Steve Austin Recalls the Birth of His Feud With Vince McMahon, Talks Working With Vince

– On the latest Busted Open Radio, Steve Austin looked back and discussed the beginning of his iconic feud with Vince McMahon. Austin vs. McMahon was, of course, the feud that galvanized the Attitude Era and helped bring WWE to new heights. As Austin recalled, the feud happened because of his being out of the ring due to his neck injury. Highlights are below:

On how the feud with Vince McMahon began: “Man, you’re really making me search my memory banks, because I think that all was born out of, if I’m correct … the way I remember it, I think I’d got dropped on my head. I had some neck damage, nerve damage, and still do. I was able to get back in the ring, but there for a while I was on standby. I was flying all over the United States getting my neck looked at by the best experts in the world. And there was a protective measure, ‘Hey man, we’re trying to take care of you.’ And I think that’s kind of when I started barbing back and forth with Vince McMahon. It was either them trying to protect me against, you know, me doing myself harm. And Vince wasn’t really involved [in storylines] back then. He was still the commentator. It wasn’t really out that he was the owner of the federation. As a matter of fact, I had said he was while I was cutting a promo about Bret Hart. He was talking about Gorilla Monsoon being held accountable. I said, ‘Hey man, you’re the one who owns this place, you know what’s up.’ And I think it was just born out of that, and we just became these rivals. And I wasn’t the champion [that Vince wanted in character] after [WrestleMania] 14 that I won at the Fleet Center in Boston against Shawn Michaels, the Heavyweight Championship of the World. He was gonna try to dress me up. So we just started this thing, and it was really — I hate the word ‘organic,’ but I use it. It was just an organic thing that just kind of came to be. It was never part of a master plan.”

On working with McMahon: “Just our chemistry and our interaction, it was a natural. And the thing I always liked about working with Vince was the way I go into any kind of angle with the energy or the focus, or the passion. I’m all in, you know what I mean? And I believe what I’m doing. Vince is the exact same way. And I could mention a lot of talent that is the same way, but when I look in the mirror, and I could see the reflection would be Vince. We just had a natural chemistry, and then it was water cooler talk and transcended the business.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.