WWE’s most important period — the Attitude Era — was defined by one man: Stone Cold Steve Austin. His legendary run started at WrestleMania 41 when he defeated Shawn Michaels. But the follow up feuds were key for his long-term success.
Following his remarkable win, Steve Austin engaged in a feud with Mick Foley. “The Texas Rattlesnake” and the “Hardcore Legend” shared the ring multiple times during that period and had many hard-hitting matches.
In a recent edition of his Grilling JR podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recounted their feud in 1998 and the countless bouts they had. Despite Foley being known for his extreme and high-impact style, he claimed that Mick was a safe in-ring worker. And Austin had a great deal of respect and trust in Foley for that reason.
Steve Austin Held A Long-Time Grudge Against Owen Hart?
This led to a discussion with co-host Conrad Thompson if there were any performers Austin would not work with due to safety reasons. And surprisingly, the name that came up was WWE legend Owen Hart.
“I don’t think Steve was extremely pleased with that opportunity,” Ross said. “I think he held a grudge against Owen because Owen was careless on that Piledriver and Austin paid the price for that the rest of his career. I’m not sure Austin would have ever wanted at that time [to work with Owen Hart]. Maybe later on it would have been a different ballgame, but at that time Owen was not welcome into the Austin world.”
In their 1997 SummerSlam match for the Intercontinental title, Hart broke Austin’s neck on a poorly executed pile driver. It cost him a year of his career and set the stage for more neck issues in the years ahead. It is part of why the move was banned for a long time in the company.