Original subtitles

The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels!

Shawn Michaels would be like the Michael Jordan of professional wrestling.

Stone Cold does what he wants, what he wants.

We were two very strong characters.

They wanted to see him absolutely murder me.

This is it! This is it, Austin!

Mike Tyson will be with us. To have Tyson as part of this promotion was a

natural fit.

I'm not going out there. You'll be lucky if I make it to

WrestleMania. John obviously is off the rails to some degree.

There's a lot of ego involved because, I mean, everybody takes pride in being

number one.

I'm going to make this rough on everybody.

Austin, Michaels, Tyson.

When two legends collide, their rivalry stays pinned in our minds forever.

This is where we break down the legendary stories behind the greatest

of all time.

I'm Freddie Prinze Jr.

And this is WWE Rivals.

Your ass belongs to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

So it's 1997, and the rivalry we're going to discuss today, Stone Cold Steve

Austin versus Shawn Michaels.

Shawn Michaels was truly, in my estimations, at that time, the best in

business. You will not ever in your lives see a man more charismatic, more

flamboyant, or more talented than the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.

Shawn was better than everybody else. He was that good.

I think from a performance level, I was the guy that was innovative.

Shawn Michaels would be like the Michael Jordan of professional wrestling.

He's the greatest athlete in WWF history.

Do absolutely anything, any style, anytime, anywhere, to perfection with

The showstopper, the main event, the icon,

Shawn Michaels.

I was the top guy at that time. I was a very, very good bad guy. I had

real life heat.

As a human being back then, I had no use for him whatsoever.

It was just his demeanor all around.

Sean was a prick, like straight up prick to most people.

So he had a lot of heat with a lot of people.

Quite frankly, Sean does get described as an ass back in the day. And he just

seemed to have not just a lot of confidence, but a little bit of

top of that confidence.

He was a cocky guy.

I think that the DX version of Shawn Michaels was more true to

the person that Shawn was at the time.

DX respects absolutely nobody.

DX first began as Hunter, myself, and Chyna just wanted to push the envelope a

little bit more.

Morning. Crotch chopping, telling people to suck it. What we were doing was

resonating. I loved everything DX did, all their antics.

We're going to sit down here and we're going to play a little strip poker.

I did the suck a chop many, many times in grade school. Didn't know what it

meant, but still did it.

This generation X is the most controversial entity.

1998 is going to be the year of the generation X.

And absolutely nobody is going to crash our party.

Stone Cold Steve Austin doesn't care who he's in the ring with. I am the

toughest SOB in the WWF and can't nobody stop me.

When I was over the edge, I was aggressive.

Stone Cold does what he wants when he wants.

The Rebel Attitude.

He was doing what everybody wishes they could do and saying what everybody

wishes they could say. If anybody wants to see Vince McMahon get his ass

whipped, give me a hell yeah.

Stone Cold represented what you wanted to say to all your teachers.

You got to listen to me. And I just wanted to flip him off and give him a

stunner, you know.

You can kiss my ass.

Man,

this dude can do whatever he wants, man. I love it because you wanted to be the

guy who was able to flip his boss off.

And that's the bottom line because Stone Cold said so.

We have the ultimate anti -hero in Stone Cold Steve Austin.

This guy said and did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

He was different. He was edgy. Every single person watching WWE wanted to

vicariously through Steve Austin.

When Steve got hot.

Any building in the world you put his name on, we sold out. That was the

guy I've certainly ever seen in business.

Stone Cold was at the top of the card for good reason.

I mean, he was just that good.

What an ovation for the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold.

We're dealing with a real burgeoning superstar.

Now he just needs to get to the top of the mountain. And the guy on that

mountain is Shawn Michaels.

There he is.

We were two very strong characters.

Stone Cold was just take -no -nonsense ass -kicker. And, of course, my guy was

the epitome of somebody you want to see get his ass kicked.

It was a natural progression for those two to finally come together.

No more Mr. Nice Guy until after this rumble.

Jim, someone come with me at the airport.

Steve, if you think you can win the rumble.

This is going to take us to the Royal Rumble, and that was the moment the

rivalry started.

Elimination occurs when a superstar is thrown over the top rope and mostly must

touch the floor.

29 other WWE superstars who have the exact same goal in mind, which is

headlining and main eventing WrestleMania.

Winning the Royal Rumble, automatic ticket to WrestleMania.

It's kind

of a culmination of me spinning up and getting as hot as

I was and the fans really gravitating towards me. It was a natural thing.

Certainly knew at the time, like, yeah, that's the next guy who needs to have a

run with this championship.

The proverbial brass ring was his to grab, except one person stood in the

the heartbreak kid.

Sean was the best of his time, and Steve was the best of what was to come.

On the same night that Steve Austin...

punched his ticket to WrestleMania. Shawn Michaels was defending his WWE

championship against The Undertaker in The Undertaker's match, a casket match.

To win this match, one man must place his opponent in the casket and shut the

lid. I'm going to take a backdrop out of the ring, but over the casket. I threw

him over the top, and I think he was trying to clear the big casket.

And I didn't quite clear it, so my back caught the edge of it. You know, you

hear a little thunk.

The edge of that casket right on the lower back of Shawn Michaels.

And it hurts a little bit, but everything in there hurts a little bit.

A dynamic elbow drop right off the top.

Honestly, I didn't know how bad it was.

I didn't think much of it, went, finished the match.

You know, you crawl in bed, sleep for however long, and then when I got up, I

just couldn't move.

So, call an ambulance.

By the time the ambulance gets there, I've made it probably about, I don't

20 feet from my bedroom. But I just rolled off the bed and there was an army

crawling on the floor trying to make it there.

You know, they got me up on the stretcher and all that kind of stuff.

Apparently I had burst the disc.

They just said I was going to need surgery right away. Then, of course, it

all very dramatic and it's over and this, that and the other and you can't

wrestle again.

Stone Cold.

wins the Rumble.

When you hear Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels are going to headline

WrestleMania, that's a match for the ages.

So that's good.

The bad is, Shawn Michaels gets hurt.

This is a dream matchup. And right at that

time, Shawn gets hurt.

It's just heartbreaking. It's Shakespearean. It's so tragic.

If you've ever had a back injury, you know how bad. that can be and how bad

can hold you back.

I mean, your back is everything in this business.

Sitting up, getting pinned, kicking out.

I mean, the most basic of basic things in a professional wrestling match you

would be so limited by.

Sean was in the prime of his career, and to all of a sudden look at it and have

several doctors tell you, you're never going to wrestle again.

Take all that in, and then it's like, well, hold on.

If I can do therapy and all that kind of stuff, I can get through a match at

WrestleMania.

You know, and of course the doctors looked like, well, you know, I mean,

technically, I guess you could, but I wouldn't recommend it. I mean, it's, you

know, it can be really dangerous.

I give Vince a call and it's like, so if I can just maybe

come in for TVs and let me just do therapy on this thing, I can get to

WrestleMania.

He was in no condition to perform in the ring the night after the Rumble, but he

wanted to be on Raw that night. Last night I went to bed, and I turned.

John needed to take time off, but there was also just a lot going on up here

with Sean.

There is only one more mountain for Stone Cold Steve Austin

to climb.

Not only...

is the heartbreak kid, Shawn Michaels, at the top of that mountain.

He owns that mountain.

This was a guy who was legitimately bitter about not being smack in the

of the spotlight.

Here's the thing. When you're a top guy and you're carrying a company and

they're depending on you, that's a big responsibility.

On top of that, there's a lot of ego involved because, I mean, everybody

pride in being number one.

I just know that the guy... Probably wasn't the best state of mind business

-wise, and he wasn't real enthusiastic about passing the torch to myself.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, the heartbreak kid, lays

down for absolutely nobody.

It's like, technically, that's the right guy, but when you're getting replaced,

it's never fun.

You have to protect Shawn along the way to this match just in the hopes that

he'll heal up so that he can do the magic that Shawn Michaels does.

Interestingly, at the same time that the Michaels -Austin rivalry was taking

place, both WWE and WCW were locked in a death match for television

ratings. The NWO is the reason for the success of Monday Nitro.

At that stage, no one really knew who was going to win.

Mike Tyson will be with us where we hope to make a huge announcement.

Mike Tyson brings a lot of eyeballs from boxing and mainstream media to what we

do.

And there he is. Iron Mike Tyson is in Fresno.

When he came in the door, I was like, okay.

For a group that couldn't be beat.

Just something for you to think about, maybe, you know. And I'd like to do

And you can fit it into your schedule, you know.

I don't recall them ever letting me know up front what we were going to do with

that. Iron Mike was Iron Mike.

You watched him, and you still recall the ferociousness, the dominance that he

reigned over the sport of boxing.

And, of course, some of it is infamous.

When you bite a van to Holyfield's ear.

I mean, there's little to nothing that you won't do.

And so that means anything's up for grabs.

And so when you watch Mike Tyson, you want to see, okay, what's he going to

The baddest man on the planet.

Ladies and gentlemen, Iron Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson in a WWF ring.

Let's hope it's not the last time we see Mike Tyson in a WWF ring.

I'm a wrestling guy. I've been watching wrestling since the 70s, since Bruno

Sammartino. Bruno Sammartino.

Took my sister's stockings and put her stockings on and tied some shirt around

my ankle for ankle pads and stuff. And then make a belt and wrap it around my

waist and had a belt.

Man, I go way back from the 70s. I'm just proud to be involved.

So, it's like a dream come true.

But Stone Cold Steve Austin ain't having it.

Mike Tyson is standing in Stone Cold's ring.

And business is damn sure about to pick up.

Something's about to pop off.

That's what we see in the neighborhood.

I ain't going to shake your damn hand because I ain't out here to make friends

with you. I respect what you've done in the boxing world.

But son, when you step in this ring, you're messing with Stone Cold Steve

Austin. And that's something you don't do.

It's the craziest thing of.

Because at the time, Mike Tyson was the craziest thing ever in boxing. And Stone

Cold Steve Austin was the craziest thing in wrestling. So to see these two

worlds collide raw was crazy.

What I'm telling you is I want a piece of Mike Tyson's ass.

Whoa!

Who the hell says that? Nobody.

Who the hell says they want a piece of Mike Tyson?

Right now, you got your little beady eyes.

Locked on the eyes of the world's toughest son of a bitch.

To see the only person I've ever seen not back down made Steve

the baddest man on the planet.

Do I think you could beat my ass? Hell no. Do I think I could beat your ass?

Why, hell yeah.

I don't know how good your hearing is, but if you don't understand, What I'm

saying, I always got a little bit of sign language, so here's to you.

Whoa!

Mark Tyson is standing in Stone Cold's ring.

To have Tyson as part of this promotion was a natural fit.

There was an electricity and there was friction that people felt was real, and

they wanted these two to collide.

Let's just be honest. Jim Ross yelling Tyson and Austin, Tyson, Austin. It's

of the greatest moments in WWE history.

He has had a good time. We were fighting our ass off having a ball.

Tyson wants Austin!

Austin wants Tyson!

There's a big crazy brawl and Vince is yelling.

Mike

Tyson

has gotten the go -ahead to get back into the ring, only this time it's the

wrestling ring.

Iron Mike Tyson is back in the fight, this time on a wrestling match.

Stone Cold Steve Austin stepped into the ring, yelled at Tyson, and things got

ugly. That was one of the greatest scenes in wrestling history.

Every local news channel. Every local news channel had that. Everybody in the

country, everybody in the world knew who Stone Cold and Mike Tyson were at that

point. It wasn't a great time.

Let's just say that.

Because I was in WCW, okay?

You know, we was on a great run at that point in time, and then all of a sudden

the pendulum, you know, shifted.

It was the most effective use of an outside celebrity ever. I credit the

WWE beating WCW in the Monday Night Wars in a lot of ways for that Mike Tyson

run.

Came water cooler talk, brought many people to the business of pro wrestling,

and we thrive because of it.

Look, everybody knows that the WWE is always about going beyond just the

wrestling business.

That's exactly what Mike did.

It was game -changing.

Mike Tyson will be, in effect, the enforcer. He will be on the outside of

ring in somewhat of a guest referee capacity.

With Mike there, it'll draw more attention to the athleticism and the

showmanship of the athletes in the World Wrestling Federation and more attention

to the World Wrestling Federation in general.

The story evolved.

Mike Tyson becomes the special enforcer.

He's going to assist in helping the referee.

When it comes down to it, Steve, it's going to be you and me. I don't need any

help. I didn't get where I got.

I'm glad to hear that. I need a bunch of help. It's going to be you and me. I'm

going to be there, too, just in case.

Mike, I know you're going to be there. Yeah, just remember that.

Those three are going to be in the ring at WrestleMania.

We thought this is going to be amazing. Don't know what's going to happen. Have

no idea.

Don't care.

You're going to see a car wreck, and it's going to be beautiful somehow.

We know that.

End result is going to be Stone Cold Steve Austin is going to open up a can

whoop -ass, and Shawn Michaels is going to eat it one way or another.

You know something?

Yes. I choose to make an ass out of a toughest SOB. I can do that any time I

want.

This is chaos.

Good morning, the Fleet Center.

WrestleMania 14 tickets?

Okay, if you'd like to purchase tickets through us, you would either go through

Ticketmaster or you'd have to come to the box office in person.

I've been here since 10 p .m. because I want to see Stone Cold where Tyson's at.

I get up at the crack of dawn for this.

Boston, 316.

Tyson's going down.

Folks, the Fleek Center in Boston is sold out for the March 29th event. There

ain't a ticket left.

Right here!

They were gobbled up in less than two minutes, 90 seconds to be exact.

I got two ringside. Hey, Vince, I'm going to WrestleMania!

We had seen tension starting to bubble over between Mike Tyson and Stone Cold

Steve Austin. But then one Monday night, Shawn Michaels comes to the ring.

Here we go. I am calling your ass out right now.

You get your people out of here. I'll get my people out of here. And you and

will handle this.

For Mike Tyson now to be with one of your hottest groups was gold.

And it was also something that the audience never expected

in a million years.

It also stacked the deck against Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Mike Tyson with the, you know, doing all this. It was cool.

Still get this.

Take a picture like this, Mike.

I love it.

be the enforcer at WrestleMania.

Now the enforcer isn't going to be fair, we feel. Now he's a part of this

faction of DX, which stacks the deck even more against Stone Cold Steve

Those were the things that were really good and enjoyable about that time.

Right now, in the moment, you're out there with Mike Tyson.

What's going to happen if Stone Cold gets in your way?

I'm going to knock him out.

What it comes down to at its foundation is good versus evil.

Throughout the weeks, they do things where they tie Steve up in the ropes.

We

all

wanted to see Stone Cold finally get to the top of the mountain.

But now Stone Cold has to deal with Shawn Michaels.

And apparently Mike Tyson is fighting on the side of Shawn as well.

Your ass belongs to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

WrestleMania 14, March 29th. Austin, Michaels, Tyson, the

son. And that's the bottom line.

Because Stone Cold said so.

Shawn Michaels has apparently re -injured his back while training just a

days ago in San Antonio.

Shawn had gotten injured at the Royal Rumble, and the word was he would be in

shape to wrestle until WrestleMania.

When best meets best, when Stone Cold meets the Heartbreak Kid, I want you to

at your best because an ass -whipping is always the same, no matter how good a

shape you're in.

I think it was stop and go from Royal Rumble all the way to Mania as to

or not Sean would actually make it. And there were different instances and

different times where Sean would threaten he wasn't going to make it

his back.

Working day to day was miserable. You can't do anything to get comfortable.

can't stand.

You can't sit.

You can't sleep.

There just weren't a lot of times that I wasn't in a miserable state.

He was angry and bitter about it, and drugs and alcohol didn't help that.

So it was a tough place for him.

The closer it got, the worse it got.

This Sunday, Stone Cold, the Heartbreak Kid, is going to turn your

lights out for the last time.

We want to thank everybody for coming out to the D -Generation X public.

The build -up to this match, they're holding open workouts like boxing or

which I thought was so cool.

The public workout was designed as a photo op between myself, Sean, and Mike

Tyson. I think they figure, I don't know, you know, 1 ,500, 2 ,000 people

come.

We're in the limo. We come driving up, and it's like 10 ,000 people out there.

It is a mob scene.

It was a madhouse. It was insanity.

I don't know that the city was prepared for as many people as showed up, so

security was an issue, for sure.

The World Wrestling Federation is doing you the honor by bringing you

the greatest event in sports entertainment history.

So we're out there cutting the promo, and all of a sudden, just somewhere out

loop.

Boom. As he was cutting a promo, somebody threw a battery at him and hit

the face.

Mother. And then I turned around and I just started leaving the room.

That would piss anybody off, but when you wound up as tight as Sean in about a

place as Sean was, it really ticks you off.

I'm out of here. Hunter's like, what?

John obviously is off the rails to some degree.

at this point in time in his life.

Let's not have anything thrown if you want to hear from DX and the World

Wrestling Federation champion.

Sean turned around and went back to the limousine and refused to come out of the

limousine and refused to go out and do what we needed him to do.

I'm in the limo and Shane McMahon's in there. Shane drove with us and, you

you got to go back out there. I'm not going out there. You guys can kiss my

You're going to be lucky if I make it to WrestleMania.

So I went to the limo, and I pleaded with Sean, and I begged Sean to please,

please do this. And he was like, there's no security out there. I'm not doing

it. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

It's okay.

What are you going to do to Stone Cold Steve Austin if he gets in our face?

Bring on the indeterent, baby.

Now, Stone Cold, I want to see what might happen.

Before you know it, right at the time that Sean was supposed to hit in the

I felt a kick in the back of my head as Sean had leaped over me to get into the

ring and actually do what he was supposed to do.

I come out of the limo, run up there, put two boots to him, tie him in the

ropes, do the kiss on the head.

It all added to his aura of this arrogant ass who needed to get put in

place. At the end of the day, he did everything he was asked to do.

I was a young, immature drug addict, so I was absolutely freaking livid.

The reason that it always makes it hard is because you know the truth. And the

truth is, Steve was the next big thing.

It's just a tough pill to swallow.

Where I was at the time did not have the ability to handle that well.

It wasn't always easy being Sean's friend.

It wasn't always easy just being around him all the time.

It really was a situation of kind of having each other's back through thick

thin. In many ways, we were very similar.

Right.

Sean was moody. Sean was very difficult to deal with at the time.

You know, that's what drugs do to you. You're very moody. And you can be up one

second and down the next.

Hey, is that Sean? No. Okay.

Sean had a lot of substance issues at the time.

Pulling into a hotel, Sean being completely passed out in the car,

himself, pushed him to his room, and then, you know, took care of it.

I don't know what would have happened if he wasn't there to sort of babysit.

Where are we going?

I don't even know where to go.

He could have, you know, washed his hands and said, look, dude, you know,

is going too far. I'm not going to stick by you. You can go do all this on your

own. If you get your backside handed to you, you get your backside handed to

you. He never did that.

He stuck by me.

If it wasn't for Triple H, I don't know if he would have made half the functions

that he needed to get to to make that match happen in the ring.

Sean was battling back issues, and Sean was second -guessing everything because

Sean was also looking at the reality that he may never wrestle again after

WrestleMania.

I was on fire, you know, and I was blowing past everybody.

He had been there pulling the wagon, you know, working his ass off. You know,

took a lot of pride in his job. You know, all of a sudden, here comes a

horse, and we're going to put the saddle on this horse.

You know, he didn't like it that much.

One thing I'm going to do because it sucks is I'm going to make this rough on

everybody.

I'm going to make sure everybody knows that this is a huge pain in the ass for

me and I'm going to be a huge pain in the ass to everybody.

The greatest pay -per -view extravaganza ever, WrestleMania 14.

It's WrestleMania, Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, and Mike Tyson is there as our

special enforcer.

Most people did not want to talk to me that day. I think Steve maybe came in

once, and I've never done a WrestleMania with that little information.

I put him in a really crappy spot. I mean, it was tough.

The only way I can describe Sean's behavior prior to WrestleMania 14 is

strange, but only strange in the sense that I wasn't around him.

It wasn't him, really, that I was angry at.

He's the greatest WWF champion of all time, folks.

In my mind, I was being discarded.

You know what I mean?

Can you feel the emotion that we're all experiencing here as the

WWF championship is about to be put on the line?

The number one contender for the WWF title, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Must overcome the greatest WWF champion of all time and the baddest man on the

planet. Iron Mike Tyson, he looks in great shape too.

And again, how can he be impartial?

You always knew whenever Shawn stepped up to bat, he was going to hit a home

run.

I always made sure that

no matter where he was on WrestleMania, his match was the one to beat.

Nobody has ever, ever outperformed Shawn Michaels in a big match situation.

It don't get no bigger than this.

And I think that aggravated him more than probably anything.

He couldn't give you what he wanted to give you because his body wouldn't let

him.

This is it. The World Wrestling Federation title.

Stone Cold Steve Austin against Shawn Michaels.

Shawn Michaels is dealing with a legitimate back injury.

Working injured and working hurt are two different things.

He wanted to be the guy, and he was the guy, and then he got injured right

before what could have been one of the greatest matches of all time.

To know the type of style Shawn Michaels is capable of doing, the Shawn Michaels

that we know, the showstopper, the entertainer, the best entertainer in the

business has ever seen.

We don't know that until the match goes on and happens.

Nobody has ever, ever outperformed Shawn Michaels in a big match situation.

And folks, it don't get no bigger than this.

I tell them my joy was inside the ropes, and that was always the best time to

me. Everything to me came down to my performance.

Folks, I've been doing this a long time. I never felt this intensity.

Sean's the best in the world when the bell rings, even if he's in a bad place.

You can tell because of who he is, he was pushing through 100%. The

biggest thing was my

lack of mobility. Again, my brain working.

Like that, and my body not responding to it.

I think Sean is hurt. I think he's hurt bad.

It is ridiculously disheartening when your mind and your heart want to do

something, but your body just won't let you.

To watch him and think and know

that he pretty much has a broken back and to see what he did that night.

The match

is

reaching that crescendo.

The referee gets taken out.

There's only one man who can step in and fill the shoes of the referee in this

match. And you know that it's Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson has to go from enforcer to referee.

Mike Tyson has got to do something now.

You firmly believed that he was down with DX and that he would cost Steve

Austin the championship.

That's how it felt. That's what it seemed like was going to happen.

Austin ducked it. Austin going for the stunner and Michael's counter.

Michael's going for another kick.

Austin, he got it! The stunner!

Mike Tyson in!

Austin has the champion!

Stone Cold!

Stone Cold!

The Austin era has begun!

To finally be the world champion, it felt right.

Stone Cold's eight -year journey!

has been culminated with WWF gold.

Mike holds your arm up in the air. It ain't going nowhere because Mike's

your arm up in the air.

This is the start of the next chapter for WWE because we never really actually

had a champion like Stone Cold Steve Austin.

It felt like that was the passing of the torch from one era to the next, and now

it was Steve's ball to run with.

We've got a new WWF champion.

Mike Tyson holding up the 316.

I don't think Shawn Michaels can believe what he's seeing.

Michaels said, no, Mike, you were supposed to be with me.

Shawn looks at Tyson like, what the hell did you just do?

You were supposed to be one of us.

Oh, Michaels insulting Tyson.

Michaels standing up to the baddest man on the planet.

If you're going to go out, go out with style. Go out in a blaze of glory.

All right, hand.

Down goes Michaels.

We kind of went over it in the back.

And I just remember sort of telling him, like, I'm going to go like this. I

mean, and he moved so fast.

He's like.

A right hand.

Tyson. Tyson. There goes Michaels.

The trail.

The trail.

Mike Tyson has knocked out Shawn Michaels.

Ladies and gentlemen, will you ever forget WrestleMania 14.

For Shawn to still get up and do what he had to do with Mike Tyson, knowing that

this might be the last time I ever do this.

Oh, damn.

All right, hand!

Down goes Michaels!

At the end of the matches, we see Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna, all of DX

embracing. It's almost like it's one last goodbye.

There's an eerie feeling that tomorrow is going to look very different.

for all of the action.

The idea of not going out on your own terms and then realizing that there's

absolutely nothing on the other side.

I grab my stuff and I'm leaving. And as I'm getting escorted out, I hear talking

or whatever, what's going on there? Like, well, that's a press conference.

Steve and Mike and Vince are all in there.

Shawn Michaels says, I don't lay down for anybody.

I didn't ask him to lay down. I hit him with a stunner. One, two, three. He was

looking up at the lights, so I beat him.

Me and him knew what we were going to do. We were going to take this title. We

fooled the Degeneration Act all the time.

As the two of them were talking, I looked out the back door, and I saw a

injured Shawn Michaels limp by.

And Shane comes running up to me.

I once again cursed him and then turned around and kicked the door.

I have no idea what I was going to do other than make a scene.

Yeah, it's selfish and it's stupid, but that's where he was at that time.

Any time that you have the new guard come in and the old guard leaving, it's

tough moment.

All the focus now was on Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Austin went on to be the guy, and Steve Austin went on to be the face of the

company for several years, basically solidify his place in the history books.

The era of Steve

Austin really, really changed the face of WWE. All of a sudden, we became the

hottest TV show in the world. And Steve Austin was the driving force behind WWE

being on top.

Can you imagine the lost opportunity?

We have the Attitude Era, and we have Stone Cold. We stay incredibly hot. Then

you have The Rock get hot. Can you imagine we'd had Shawn Michaels during

time? Well, talk about this, because it's a short -lived rivalry.

So a lot of the rivalry, a lot of the discussion around it is, we only got one

match. Yeah.

Steve has so many matches with The Rock. He would have had that many or more

with Shawn. Shawn would have had that many with The Rock. I mean, the lost

opportunity for the world of wrestling is immeasurable.

You certainly have a lot of what -ifs. Time, wisdom, maturity, and all those

things take me to a different place just because of where my life went to.

Shawn Michaels took several years off and got his stuff together, if you will.

This last match, March 29th, 1998 at WrestleMania.

He got a whole second run of a career, but he also had lost all of the negative

baggage to where now he was just a pleasure to be around.

He seemed like a completely different person, a changed man. At least maybe

mind was rested and he wasn't so cocky.

Just as Shawn is healed up, like two shifts in the night, Stone Cold Steve

Austin is the one that's saying goodbye.

And ironically, Shawn's first WrestleMania back in WWE is Steve

last WrestleMania in the WWE.

Austin saluting these fans here at WrestleMania.

After I retired and he was retired, I mean, we went hunting a few times.

It was kind of a new venture for him. It was something that I'd been doing my

whole life. It gave us something to actually talk about because we didn't

too much in common.

He'll call every now and then. He's like, how are you feeling? How are you

walking and stuff?

Stone Cold!

Steve Austin!

This is an incredible...

After years go by, Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels get one more WrestleMania

moment together.

My childhood hero, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, in there with us.

Ha ha ha ha! It's Big Shizzle! He's a sexy boy!

That in and of itself is like, how do we get to this point?

Oh no!

You get to see Shawn Michaels and Austin have a moment together in the ring.

Your ass

belongs to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Shawn and Austin is a classic rivalry, but I don't think it's the rivalry that

we expected.

Shawn was legitimately going through something terrible.

Steve was on the hottest run of his life, and they're in each other's way.

Steve was the perfect guy that they wanted to see him absolutely murder me.

That rivalry is what made Steve Austin

the number one guy in WWE.

The Austin Era!

has begun.

All the pieces of the puzzle said, here's your champion right here.