The “Most Satisfying Moment”
During a candid interview on DJD Classics, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin identified the single most satisfying moment of his entire career: his legendary match against Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13.
“To answer your question, that match in WrestleMania 13,” Austin said, explaining that his feud with Vince McMahon was “water cooler talk” and his matches with The Rock were a “hell of a ride,” but the Hart match stands alone. “Laying there in that pool of blood. Most satisfying moment in my career.”
The Story of the Double Turn
The match was famous for executing a rare “double turn,” where Austin entered as the villain and left as the hero. “When I went out there, I was pretty much universally received as a heel, but there was a lot of positive response,” Austin recalled. “By the end of that match, I had went from a heel to a baby. He went from a baby to a heel.”
He described the atmosphere in the building as electric. “I knew we had those people from Jump Street… we had that crowd hook, line and sinker,” he said. “And I was going to pass out in the pool of blood.”
An Unplanned “Pool of Blood”
The iconic visual of Austin passing out in the Sharpshooter with his face covered in blood was not part of the original plan. “I start bleeding like a stuck pig,” he said. “The pool of blood was not planned… there was a no color policy in effect, and I was laying there bleeding like a stuck pig.”
“It was, it was an extended period of time laying there, passed out… I had just performed my ass off. Worked my ass off, so did Brett,” Austin stated.
Trust in “The Hitman”
When asked who he trusted most in the ring, Austin named Hart without hesitation. “There’s a lot of guys like that,” he began, “but if I got to give you one. One guy, you know, Bret the Hitman, yeah, he was just awesome.”
“There was a trust and respect there from day one,” Austin explained. He credits Hart for helping to establish his main event career. “He had taken a year off, and he picked me as his opponent to come back, and that helped me before, you know, we would end up feuding… that was the match that really made and launched my career. I’ve given Bret Hart so much credit for that.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit DJD Classics with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can watch the full interview on the DJD Classics YouTube channel.
