A true badass never taps out.
- His now-legendary "Austin 3:16" promo upon winning the 1996 King of the Ring, forever cementing his place as a future legend.You sit there and you thump your bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says "I just whipped your ass"!
- Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold, WrestleMania 13.
- The end of the match had Hart putting on the Sharpshooter on Austin, and Austin is bloodied and desperately crawling to the ring ropes and passes out in a pool of his own blood. That iconic image would be the start of Austin's WrestleMania moments of glory.
- The fans' support for Stone Cold's refusal to tap to the Sharpshooter, despite being a heel, is what would more or less jumpstart his turn to fan favorite and resident badass of the WWF.
- There's a moment when Austin begins to pull himself up as if he is going to break the Sharpshooter, and the blood really starts to pour down. The fan response is chilling.
- SummerSlam 1997: Austin's neck was infamously broken in a ring accident when Owen Hart botched a Tombstone Piledriver on him. Despite being temporarily paralyzed and in agony, he still pinned Hart to win the damn match.
- The match that started the Attitude Era — "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 14.
- His feud with Vince McMahon, considered to be the greatest rivalry in Professional Wrestling history, was so huge he became The Hero figure of the WWF on top of the biggest name in the business.
- It all begins on Monday Night Raw, September 22, 1997. Vince tries to talk to Austin about his recent behavior. Austin doesn't care what Vince says and stuns him for the first time.
Austin: I appreciate the fact that you and the World Wrestling Federation care. And I also appreciate the fact that, hell, you can kiss my ass! (proceeds to give McMahon a stunner)- A standout moment: Austin finally gets to wrestle Vince, in a steel cage no less, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1999. It quickly turns into Stone Cold kicking Vince's ass all over the arena. At one point, Vince is flung from the top of the cage through the Spanish Announce Table, and when Howard Finkel attempts to announce Austin as the winner by forfeit, Austin snatches the mic from him and gives us the following gem. Rarely is this level of sadism so awesome.
Austin: That's bullshit! [Crowd pops] When I came here I said, I made a few guarantees going into this match which haven't happened yet. As far as I'm concerned, the match never really started, because the bell never rang, and we was never in the ring at the same time, so, AH-AH, he ain't gonna lose that easy! [Crowd pops again] Now, jackass! Jackass, that's you in the black! Is the son of a bitch still breathing? Well, since he is still breathing, [Looks at the crowd] if you want me to finish this can of whoop-ass, gimme a hell yeah!Memphis: HELL YEAH!!!Austin tosses the mic to the referee and climbs out of the cage to chase after Vince as they frantically try to wheel him away. - Any time he gets behind the wheel (a monster truck, beer truck, The Rock's Cadillac, cement mixer) one can expect this. The most awesome is regarded as when he drove a Zamboni up to the ring in Detroit so he can fly over the cops protecting Vince McMahon.
- A moment that may rival the awesomeness is the beer truck. Austin drives a beer truck to the ring, and cuts a fantastic promo on the Rock while standing on top of the beer truck.Austin: For the last few weeks, I come out here, and I sit here and listen to you spin your little nursery rhymes about "Jabroni Avenue" or "Know Your Role Boulevard"; Jesus Christ, son, you better get your ass serious, because Stone Cold Steve Austin is gonna take his ass to Philadelphia, check right in to the Smackdown Hotel, roll right in to room 3:16, and burn that son of a bitch TO THE GROUND!
- Then, to cap it all off, he gets a hose from the beer truck and floods the Corporation with beer. The crowd was going crazy.
- His Big Damn Heroes moment on the 4/26/99 edition of Raw as he saved Stephanie McMahon from being part of an unholy wedding ceremony at the hands of The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness.
- Once Vince is revealed to have been the higher power that Undertaker answered to, essentially outing him for orchestrating the abduction of his own daughter, his wife Linda gets revenge by stepping down as the C.E.O. of the company and appointing Austin into the role. Austin proceeds to wreak havoc on the corporate headquarters with crazy antics like beer-drinking contests during board meetings and re-locating Vince and Shane's salaries towards beer and medical bills for injured wrestlers. Once Vince and Shane cheat their way back into power shortly after that, Austin shows how much he thought ahead by using his power to write himself an iron-clad contract (where he can't be fired or arrested for attacking Vince, regardless of physical provocation) with a guaranteed no-interference championship match, which he wins that night!
- He had another Big Damn Heroes moment at Backlash 2000 when he showed up to even the odds as the McMahon-Helmsley Faction was interfering in Triple H's title defense against The Rock. Austin's music hit and the crowd responded with what was likely one of the biggest pops in the history of the industry.
- His even greater Big Damn Heroes moment, Stone Cold returning to his old self in 2001, saving Team WWF from the Alliance, entering to a truly massive pop with Conservation of Ninjutsu in full effect. Check it out here
- But the best ever Big Damn Heroes moment? Showing up on Raw after a brief absence, to help Mick Foley win his first title over The Rock, and in the process receiving, quite possibly, the loudest crowd reaction in Raw history. It's glorious.
- His even greater Big Damn Heroes moment, Stone Cold returning to his old self in 2001, saving Team WWF from the Alliance, entering to a truly massive pop with Conservation of Ninjutsu in full effect. Check it out here
- Tying the Undertaker to his own symbol.
- The Raw after Survivor Series 2001 was a simultaneous CMOA for Austin and Ric Flair. For Flair, it was his return to the WWF after so many years and becoming business partners with Vince. For Austin, it was his almost effortless Heel–Face Turn one night after leading Team Alliance against Team WWF in the Survivor Series. Turns out that beating the crap out of Dirty Coward Kurt Angle makes turning face real easy. Observe.
- A championship match on Raw between him and The Undertaker received a 9.1 rating and a 17% audience share, by far the highest rated segment in Monday Night Raw history (yes, even higher than "This is Your Life" note ).
- His "Superstar" promo from ECW. Basically a worked shoot full of Take Thats directed at Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Eric Bischoff and WCW in general, it's a powerful and very personal performance. It's also strangely prophetic of Austin's later career.
- January 12th 2004 on Raw marks the debut of Austin's signature ATV. He first uses it to chase Teddy Long away from the arena during Rob Van Dam's match with Mark Henry.
- After Brock Lesnar attacked him and stole his ATV, Austin appears on the last SmackDown before WrestleMania XX and face off with the Beast himself. Paul Heyman sends the SmackDown locker room to stop him but no one listens to him, not even Heyman's other client, Big Show. Austin enters the ring and beat the crap out of Lesnar, even causing him to bleed, and take back his ATV. Probably the closest thing we have for an actual Austin vs. Lesnar match.
- Austin stunning both Goldberg and Brock Lesnar after their match at WrestleMania XX. The fans are all over him, considering this is Lesnar and Goldberg are leaving the company after this.
- Being the only wrestler to win the Royal Rumble three times, a record that has yet be broken.
- Heck, anytime Austin delivers a stunner to anyone (especially Vince) is a CMOA itself.
- Despite not having wrestled a match in over a decade, the glass shatters at WrestleMania 32 and the crowd erupted in the biggest pop of the night. And this is right after fellow beloved legends Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley had returned as well.
- The 25th Anniversary of Raw starts with Vince McMahon boasting about himself when the sound of glass cracks and Steve Austin arrives, stunning both Vince and his son (the latter twice) and celebrates by chugging down several cans of beer as usual.
- 19 years after his retirement, who would had thought that Austin is given one last match on the first night of WrestleMania 38. After weeks of Kevin Owens insulting Dallas, Texas, Austin accepts Owen's invitation to appear at WrestleMania on the KO Show. After exchanging insults, Owens challenge the Texas Rattlesnake to a No Holds Barred match. The crowd absolutely exploded when Austin accepts the challenge and calls in a referee. Austin shows that he still got it despite his injuries and not having wrestled in two decades, stomping Owens in the corner, taking and giving suplexes and taking KO on a ride on his ATV. Even a Stunner from KO doesn't put him down. At the end, Austin ducks Owens' chair shot (which resulted in Owens hitting himself) and stuns the younger man for the victory.
- And that's not the only WrestleMania moment Austin's gets. On the next night, Vince McMahon won a match against Pat McAfee after the latter's match against Austin Theory. As both Vince and Theory are celebrating in ring, Steve Austin comes into the ring, stuns Theory away and stares at his long time enemy. Just when Vince thought that he and the Texas Rattlesnake can bury the hatchet once and for all, Austin stuns him, making sure Vince will never have the last laugh.
- In One Night Stand 2005, Austin made an appearance after the match between the Dudley Boyz vs. Tommy Dreamer and Sandman to deliver some promos of him being impressed by the level of grit occuring in that PPV while also belittling JBL, Kurt Angle, and Eric Bischoff; Furthermore, Austin actually got massive cheers from the incredibly passionate (and possibly hostile) ECW audience despite his short tenure there before his move to WWE. Austin was just that charismatic.
- With hindsight, delivering a stunner to Donald Trump at WrestleMania XXIII. That's right. Stone Cold gave the stunner to a president.
