Austin vs . McMahon Austin vs . McMahon was a popular feud in the World Wrestling Federation , starting in 1998 , that pitted Stone Cold Steve Austin against WWF Chairman Vince McMahon . The end to the feud is unknown . Some claim it ended during the Invasion Angle , while some insist that it is still going today , just in an inactive role , since Austin is incapable of wrestling due to problems with his neck . Regardless of when it ended , when it was in its prime , it was one of the most popular feuds of the day , and arguably one of the greatest feuds of all time . Some believe it was this feud alone that kept WWF alive during the Monday Night Wars ( see “ legacy ” below ) . One thing is certain , however : It was one of the most commercially successful storylines of the 90 ' s , and is regarded as one of the greatest and most important wrestling feuds of all time . Feud . Pre - feud setup . When Stone Cold Steve Austin won the WWF King of the Ring in 1996 , he coined the phrase " Austin 3 : 16 says I just whipped your ass ! " He then went on to feud with Bret Hart , who took great exception to his raunchy antics . The feud culminated in a match at WrestleMania XIII , in a submission match with Ken Shamrock as the referee . The match ended in a no - contest when Austin passed out from a combination of blood and pain from Hart ' s signature sharpshooter submission hold , but never tapped out . Following this match , he and Hart engaged in a rare double - turn , causing Steve Austin to become a face . After this , Steve Austin went on to feud for the Intercontinental Title , but forfeited it prior to the 1998 Royal Rumble , saying he had “ bigger fish to fry . ” The fans knew immediately that this “ bigger fish ” was the WWF Title . Austin won the Rumble , which guaranteed him a title shot at the main event at WrestleMania XIV . Beginning of the feud . Leading up to WrestleMania and Austin ' s title shot , Vince McMahon ( who , up until then , had the kayfabe job of merely a commentator ) , announced that he did not want Austin to become champion , which shocked the audience . This set the stage for a feud that would arguably change the wrestling business forever . To help ensure that Austin would loose at WrestleMania , Vince solicited the help of legendary boxer Mike Tyson to be the enforcer for the main event . However , at WrestleMania XIV , Tyson double - crossed McMahon and made the count for Austin on Shawn Michaels . 1998 . After winning the WWF Championship , McMahon presented Austin with a new , Attitude Era title belt , and told him to tone down his behavior . Austin responded by stunning McMahon . The next week , Austin agreed to side with McMahon , as he appeared in a suit and tie . However , at the end of the promo , he low blowed McMahon , ripped off his suit to reveal his normal attire , and said that this would be the last time he would dress like this . After that humiliation , McMahon became obsessed with getting the WWF title off Austin . His first attempt to do so was at , where Dude Love challenged Austin for the WWF title . However , this ended in a no contest when the referee was knocked out and required medical attention ; Austin pinned Dude Love and made the three count himself , which was not accepted by WWE records . To rectify this issue , McMahon booked a rematch at , only this time , Vince McMahon himself would be the referee . Austin nevertheless prevailed , by knocking out Vince McMahon and using Vince ' s limp arm to make the three count . McMahon would continue to throw curveball after curveball at Austin , eventually getting the title off of him at King of the Ring ( 1998 ) , when he solicited Kane to face Austin in a first blood match . Kane won , but only because the Undertaker interfered . The next night , Austin , insisting that it was the Undertaker who busted him open , challenged Kane to a rematch , so that Kane could “ make it count . ” Kane promptly accepted the challenge ( via nodding , since he did not speak at the time ) , and Austin went on to reclaim the WWF title . Still persistent , however , McMahon devised a plan to put Austin in a triple - threat match at against both Kane and the Undertaker for the title . However , the match was a “ triple threat ” only in name , as Kane and the Undertaker were forbidden to fight each other . In the end , they had both incapacitated Austin , but could not decide on who got the pin . In a compromise , they both pinned Austin simultaneously . To solve the confusion , McMahon declared the title vacant , and had Undertaker and Kane wrestle each other at for the vacant title . In an attempt to humiliate Austin , McMahon named him the referee for the match . However , Austin betrayed his duties , and refused to make the count for either one . Because of this , McMahon fired Austin . However , Austin would return later on , and point a toy gun at McMahon ' s head that , instead of bullets , shot a sign that said “ Bang 3 : 16 . ” Austin then pulled out an envelope that had in it a contract that guaranteed at least one title shot , claiming that it was Vince ' s son , Shane McMahon , who had signed him . Outraged , Vince demoted Shane to a lowly referee . McMahon decided to give Austin that title shot in a tournament for the still - vacant title at Survivor Series 1998 . In the quarterfinals of the tournament , Austin faced Mankind . After the normal referee had been knocked out , Shane McMahon came out to apparently make the count for Austin , but instead flipped Austin off , revealing that the entire contract was just a way to get Austin back into the WWF and screw him once more . The winner of the tournament was The Rock . 1999 . Austin , enraged by the deception , demanded a spot in the 1999 Royal Rumble . Surprisingly , McMahon gave it to him ; however , he named Austin # 1 in the match , meaning that to win , Austin would have to survive for more than an hour . Shawn Michaels , however , who had recently been named commissioner of the WWF ( and given an iron - clad contract , meaning he couldn ' t be fired ) , decided to throw a monkey - wrench into the project , and named McMahon # 2 in the Rumble , meaning that Vince would have to square off against Austin . To combat this , McMahon offered one hundred thousand dollars to whoever eliminated Austin in the Rumble . Despite this , Austin lasted until the final two ( the other one was Vince himself ) and was only eliminated due to a distraction from the Rock . The next night , on Raw , Vince relinquished his title shot . This turned out to be a huge mistake , as Shawn Micheals and Austin appeared on the Titantron . According to Micheals , “ If the winner of the Royal Rumble is unable or unwilling to face the WWF Champion at WrestleMania , then the runner - up takes his place . ” Austin , who was still hungry for Vince ' s blood , offered to put up his title shot to the The Big Boss Man ( who won third place in the Royal Rumble ) if Vince could beat him at in a steel cage match . McMahon agreed , but pointed out that the contract that Shane had signed him to forbade him to so much as lay a hand on Vince outside of a sanctioned match . For the rest of the month , Vince tried to goat Austin into hitting him , so he could be fired once more , even visiting Austin in his favorite bar in Texas . Austin showed incredible restraint , and , as a last resort , Vince spat on him during the heat prior to the PPV . Austin merely said he would leave the spit there and use McMahon ' s blood to wipe it off later that night . During the cage match , Austin showed complete dominance over McMahon . However , Vince played a trump card when the Big Show made his debut in WWF and attacked Austin . However , Vince ' s plan backfired , as Show threw Austin into the cell wall so hard that it gave way , causing Austin to fall to the ringside floor and get the win via escape . Leading up to WrestleMania XV , Mankind asked to be the special guest referee for the main event . Vince agreed on one condition : That Mankind could beat Austin in a match with Big Show as the referee . If he lost , however , Big Show was the referee . Mankind won the match via countout , but still had to beat Big Show at WrestleMania XV . Big Show got disqualified when he chokeslammed Mankind through two chairs ; however , Mankind was injured and was rushed out of the arena in an ambulance . Vince then declared that " he " would be the referee . However , when it came time for the main event , Shawn Micheals intervened once more , with a deus ex machina that only the commissioner could appoint of a referee for the main event at Wrestlemania , even when it conflicted with the Chairman for some reason . Whatever the logic behind this arbitrary rule , the bottom line was that , with an impartial referee officiating the match , Austin prevailed over the Rock . Austin would later lose the title to the Undertaker . However , in a major swerve , Stephanie and Linda McMahon announced that they too were part owners of the company , and kayfabe relinquished Linda ' s position of Chief Executive Officer to Austin . In an attempt to rid the McMahons from his life forever , Austin offered to put up his fifty percent of WWF ownership against Vince and Shane ' s fifty percent in a winner - take - all handicap ladder match at King of the Ring 1999 ; on top of that , no interference from McMahon ' s stable ( the Corporate Ministry ) would be allowed , otherwise the match would be immediately stopped and the McMahons would be disqualified ( a rare occurrence , when disqualification is possible in a ladder match ) . However , the McMahons tricked Austin in an unforeseen manner , by having the briefcase rise up to unreachable heights when Austin climbed the ladder , but lowered back down when the McMahons climbed up . The next night , however , Austin trumped the McMahons yet again , when he said that , when he was CEO , he wrote himself a five - year contract , and booked himself into a title match against the Undertaker . Austin would win the match and become a four - time WWF Champion . In a last resort to get Austin out of his hair , Vince offered an “ all or nothing ” proposal : Austin would defend the WWF Title one last time against the Undertaker , this time in a first blood match . If the Undertaker won , Austin may never again get a shot at the WWF title , whoever the champion may be . If Austin won , Vince would leave WWF forever . This match was won by Austin . Vince left kayfabe ownership of the WWF to his son , Shane . Months later , Vince would make an appearance once more ( not for WWF business , but to defend his daughter ' s honor against the stalking Triple H ) . Austin offered to reinstate Vince , claiming that the contract they signed for Fully Loaded allowed him to do so , on one condition : Vince ' s first action back would be to grant Austin a WWF title shot ( which Triple H had recently won ) . Vince quickly agreed , but did not specify a time or place . A few weeks later , Vince announced that the title shot would take place at Survivor Series 1999 ; however , before the match could take place , Austin was run over by a speeding car , shelving his career for nine months . 2000 . In his return at Unforgiven 2000 , Austin embarked on a mission to find out who ran him over . Soon , Rikishi admitted to doing it . Austin and Rikishi would square off at No Mercy 2000 , where Austin beat Rikishi . After Armageddon 2000 , Austin demanded that Vince place him in the Royal Rumble . Vince reluctantly agreed , citing “ the interest of fairness . ” Austin entered the Rumble at # 27 and won , guaranteeing him a title shot at WrestleMania X - Seven , as well as making him the first person in history to win the Royal Rumble three times ( the second one to do so was John Cena ) . At WrestleMania X - Seven , the match was suddenly and surprisingly declared “ no disqualification . ” This ended up being the plan all along , as Vince came out and assisted Austin in winning the WWF title for a fifth time . After the match , Austin and McMahonn shook hands , forming an unholy alliance , to which Jim Ross remarked that Austin had “ sold his soul to Satan himself . ” Austin quickly became soft , hugging Vince McMahon at random times . He would then team up with Triple H to form the The Power Trip strengthening his heel status . During the Invasion Angle , where the team of WCW and ECW teamed up to form “ the Alliance ” to fight the WWF , Austin had briefly changed back to his old , rebellious self at Vince McMahon ' s begging , only to defect to the Alliance , reinstating the Austin vs . McMahon feud full force . After the Invasion Angle , Austin was supposed to wrestle a match on Raw , but he legitimately no - showed the event , causing Vince McMahon to legitimately fire him . After he was reinstated months later by Eric Bishoff , he then retired full - time due to neck problems that he had been experiencing since Owen Hart had botched a piledriver on him in 1997 , breaking his neck . Austin retired from in - ring duty ; however , still being under contract with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWF ' s new name ) , was contractually required to perform any “ safe ” things , such as be the co - General Manager of Raw and be referee for various matches . In 2007 , at WrestleMania 23 , Austin was the referee for the " Battle of the Billionaires " pitting Vince McMahon against Donald Trump . The Austin vs . McMahon feud was referenced numerous times during this angle , leading some to believe the feud is still going . Legacy . Austin vs . McMahon was one of the most commercially successful feuds in recent memory . Some argue that , after the Montreal Screwjob , WWF would have gone out of business due to many outraged fans boycotting the WWF , had it not been for this feud . Many argue that this feud epitomized the Attitude Era , and many message board inhabitants regard this feud as one of , if not the greatest feud of all time . This feud helped make Stone Cold Steve Austin arguably the most popular superstar of all time taking him from a standard midcarder making a generic rise to the main event , to a bona fide wrestling phenomenon .