00:00 In 1996, Vince McMahon faced his biggest competition in history when WCW launched Nitro.
00:04 Vince needed something special to win the war against this rival brand, so he fell back
00:07 on the best wrestler he knew, one of the greatest characters in wrestling history, the only
00:11 man he could trust, himself.
00:13 While Vinny Mack transformed into the best on-screen heel in wrestling, Steve Austin
00:17 morphed into Stone Cold, the hero of every wrestling fan, young and old.
00:20 While on camera the two hated each other, they were united by a common enemy outfit,
00:24 Eric Bischoff and WCW.
00:25 Austin was out for revenge from getting fired over the phone, and McMahon just wanted to
00:28 crush the competition like he crushes sneezes down inside him.
00:31 The little puffs of weakness.
00:34 With the unstoppable attitude of Stone Cold and the megalomaniacal mastermind of McMahon
00:38 involved, it became one of the most insane, over-the-top, and memorable feuds in wrestling
00:41 history.
00:42 This is Fast Feuds, Austin vs. McMahon.
00:46 As we covered in the last Fast Feuds on November 9, 1997, Vince screwed over Bret Hart and
00:50 put the title on Shawn Michaels, cementing one of the biggest real-life heel turns ever.
00:53 With Hart gone, that left Michaels and Austin as the top stars in the company, so it was
00:57 almost a foregone conclusion that the Texas Rattlesnake would begin cursing his way to
01:00 a match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 14.
01:02 However, it was the build to that epic encounter where the McMahon-Austin feud would begin.
01:07 On the January 19, 1998 edition of Raw, Vince invited Mike Tyson to the ring to announce
01:11 that he would be at WrestleMania, but this moment of sporting synergy was shattered by
01:14 Austin who came to the ring to brawl with the boxer, leaving McMahon screaming "You've
01:18 ruined it!" which made a lovely change from all of us screaming that at him about NXT
01:21 call-ups.
01:22 Austin went on to beat Michaels for the heavyweight championship at Mania, but the very next night
01:26 Vince gave Austin an ultimatum.
01:28 He should dress, talk, and act like a champion.
01:30 Vince's overbearing boss schtick helped Austin cement himself as a mega babyface when he
01:34 gave McMahon the stunner and downtrodden workers everywhere rejoiced.
01:37 F you corporate giant who owns the company, I'm watching and profits every time I watch
01:40 this stuff.
01:41 Ah dang it, we got played.
01:42 But this feud was like no other in WWE history because most of the time Austin was facing
01:46 other people in the ring, but McMahon's machinations were putting obstacle after obstacle in his
01:49 way to stop him getting his hands on the boss.
01:52 At In Your House 22, Austin would beat Dude Love with McMahon as the guest referee by
01:56 counting the pin with an unconscious McMahon's hand.
01:58 From here, Vince upped the stakes to try and remove Austin as champ.
02:01 At Breakdown, McMahon booked Austin in a triple threat match with Kane and The Undertaker
02:05 and it turned into a handicap match as both Taker and his bro pinned Austin.
02:08 But no new champ was crowned, instead Vince walked out with the belt and flipped off Austin
02:12 as he went.
02:13 The following weeks and months of television involved Zambonis, police arrests, cement
02:16 trucks, urination, kidnapping, a list which makes a memorable bachelor party but truly
02:20 iconic WWE TV.
02:22 Fast forward to Survivor Series, Deadly Game, and Austin lost to a corporation sponsored
02:25 Mankind in a tournament to crown a new champ as Shane McMahon, Gerald Briscoe, and Sgt.
02:29 Slaughter stacked the deck to help Mankind win.
02:31 In the end, Vince screwed over Mankind and declared The Rock as the new corporate champion.
02:35 I'm pretty sure Vince would screw over all of Mankind if it helped his bottom line.
02:38 Like the stage direction for a porn shoot, the screwing continued at Royal Rumble 1999
02:42 when Vince eliminated Stone Cold with help from The Rock which got Rock and Barney Rubble
02:46 with Austin.
02:47 No time to fully explain this convoluted mess, but somehow Austin wound up with McMahon's
02:51 opportunity to fight for the world title after Vince forfeited his shot.
02:54 But there was one more roadblock.
02:56 At the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Austin faced McMahon in a steel cage.
02:59 If he won, he got to keep his title match and if he lost, he wouldn't face The Rock.
03:02 Sneaky Vince thought he had a knockout solution as Big Show made his debut beating up Stone
03:05 Cold and tossing him into the cage, but the sides gave way which meant Austin escaped
03:09 the cage, setting him up to go on and beat The Rock for the title at Mania 15.
03:12 If the storyline wasn't nuts enough, the next chapter got even crazier.
03:16 Undertaker kidnapped Stephanie and tried to marry her, but Austin saved her from this
03:18 matrimonial mistake.
03:20 Taker claimed to serve a higher power which turned out to be Vince.
03:23 Austin was forced to align with Linda and Stephanie McMahon and have himself installed
03:27 as CEO of WWE in order to combat the corporate ministry.
03:29 Something to do with shares and controlling interests and it's all very interesting I'm
03:33 told.
03:34 While CEO, Austin booked himself in a first blood match against Taker for the WWF Championship
03:37 which took place at Fully Loaded.
03:39 And a few more stipulations were sprinkled on top too.
03:41 If Austin won, Vince could no longer appear on WWE television.
03:44 If Austin lost, he would never get a shot at the WWF title again.
03:47 As you all know, we never saw Vince again, so it's fairly obvious Austin won.
03:51 While Stone Cold and Vince would cross paths many more times after this, Fully Loaded is
03:54 the finale to the finest era of Austin vs McMahon.
03:57 And while you can go back and forth over which is the best feud ever, this is easily one
04:00 of the most popular.
04:01 WWE would kill to get half the viewers who watch this rivalry unfold.
04:04 Vince and Austin will go down as one of the best, if not the best feuds in WWE history
04:08 for the simple fact they had incredible chemistry and hit on the right story at the time because
04:11 who wouldn't want a son or their boss, right?
04:13 I think a lot of WWE folks still want to, but that's a different video.
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