Hogan is the third man

Round 1, Pick 2: Steve Austin turns his way into megastardom

The background:

After being criminally misused as The Ringmaster following his arrival from WCW, Steve Austin had generated some momentum over the course of 1996. He started with an unplanned King of the Ring win, where he uttered the catchphrase that would eventually sell a million T-shirts:



Following that, he started running down and challenging the WWF’s quintessential babyface Bret Hart, who was MIA following his WWF title loss to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 12. The Hitman would finally come back in the fall to announce his WWF return, and accepted the Austin challenge for Survivor Series, where he would prevail in an extremely entertaining back-and-forth match. Bret expected that he would move on from Austin and focus on recapturing the WWF title.

Austin had other plans.

First, Austin interfered in a title match between Bret and Sid at the December In Your House PPV. Then, Austin literally stole the Royal Rumble from Bret, coming back into the ring unnoticed after being eliminated and dumping Bret to claim the victory:



Bret was becoming increasingly unhinged over Austin’s antics, ranting continually about getting screwed and even quitting the WWF for a night following the Royal Rumble. All seemed to be ok after Bret was granted a spot in a four-way title match including Austin, Vader and the Undertaker, with Bret finally claiming his fourth WWF title. But it lasted only one day, as Austin delivered the coup de grace the following night on Raw:

http://www.wwe.com/videos/bret-hart-...bruary-17-1997

Bret had had enough, and a grudge match between the two was set for WrestleMania 13 — a submission match.




The turn

Bret and Austin tore into each other from the opening bell. They went all over the ringside area, using chairs, the steel steps, the ringpost figure four, an electrical cable, and finally the ring bell in their assault. The crowd was starting to get behind Stone Cold more and more as the match wore on. Austin bladed, and his face was a bloody mess as they built to the climax, with Bret Hart locking Austin in the sharpshooter. Austin, using all his strength left, powered out of the hold, with an instantly iconic visual:



But Austin had not escaped fully, and the Hitman reapplied the hold in the middle of the ring, causing Austin to pass out. Bret was awarded the match, but was viciously booed after continuing to attack Austin after the bell. Austin awoke and, refusing all help, made his way to the back to a thunderous ovation. The WWF’s most dastardly heel was suddenly its top babyface.

The aftermath:

Somewhat substantial, I’d say. Austin continued his feud with Bret Hart and his newly reformed Hart Foundation over the summer, as a warmup for winning the WWF title at WrestleMania 14. From there, Austin’s feud with Vince McMahon lit the industry on fire, saving the company from bankruptcy, propelling the WWF to dominance over WCW (and eventually, the entire wrestling world) that they would never relinquish. Austin himself became arguably the biggest draw in the history of wrestling. This and the previous pick have to be considered 1 and 1a.

Steve Austin turns face at WrestleMania 13