Stone Cold's Most Memorable Matches, Moments in WrestleMania History

Few Superstars in WWE history, if any, have been more popular and more integral to the company's success than "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Austin was the face of WWE during the prosperous Attitude Era, and his swashbuckling style played a major role WWE's triumph over WCW in the Monday Night War.

The Texas Rattlesnake had countless memorable moments during his time atop WWE, and many of them came on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

From his classic submission match with Bret "Hitman" Hart at WrestleMania 13 to the final match of his career against The Rock at WrestleMania XIX, Austin left an indelible mark at WrestleMania.

Here is a look at the top WrestleMania matches and moments from Stone Cold's Hall of Fame career.

Double Turn with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13

During the months leading up to WrestleMania 13, Austin was gaining significant fan support despite doing overtly heel things, such as screwing over Bret Hart to win the Royal Rumble.

Austin's actions in the Rumble helped set the stage for a WrestleMania clash with Hart. However, a normal match wasn't enough to settle their heated feud.

Instead, Austin and Hart were booked in a submission match, with Ken Shamrock serving as the special guest referee.

Austin and Hart put together a fantastic contest that is not only viewed as one of the best in WrestleMania history but also one of the most outstanding in the history of professional wrestling.

The end sequence is what truly put the bout over the top, as a busted-open Austin was stuck in the Sharpshooter for minutes but refused to get up.

The look of agony on Stone Cold's blood-covered face is among WWE's most iconic images, and it played a big role in the explosion of Austin 3:16.

Stone Cold passed out from the pain, which allowed Hart to win, but The Hitman wasn't satisfied with getting his hand raised and attacked a beaten and bloodied Austin after the match.

The crowd had started to lean toward Austin during the contest because of his courage, and Hart's actions completed what was perhaps wrestling's most flawless double turn.

That turned out to be Hart's final WrestleMania match until WrestleMania XXVI, as he joined WCW several months later. But he left WWE with a great parting gift by launching Austin and his popularity into the stratosphere.

Stone Cold Becomes WWE Champion for 1st Time at WrestleMania XIV

WrestleMania 13 perfectly set the table for the coronation of Stone Cold that would occur in the main event of WrestleMania XIV.

With Hart in WCW, it was clear the time was right to make Austin the face of the company, and that is what happened when he beat Shawn Michaels to become WWF champion for the first time.

After winning the 1998 Royal Rumble, Austin took aim at both Michaels and Mike Tyson, whom WWE brought in to be the special guest enforcer for the WrestleMania XIV main event.

Austin and Tyson had a memorable brawl on Raw, and it was soon revealed that Iron Mike was a member of D-Generation X.

The odds were stacked against Austin at WrestleMania since Tyson, Triple H and Chyna were seemingly all backing up the Heartbreak Kid, but The Baddest Man on the Planet had a change of heart and made the three-count for Austin at the match's conclusion.

After Tyson knocked out Michaels, Austin enjoyed a raucous celebration and ushered in a new era in WWE.

The company had already been trending toward the Attitude Era that fans remember so fondly today, and Austin's coronation cemented the philosophical shift that helped WWE win the Monday Night War.

Although the match wasn't the type of masterpiece you normally see out of Michaels on the Grandest Stage of Them All, it served the purpose of getting Austin to another level and of passing the torch to the guy who helped take wrestling back to mainstream prominence.

Austin Turns Heel, Joins Vince McMahon at WrestleMania X-Seven

After beating The Rock for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XV, Austin went one-on-one with The Great One for the second time at the Showcase of the Immortals when they locked horns at WrestleMania X-Seven.

The Rock entered the event as the WWE champion, and Austin was tasked with knocking him off his perch on the heels of winning the 2001 Royal Rumble, marking the record third Rumble win of his illustrious career.

It was announced prior to the bell that Austin and The Rock would be doing battle in a No Disqualification match, and that stipulation added an element of brutality that arguably made WrestleMania X-Seven's bout Austin and Rock's best encounter.

The contest was a back-and-forth affair, and it seemed as though both Superstars were on the verge of winning on countless occasions.

Things got interesting when Vince McMahon made his way to the ring, as the assumption was he would help The People's Champion because of his longstanding hatred for Stone Cold.

Instead, Austin called for McMahon to give him a steel chair, and the WWE chairman obliged. Stone Cold decimated The Rock with the weapon before finally pinning him to become the new champion.

After that match, Austin and McMahon celebrated with a handshake and a beer bash, which was a shocking scene few wrestling fans could have imagined they would ever see.

Despite the shock value, Austin revealed in a 2016 interview with Ring Rust Radio that he would have gone against the heel turn in retrospect:

"Well, first of all, it was my idea to turn heel. If I could do it over again, I would have shook Vince's hand and told him, 'I'm calling an audible, watch the Stunner,' and that's what I would've done. Some people say they were glad I turned heel because I got to show different levels and ranges and all that other stuff. Yes, I did, but the money was in 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin being a babyface. At that point, people didn't want to hate me, and I tried like hell to get them to hate me.

"I did the best I could, but then again, it didn't matter if I had opponents or not, it just wasn't the right call, and it was my idea. Vince would have totally gone along with anything I called because he always told me I had the best game-day gut instincts of anyone he ever knew. I felt it, but once I committed, man, that's where I wanted to go. Hindsight being 20/20, had I called that audible, he would've been fine with it."

Austin's heel character didn't take off like he and WWE hoped, but the heel turn did effectively boost The Rock's babyface popularity even more.

Aftermath notwithstanding, Austin's deal with the devil at WrestleMania X-Seven is an iconic moment that will always be remembered in the annals of WrestleMania history.

Austin Loses to The Rock in His Final Match at WrestleMania XIX

Austin's swansong as an active professional wrestler occurred at WrestleMania XIX, and it came against a fitting opponent in The Rock.

Having already beaten The Rock at WrestleMania XV and WrestleMania X-Seven, the time was right for Stone Cold to put his greatest rival over on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

Nobody except Austin and a select few others knew it would be his final match, but there were plenty of warning signs looking back.

Austin's vest had "OMR" on it, and in later years, Stone Cold revealed it stood for "one more round," indicating he would never step inside the squared circle as an in-ring competitor again.

Stone Cold and The Rock went on to have yet another great match, which featured no shortage of memorable moments, including The People's Champion stealing and wearing Austin's vest.

The rivals traded finishers and even stole each other's signature moves, as Austin hit The Rock with a Rock Bottom and The Rock countered with a Stone Cold Stunner.

In the end, The Rock hit three consecutive Rock Bottoms to put Austin away and score his first victory over The Texas Rattlesnake at the biggest event in sports entertainment.

Austin and The Rock appeared to share a special moment immediately after the match, as they exchanged words and showed mutual respect.

Although WrestleMania XIX marked an earlier end to Austin's in-ring career than most would have liked, he went out on a high note and put an exclamation point on what was a remarkable run in WWE.