Stone Cold Steve Austin’s 15 Best Matches, According To Dave Meltzer
Ethan Hayes
Published Mar 27, 2026
During the Attitude Era, there was no one as hot as Stone Cold Steve Austin and honestly, very few have come close to matching his popularity since. The Texas Rattlesnake is beloved for his antics outside of the ring. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have incredible matches that had crowds all over the world going wild.Related: 10 Wrestling Heels That Are Too Good To HateBefore the injury that nearly ended his career, Steve Austin was able to put on “Stunning” matches with anyone and everyone. But Stone Cold was an entirely different character, a brawling maniac that was able to stomp a mud hole in his opponents. The Bionic Redneck was able to have many classic matches, some highly ranked by famed wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer.Updated March 31, 2022 by Danny Djeljosevic: Given that Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the most popular stars WWE ever had in one of its most popular eras — rivaling even that of Hulk Hogan in the Golden Era —it’s hardly ever a bad time to go back and reflect on Austin’s standout performances in the squared circle. Now that there’s a renewed interest in Austin thanks to Kevin Owens’ seemingly one-sided feud with the legend going into WrestleMania 38, it’s even more appropriate than ever to look at a few more matches that received high marks from Uncle Dave himself — including one from outside WWE.
15 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker vs. Vader (WWE In Your House 13: Final Four, 2/16/1997) - 4.25 Stars
One of the first big matches in Austin’s rise was the big four man main event taking place at In Your House: Final Four. With Shawn Michaels losing his smile and Austin cheating to win The Royal Rumble, the stage was set for he, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Vader doing battle for the vacant WWE title. All four men put on some of their best work here. Despite not winning the match, The Rattlesnake’s showing helped cement him as a major player.
14 The Hart Foundation vs. Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin (WWE Raw is War, 5/26/1997) - 4.25 Stars
One of the most fun aspects about the WWE in 1997 was that no one really liked each other, who was a babyface and heel didn’t matter, and it was about who the fans cheered for.
Babyfaces like Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin didn’t even like each other and The Hart Foundation constantly stirred the pot. But one one fateful evening, the two were able to coexist long enough to defeat Owen and Davey Boy for the tag team titles.
13 Goldust, Ken Shamrock, Steve Austin & The Legion Of Doom vs. The Hart Foundation (WWE In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede, 7/6/1997) - 4.25 Stars
While Meltzer gave this huge ten man tag team match four and a quarter stars, the fan reaction during this is well above that and probably one of the top three fan reactions of all time.
RELATED: 10 Matches That Were Made Legendary By The Crowd
From the very moment that The Hart Foundation made their entrance their was a sustained roar throughout the entire match and the Calgary crowd erupted when the hometown heroes won the match and the Hart family kept entering the ring.
12 Steve Austin vs. The Rock - (WWE Backlash, 4/25/1999) - 4.25 Stars
The Rock and Stone Cold are known for their WrestleMania trilogy, but they had a huge series of matches throughout their entire rivalry. The rematch after WrestleMania 15 had tremendous implications for The Higher Power storyline. With Austin defending against The Great One and an evil Shane McMahon as the guest referee, the match spilled all over the arena and featured the now iconic spot of Rock holding the camera while getting the Stunner. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon reluctantly helped The Rattlesnake retain while The Deadman was asking his little girl “Where to, Stephanie?”
11 * Team WWE vs. Team Alliance (WWE Survivor Series, 11/18/2001) - 4.5 Stars
While the huge WWE vs. WCW invasion angle of 2001 did not live up to anybody’s expectations, it must be said that the storyline went out with a bang. Survivor Series main evented with the climax of the storyline, as Steve Austin’s Alliance team of Booker T, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon took on the WWE loyalists Chris Jericho, Kane, Big Show, The Rock, and The Undertaker in an elimination tag match with the fate of WWE hanging in the balance. The match lives up to the high stakes, too, with lots of drama, betrayal, and awesome wrestling to close out a flawed but major storyline.
10 * Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit (WWE SmackDown, 5/31/2001) - 4.5 Stars
This mid-2001 episode of SmackDown was held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, so it was only appropriate that the recently turned heel Steve Austin defended his WWE Championship against a Canadian.
With Vince McMahon as a guest enforcer, Austin would retain via cheap distraction rollup, but everything leading up it would be outstanding — including an incredible moment where Benoit gave Austin 10 German suplexes in a row, about 14 years before Brock Lesnar founded Suplex City.
9 * Kurt Angle vs. Rikishi vs. Steve Austin vs. The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Triple H (WWE Armageddon, 12/10/2000) - 4.5 Stars
The final WWE pay-per-view of 2000, Armageddon closed out with a unique variation on the Hell in a Cell match, as Kurt Angle defended his WWE Championship against five competitors in the “demonic structure.” The sheer number of stars in the match already makes it feel like a huge main event, and the match itself is a blast of a brawl with lots of great moments, the most iconic being Rikishi falling off the top of the cage and onto a truck.
8 Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (WWE Survivor Series, 11/17/1996) - 4.5 Stars 1996
When Bret Hart wants to work with you and help make you a star, you know you’ve got something special. The Hitman’s first program back after his extended vacation following WrestleMania 12 was against ol’ Stone Cold. The ornery Rattlesnake had been egging Bret on for months until their big Survivor Series showdown.
RELATED: 10 Great Bret Hart Matches That Nobody Talks About
The two worked magic that they would only refine in the coming months. Bret won the match using the same trick he used on Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8, showing Austin tremendous respect as the Hitman was visibly winded after finally defeating The Bionic Redneck in his return.
7 Steve Austin vs. Dude Love (WWE Over The Edge, 5/31/1998) - 4.5 Stars
Much like Triple H and The Rock, when the WWE needed an opponent to be a credible and dangerous threat to the brand-new champion Steve Austin, they didn't look further than Mick Foley. Failing to capture the WWE title from Austin one month prior, the deck was riotously stacked against The Rattlesnake.
But during this time, he was able to overcome any and all the odds — which in this case featured McMahon, Patterson, and Brisco as the crooked referee, ring announcer, and timekeeper respectively. But with some help from The Undertaker, Austin was able to pin the fall with McMahon’s unconscious hand.
6 Steve Austin vs. The Rock (WWE WrestleMania 17, 4/1/2001) - 4.5 Stars
With the WWE clicking on every cylinder imaginable in early 2001, there was indeed an electricity in Houston for WrestleMania 17. Still to this day, the biggest WrestleMania of all time was headlined by the second Mania showdown between The Rock and Stone Cold. This time, both men were the biggest babyfaces in the company. But after The Rock had a thunderous ovation, the hometown Rattlesnake stomped to the ring to an applause that drowned out his theme music. As the epic brawl went on, Austin turned heel and aligned himself with his mortal enemy, Vince McMahon.
5 Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (WWE SummerSlam 8/19/2001) - 4.5 Stars
Austin tried his heart out to be the insane, vicious heel he always wanted to be. But it was hard to boo the guy for continuing to do what got him cheers to begin with. When he came across Kurt Angle, the Olympian gave the fans someone to root for against the demented, paranoid leader of The Alliance. At SummerSlam 2001, the two collided. Angle did all he could to dethrone Austin, but the delusional champion had assaulted several referees during the match and finally got disqualified, but only after Angle clearly had him beat.
4 Steve Austin & Triple H vs. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit (WWE Raw is War, 5/21/2001) - 4.75 Stars
Great main event heels do exactly what The Power Trip were able to do while defending their tag team titles against Chris Jericho and Benoit on Raw — elevate their opponents to main event status.
Related: The Power Trip: The Triple H, Vince McMahon & Stone Cold Alliance, Explained
For obvious reasons, the match doesn’t get held in nearly as high a regard as it could have been. Even with Triple H tearing his quad and finishing the match, it still is one of the greatest Raw matches in history.
3 Steve Austin vs. Triple H (WWE No Way Out, 2/25/2001) - 4.75 Stars
After trying to cripple Stone Cold and end his career, Austin returned at the 2000 Survivor Series and tried to do the same to The Game. It all culminated with the two stalwarts colliding one month before WrestleMania 17 in the first ever Three Stages Of Hell match. Austin won the first fall singles match, but Triple H took control and showed his violent streak to take the next two and defeat Austin, actually winning their feud.
2 * Sting’s Squadron vs. The Dangerous Alliance (WCW WrestleWar, 5/17/1992) - 5 Stars
Steve Austin’s first five-star match didn’t happen in WWE, but rather in his early 1990s stomping ground of WCW, where he was part of Paul E. Dangerously’s Dangerous Alliance stable. Teaming with Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, Beautiful Bobby and Rick Rude, Austin took on an array of babyfaces including Sting, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhdoes, Nikita Koloff, and Ricky Steamboat in an action-packed War Games match that ranks among the best ever. This match was the culmination of multiple feuds between various heroes and the Dangerous Alliance, and the payoff did not disappoint.
1 Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (WWE WrestleMania 13, 3/23/1997) - 5 Stars
Meltzer doesn’t give five stars very often, especially in WWE matches. But the Submission Match at WrestleMania 13 is just one of those perfect matches that will forever live on in history. Bret and Austin fought all over the United Center delivering a tremendous brawl that was able to easily steal the show at WrestleMania and create a new babyface and a new heel all in the same match with the greatest double turn in wrestling history.
