. The laughter-inducing finish did not help matters.

Match Rating: **1/4

 

Considering they put their far-superior No Way Out rematch on this set, they might as well of skipped the clearly-inferior Survivor Series match.

 

WWF No Way Out
February 25, 2001

Steve Austin vs. Triple H [Three Stages of Hell]

The first fall is a normal singles match. The crowd is already way hotter for this than their Survivor Series match. They weren’t on the same page early on, and it led to a couple of awkward spots. Austin started going after the left arm of HHH. HHH came back after hitting a neckbreaker. He then went after Austin’s neck. HHH then went after Austin’s left leg. He even applied the figure four on the right leg. Gold star to you, HHH! Austin fought back. HHH avoided the stunner and hit a neckbreaker. Austin came back and hit the stunner: 1…2…3!

Steve Austin: 1
Triple H: 0

The second fall was a street fight. Austin was in control. HHH tried to run away through the crowd. Austin brought him back and hit him with a chair. He took out a barbed wire 2×4, but HHH kicked him in the nuts. HHH used the 2×4 to bust Austin wide open. Austin avoided a pedigree though and put HHH through a table. Back in the ring, HHH hit him with the bell for a nearfall. Austin fought back and killed HHH with a chairshot to the head. HHH eventually avoided a stunner and hit Austin in the head with the sledgehammer. Pedigree: 1…2…3

Steve Austin: 1
Triple H: 1

Cage match time. HHH was in control to start the final fall. Austin fought back with the barbed wire 2×4. The match slowed to a crawl. HHH hit a DDT onto a chair. HHH tried to escape first. Jim Ross informed us he couldn’t win that way though. Back on the mat, HHH hit the pedigree: 1…2…NO! Austin avoided a second pedigree and hit a sloppy stunner. In a very labored spot, Austin hit HHH with the 2×4 at the exact moment HHH hit Austin with the sledgehammer. HHH then fell on Austin: 1…2…3

As far as booking goes, this was quite brilliant. Austin was already guaranteed a title shot at Wrestlemania for winning the Royal Rumble, and this set HHH up for a title shot after Wrestlemania. Granted, WWF didn’t end up going in that direction. It was a brilliant idea though!

This may sound weird, but this match really reminds me of the original triple threat match between Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels. The first two thirds of the match are just awesome and compelling all the way through. They ran out of steam for the last third of the match though, and that brings it down a bit in my eyes. If they went home very quickly after the cage portion started, this would have been that much better. Instead, it will have to settle for being merely great.

Match Rating: ****

 

Austin talked about feeling like he was growing stale going into Wrestlemania 17. He loved the build for it and felt that he really needed it.

 

WWF Wrestlemania
April 1, 2001

The Rock(c) vs. Steve Austin [No DQ match for the WWF Heavyweight Championship]

The No DQ stipulation was added at the last second.

Austin took it to the Rock right away. They ever-so briefly brawled into the crowd before coming back to the ring. Rock started to fight back, and the majority of the crowd did not approve. Austin came back after hitting Rock with the ring bell. Rock got busted open. The ref tried to pull Austin off Rock for some unknown reason at one point, and that gave Rock the opportunity he needed to get back in control. Austin was now busted open as well. Austin fought back, and they brawled on the floor. Back in the ring, Rock applied the sharpshooter. Austin eventually escaped and applied one of his own. Austin resorted to using The Million Dollar Dream when that failed. They did the Bret/Austin Survivor Series finish for a nearfall. This section of the match is presented by The Callbacks. Stunner by Rock: 1…2…NO! Vince McMahon came down to the ringsidea area. They traded spinebusters. Rock hit the People’s Elbow, but Vince made the save? Rock looked fucking shocked. Rock Bottom from Austin: 1…2…NO! Ref bump. Low blow from Austin. Vince hit Rock with a chair: 1…2…NO! Rock Bottom from Rock! Rock beat up Vince and then ate a stunner which he took an amazing bump for: 1…2…NO!!! Austin then repeatedly killed Rock with a chair: 1…2…3

In one of the worst decisions in wrestling history, Vince and Austin shook hands after the match. Austin hit Rock with a belt shot after that.

I couldn’t help but watch this and feel like it clearly paled in comparison to their Backlash 1999 match. It was obviously very good, but it was missing the energy I know these two were capable of creating together. The callbacks verged on lazy. The crowd brawling was perfunctory.

The story was pretty much brilliantly executed by Stone Cold. His desperation to win the match was awesome to see unfold even as Vince got involved. Despite the fact that Austin being a heel was a terrible decision, he was almost always brilliant at playing the role. This was not the exception by far. He was just so on point.

The Rock was probably at his peak as a performer at this point. He felt like a prop in this match though, as Austin was the focus from the beginning until the end.

I’ve always thought of this match being great; I’m flabbergasted to not see it that way anymore. It was clearly good and enjoyable obviously. I was honestly shocked to be underwhelmed by it (in comparison to their other matches).

Match Rating: ***3/4

 

Hindsight being 20/20, Austin wished he called an audible and gave Vince a stunner after that match.

 

Extras

Stone Cold’s Gladiator parody commercial for Wrestlemania 21 was on the disc. It was aight. I remember there being better ones. We also got to see the “Making of” for it. There wasn’t much to it.

 

We saw footage from a 2007 Saturday Night’s Main Event. Oh gawd, this was during “Vince’s illegitimate child” story. Austin was apparently teased as being the one. This would obviously not come to pass. Austin trolled Vince for a bit, gave him a couple of low blows, and then gave The Coach a stunner. He then gave Vince a stunner for shits and giggles. We saw the post-show footage where Austin continued to torment Coach and Vince.

 

Watch Stone Cold matches for free!

Steve Austin & The Rock vs. nWo

Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart

Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle

Steve Austin & Dr. Death vs. Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes

Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker

Steve Austin, The Rock, Shane McMahon, & Kane vs. DX

Steve Austin & Dude Love vs. The Hart Foundation

Steve Austin & The Rock vs. Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho

Steve Austin & Kurt Angle vs. Booker T & Rhyno

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Perhaps the most interesting part of this set is that it clearly shows (without the DVD beating you over the head with it) how Austin progressively amassed more and more tools over the early stages of his career to become the fully-formed super duper star performer that he became when the "Stone Cold" era began. You can see his brawling abilities during his WCW run that were not capitalized. You can see how he could become an incredibly compelling character during his brief stay in ECW. Then, he finally puts it all together in the WWF to become an incredible all-around professional wrestler.
legend

article topics :

Steve Austin, WWE, TJ Hawke