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Post by The Rick Jericho on Jan 12, 2021 19:34:17 GMT -5
What was personally your best year of Stone Cold Steve Austin in the WWF? 1999 takes the care for the most successful as he drew the most money that year.
But from a sheer entertainment value point, which year did you enjoy him best?
1996 - Starts as Ringmaster and slowly transforms in a Stone Cold way. From purposely getting DiBiase fired, to winning the King of the Ring, then slowly starting his obsession with Bret "Hit Man" Hart.
1997 - Starts the year feuding with Bret leading to a blood match between the two at Wrestlemania. Turns face and is white hot until Summerslam when he suffers a stinger. All it does is make him even more over. Segment after segment, stunner after stunner on WWF officials. Ends the year with a 2nd IC title run.
1998 - Becomes WWF champion and takes it to another level. Feuds with DX, Dude Love, Undertaker and Vince.
1999 - Shatters business records after records. Feuds with The Rock, Undertaker and the Corporate Ministry and HHH before getting run over by a Rikishi.
2000 - Comes back in the fall, goes after Rikishi. Gets a couple of feuds here and there starts to feud with HHH.
2001 - This could be a lot of people's favorite year. Starts the year winning the Rumble, feuds with HHH in an excellent No Way Out Match. Wrestlemania X-7 is one of the best main events ever. Becomes a psycho with HHH and the two man power trip. Fake face turn as leader of the WWF. Comedic heel as leader of the Alliance and earlier in the year as Kurt Angle's and Vince McMahon's trio. Ends the year a face again, loses WWF title one last time. 2001 was his comeback at his FINEST which proved he could still go in the ring.
2002 - Starts the year not doing much. Then feuds with the nWo and Scott Hall. Starts a feud with Ric Flair. Then another with Eddie Guererro. Then walks out due to WWE wanting him to job to Brock Lesnar on live TV.
2003 - Returns at No Way Out. Has last match with Rock at Wrestlemania. Then becomes co-GM of Raw in the spring. Brings back the IC title. Was a good part of the Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff feud in the fall.
2004 - ATV Austin. Had a cool brawl with Brock before Wrestlemania. Departs WWE.
So this isn't his best year in terms of kayfabe, it has to be 1999, it's what year and form of Steve Austin did you enjoy best?
I'm going with 1997. Better theme song and his gimmick of a loner who just kicks ass and is a bad ass. He was becoming too overpowering on WWF TV, especially the spring and summer of 1997. He was as fresh as he could be.
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Post by thegame415 on Jan 12, 2021 20:12:39 GMT -5
1998 for me. Insanely over, WWF champion, McMahon feud at its peak, awesome feuds with Undertaker and Dude Love.
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Jan 12, 2021 20:12:58 GMT -5
1998 he became larger than life and even though the Monday Night Wars would go on for 3 more years, you could tell that WWF had the win coming with him as the ace.
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Post by The Thread Barbi on Jan 13, 2021 11:33:58 GMT -5
1997 was the best version of Austin.
Austin vs Hart > Austin vs McMahon for me
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Post by jason1980s on Jan 13, 2021 11:40:21 GMT -5
1997 and 1998 are probably tied but 1996 was pretty great too. Coming in as Ringmaster and even early on in the Stone Cold days he was probably destined to be on the card level of a Duke Droese or Bob Holly. Not his fault, just bad booking by WWF. They, like WCW, probably didn't see much in him. It was also bad he came in at the very decline of the Million Dollar Corporation so basically all the failure of every other member was on Steve at this point. I do wonder, push wise and merchandise wise how things would have gone if Jake Roberts wasn't doing his bible thumping character in WWF at the tine. I'm sure he would have gotten over eventually the same way it played out with his biggest feud of the year being with Bret Hart but merchandise wise Austin 3:16 shirts were such a huge seller I wonder what kind of t shirts they could have made to sell just as good.
I personally would say 1997 was his hottest year. Everything from that year culminated up to his 1998 title win. I know the feud with Vince McMahon was the hottest thing on TV but everything up to that point was better, IMO. His peak was the McMahon feud and for me it just seemed like everything after that had to be downhill.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Jan 13, 2021 11:57:13 GMT -5
1997 for me was the best combination of his in-ring and character work.
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Post by 4real on Jan 13, 2021 18:08:42 GMT -5
98 is possibly the best year any wrestler has ever had. Austin was so ridiculously hot in 98 I hadn’t seen anything like it since Hogan. I know the stuff from after he loses the title in September to being ‘fired’ at Judgment Day has been overplayed to death but at the time it was incredible stuff.
My big argument against 97 is the neck injury. And he hadn’t quite hit into top gear like he did in 98.
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Post by David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 on Jan 13, 2021 19:00:05 GMT -5
I'd say his best year was 98, when combining his position in the company, feuds, popularity, etc. However, 97 is my personal favourite.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 13, 2021 20:50:34 GMT -5
I voted 1998. It's just too strong.
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mcstoklasa
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Post by mcstoklasa on Jan 13, 2021 22:18:32 GMT -5
I will now rank em..
98- He was super over. The Vince feud was fantastic. Match quality was pretty decent.
97- I had to put this over 99, just barely. Austin's character work and the turn from heel to face was incredible. Seeing him turn into the top guy.
99- This year as a whole gets a bad rap but I think people still enjoyed Austin. Still SUPER over. Man, his pops this year were insane. Really starts the awesome feud with The Rock here. The McMahon feud still has much to offer. Probably a few too many matches with Taker by this point. Bows out in November.
2001- Match quality was the best of his career. His character work as a heel was really brilliant. But. But... it turns out that this is the last full year run or his career, and he's a heel. It shouldn't have happened. Rock was gone, and Austin didn't have a real top guy to work with until Angle. Yeah I know he feuded with Taker yet again.
For as entertaining as he was in 2001, and he says he was getting stale, the fact is his baby-face run from his comeback in 2000 to mania in 2001 he was still SUPER over. The feud with Trips was awesome. And he was having actually better matches. It's such a waste.
96- Watching him slowly make his rise is great to see in retrospect.
2000- So we have Backlash 2000. Then he comes back at the tail end of the year and whilst the Rikishi angle wasn't great, it was so nice to have him back. Enjoyed his match with Trips at Survivor Series and the HIAC 6 man. I think he had a technical match with Benoit too. I LOVED the face run from here to Mania x7 and I wish he never turned.
2003- Had 2 matches with Bischoff. Bows out by putting The Rock over. Not interested in the post in ring career stuff.
2002- Apart from one Flair match on RAW... SHITE. I NEVER rewatch his stuff from this year. Yeah his pops were still big but it just wasn't the same. His matches started to suck, his body was breaking down. It's like agree going so hard in 01, that he was just totally done by Jan 1st 2002.
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Post by mcstoklasa on Jan 13, 2021 22:20:55 GMT -5
1998 he became larger than life and even though the Monday Night Wars would go on for 3 more years, you could tell that WWF had the win coming with him as the ace. What's crazy is that his body was breaking down on him before he even won the WWF title the first time. After that pile-driver. He managed to see all of 98 and 99 (until November) through and secure a run on top. But his hourglass was always running real real quick.
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Post by angelofapocalypse on Jan 13, 2021 23:25:21 GMT -5
1997, because of his feud with Bret Hart and it lead him to superstardom. I'd rank 2001 his second best year, as his character went to uncharted territory; turning heel. And, teaming with his arch nemesis, Triple H, and the chairman himself-- Vince McMahon, that year.
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Post by sfvega on Jan 14, 2021 9:03:24 GMT -5
He was more over in 98, but I preferred 97. His work was great pre-neck injury and obviously his chemistry with Bret is undeniable. 98 was more character work, 96 was maybe his best year as a technician in the WWF, but 97 is a great blend of both. His best matches and his white hot face reactions.
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auph10imitated
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Post by auph10imitated on Jan 14, 2021 17:32:13 GMT -5
1998 was the year of Stone Cold. As great as his progression in 1997 and as hot as he was in 1999, 1998 was the ultimate year!
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Post by Venti on Jan 15, 2021 11:52:08 GMT -5
As iconic as his run was in 1998 and 1999, in terms of sheer entertainment value, the stuff he did all throughout 1997(and the second half of 1996) is my favorite thing in wrestling. Ever.
When you go back and watch those shows, he steals the show, even if he's only cutting a 2 minute promo.
Plus, having Bret to play off of worked so well. As much as I love the rivalry with McMahon, the matches and segments Stone Cold had with Bret Hart are so intense and believable.
Plus he had just a little more edge to his character im 1997. By the time he was champion and the certified top guy, he had to tone down a couple things and be less vicious and more of an everyman character. Like for example, it's almost jarring to hear him in 1997 telling the crowds to "knock it off" when they're cheering him, considering the relationship he built with the fans over time.
So yeah, I go with 1997 for this one.
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Post by BRAINFADE on Jan 15, 2021 12:18:18 GMT -5
His best year was undoubtedly 98. He was firmly the top guy in the WWF and the entire business, and pretty much single-handedly turned the company back into a money making juggernaut. The live audience and TV audience were there for him- not DX, not Undertaker, not even the Rock yet, they wanted to see Stone Cold Steve Austin.
That said, my favourite period for Stone Cold was from about September/October 96 to August 97- basically from when he started his promos calling out Bret to when he injured his neck at SummerSlam. During that window he was the most complete performer in American wrestling.
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Post by Milkman Norm on Jan 16, 2021 11:17:32 GMT -5
If it were a choice I would have said March 97-March 98. That was his peak period imo. I went with 1998 because he was the guy and the stuff with Vince was so good. But in all honesty the last 1/3 of the year kinda falls apart.
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Post by greyfmdan on Jan 16, 2021 18:46:10 GMT -5
Hard to choose between ‘97 & ‘98. But I think it says a lot about both his wrestling skill and strength of character, that he was able to transition his style from technician to brawler after the neck injury, without his character & heat missing a beat.
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Post by Magnus the Magnificent on Jan 16, 2021 19:49:44 GMT -5
He entertained me the most as the sadistic psycopath who wasn't afraid to do comedy in 2001. Way better match quality, too.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jan 18, 2021 16:48:47 GMT -5
He entertained me the most as the sadistic psycopath who wasn't afraid to do comedy in 2001. Way better match quality, too. Co-sign. I loved heel Austin, I loved goofy Austin, and I loved 'f*** it, he's bleeding to death and the chair didn't work and cheating didn't work, let's try the Million Dollar Dream'
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