[Moho Hwoarang]

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin appeared on a recent “UpUpDownDown” livestream for the WWE 2K23 launch event where he discussed a wide range of topics.

During the livestream, Austin revealed that he hated his WrestleMania 14 match with Shawn Michaels where Mike Tyson was the enforcer, who counted the pinfall that earned Austin his first WWE Title. Michaels retired from wrestling after the match until returning in 2002 due to a bad back. He said,

“That was a big deal for me as it is for everybody. The match, on a one to five, is a two. I mean, Shawn, I consider from bell to bell, when the bell rings from the beginning to the end, I consider Shawn to have no peers. Now, Bret as far as realism, you can’t top him. Flair is my traveling World Champion. I mean, he’s the man. But from bell to bell talent wise, no one can lace Shawn Michaels boots. So to go out there and have a lackluster match with him and in the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania, and that was a sold out show and it’s a small building compared to nowadays, that was a big deal. We had Mike Tyson there. I remember when Vince told me one time he said, ‘You know, I’m thinking about bringing Mike Tyson in.’ I said, ‘Why are you going to bring in Mike? He’s like, ‘Why am I going to bring in Mike? Because he’s really, really over.’”

“When Mike came in, me and Mike hit it off, and he was over. He brought a lot to it, so it was cool being out there with Mike. Me and Shawn could have had a way better match, but he was in a bad place. He was injured. I was just red hot. When I got the stunner on him, Mike quick-counted me. He didn’t give me that slow championship pace. But to answer your question, I hated that match. I love Shawn. I have the utmost respect for him, but I don’t consider that to be a good match at all.”

 

[Jersey]

Shout out to Austin.

 

[Uncle Iroh]

Yeah, I always hated that Tyson quick counted.

 

[LPPrince]

Know what, I respect that view of it

 

[[The_Game]]

Didn’t need Tyson in the middle. Austin v Michaels was a blockbuster matchup.

 

[validreasoning]

Didn’t need Tyson in the middle. Austin v Michaels was a blockbuster matchup.

Without Tyson its nowhere near the success it was. Shawn as great as he was was never a draw and Austin pre Tyson wasn't either.

Tyson was massively important to that show doing the business but yes the match fucking sucked, everything about it.

 

[Angleholic88]

You just know Shawn and HHH got in Mike Tyson's ear and told him it would work best if he did a fast count.

 

[[The_Game]]

Surely the fast count was part of the script. Couldn’t imagine Tyson calling the match as normal.

 

[Geeee]

Obviously, when you hear Shawn Michaels vs Steve Austin you expect an all-timer, which it wasn't but I thought this match was pretty good

 

[AliFrazier100]

I think the fast count was just Tyson not knowing what he was doing.

There's a reason he was "special enforcer" and not the ref.

 

[promoter2003]

I heard Austin say this before about the match sucking. Thing is we were lucky to even have HBK show up to put him over. HBK was in terrible shape since the Rumble and didn't have a match until Mania.

It sure wasn't the KOR 97 match that's for sure.

 

[DoctorWhosawhatsit]

I might be in the minority but I LOVE that match.

It has it flaws but and had Michaels not been injured.. among other things.. could have been a true classic, but, as I said, I still LOVE it.

Didn’t need Tyson in the middle.

yes it did. WWF had to throw everything possible at that Mania

 

[WWE2014]

It wasn’t that bad.

 

[Honey Bucket]

The final three count at the end was just confusing, doubly so as it was never referenced again and Tyson never appeared again. Still, people were just happy Austin won, like he was destined to.

Austin post-Summerslam 97 was never the same rabid animal as he was prior to this, but still this was the last of the truly unhinged and utterly violent Austin.

 

[FrankieDs316]

I always thought the fast count was cause Tyson didn't know what he was doing or Vince told him to fast count in case Michaels tried to pull some shenanigans

 

[redban]

The fast count was just part of the angle. Tyson was ostensibly on DX’s side. The fast count was supposed to be the big reveal that he’s on Austin’s side.

I doubt Tyson did the fast count to protect Michaels. Tyson didn’t care: at the end of the show, Tyson put a t-shirt over Michaels face after the knockout punch. That t-shirt moment wasn’t part of the script, and Michaels backstage threw a tantrum. Michaels felt that, even though he was the heel, he didn’t deserve to go out with that degrading image, as he and everyone backstage knew he was retiring afterwards. Michaels had agreed to take Tyson’s knockout, but he made clear to Tyson that Tyson was not to put a t-shirt over the face. Tyson did it anyways

 

[sideon]

I might be in the minority but I LOVE that match.

It has it flaws but and had Michaels not been injured.. among other things.. could have been a true classic, but, as I said, I still LOVE it.



yes it did. WWF had to throw everything possible at that Mania

You're not, But people are going to act like they hated the match now that Austin said he didn't like it. No one was talking about match quality after it was over, everyone was too excited that Stone Cold became champ. It wasn't the best Mania match but it was decent and had the crowd the entire time.

 

[TripleG]

I get why Austin feels that way.

But from a fan's perspective, as long as Austin walked out with the title, it was a match that couldn't fail.

I do find it hilarious that the match that didn't need a fast count, the Mania XIV main event, got one, and the match that was built around needing a fast count, the Starrcade 97 main event, didn't get one.

 

[BK Festivus]

At least that match gave us a great meme with Shawn getting flipped off.

 

[RogueSlayer]

I thought it was a decent match considering Shawn was physically and mentally broken at that period of his life.