Steve Austin has explained why his rivalry with Vince McMahon worked
The Texas Rattlesnake spoke to Chris Van Vliet for a new interview recently. He discussed things such as his cats becoming internet celebrities, his WrestleMania match with Kevin Owens, and more.
When asked how the legendary rivalry between him and Vince McMahon began, the former world champion claimed that he doesn't really remember the origin of it. Though he recalled a promo from the September 22, 1997 episode of Raw, when Steve Austin first acknowledged McMahon as the owner of WWE:
“I don’t remember. I just remember he was interviewing me one time. He was talking about whoever was the President at the time. But I said on the interview, I said, everybody knows you’re the boss, Vince. And I think maybe that was when he woke up and said, Hey, let’s do this."
The rivalry between the two that started in 1997 became the biggest storyline the wrestling world had seen at that time. Being the center story of WWE through the Attitude Era, the feud is credited as the rivalry that helped WWE get the advantage over WCW and win the Monday Night Wars.
Discussing what made the whole thing so special, Stone Cold Steve Austin explained that it was a story that connected with even those who were not fans of wrestling. He mentioned that at some point in their life, everyone has fantasized about punching their boss, and he became the one who really got to do it:
"That was a feud that transcended the wrestling business. And even if you didn’t, even if you weren’t a wrestling fan, per se, you were interested in being entertained. So you put on to see what this motherf*cker from South Texas is terrorizing his boss from New York City.
Of course, Vince is from North Carolina, but you know, he’s the guy with all the money, and here’s this guy that he’s trying to give a hard time to and make everything hard for him. He’s outsmarting him, and he’s kicking his ass. At some point in anybody’s life, they’d like to punch their boss in the mouth. When it was time for me to get mine in, I did.
Steve Austin also noted that he doesn't know what the former WWE chairman is up to nowadays. When asked if he was surprised at how far the former wrestling executive was willing to go in their story, the Attitude Era star replied negatively. He mentioned that McMahon considered himself to be the leader of the pack and was willing to go to any length because of it. According to Austin, they were the perfect rivals for each other.