Although the relationship between Austin and Federation owner Vincent K. McMahon had always been less than cordial, the hatred between the men intensified after the Rattlesnake won the Federation Championship. Austin did not fit McMahon's ideal of a champion, and the Federation owner immediately set out to take the title away from Austin.
| McMahon searched throughout the Federation for the competitor that would be able to soundly defeat Austin in the ring, hopefully breaking his spirit in the process. First up was Dude Love, who came close, but never quite succeeded in taking down the Rattlesnake. Kane did manage to wrest the Championship away from Austin for one day, but Stone Cold proved resilient enough to bounce back and regain his belt. Finally, at SummerSlam 1998, Austin faced his greatest test to date, barely managing to defeat the Undertaker in an extremely brutal contest that took an incredible toll on both superstars. |
After SummerSlam, the battle lines were clearly drawn, and McMahon intensified his efforts to destroy Steve Austin. These plans proved to be temporarily successful, culminating with Austin losing his title in a three-way match against Kane and the Undertaker, and then actually being fired from the Federation for a brief period.
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Through some complex legal maneuvering, Austin was quickly reinstated into the Federation. afer winning his steel cage match against the Federation owner at the St. Valentines Day Massacre, Stone Cold is now headed to WrestleMania to face the Rock for the Federation Championship, and there isn't anybody that will be able to stop him from regaining the gold!!!� |
