Steve Austin on his chemistry with Bret Hart, Vince McMahon
Bret Hart was one opponent that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin always loved working with.
Last year, Austin vs. Hart from WrestleMania 13 became the first match to receive a WWE Hall of Fame induction. The two had multiple classic bouts against each other and always showed great chemistry. When asked why that was, Austin pointed to just how good Hart is in the ring.
“Because Bret Hart is the best there is, the best there was, there ever will be,” Austin said on a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
“Bret, I loved working with that guy. We just had instant chemistry. He was a student of the game and a student of other promotions. And he had seen what I was doing in WCW as Stunning Steve Austin. He knew his style and my style would work well together — and it did. Just the trash-talking heel that I was, and he was that steady workaholic working babyface, blue collar if you will, [from] Canada, wearing the pink. Just two styles that would work really, really well together — and it did. I’m very thankful to that guy, because he meant a lot to my career.”
Though Hart, The Rock, and Mick Foley were some of his best-ever opponents, Austin named Vince McMahon as the greatest rival he ever had.
“Vince, great chemistry,” Austin said. “That was a feud that transcended the wrestling business. Even if you weren’t like a wrestling fan per se, you were interested in being entertained, so you put it on to see what this m*therfucker from South Texas is terrorizing his boss from New York City — of course, Vince is from North Carolina — but you know what I’m saying. 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. And 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.”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.