Steve Austin Felt His First WWF Championship Win ‘Sucked’

Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin winning his first WWF Championshop in the main event of WrestleMania XIV.

The match is seen by many as a turning point in WWE‘s history, as it not only crowned Austin as its top guy for the Attitude Era but it brought the company more attention from outside the professional wrestling world with Mike Tyson working as the match’s special enforcer.

But despite the match being such a pivotal moment for his career, Austin was incredibly critical of it when looking back on the match during an interview with WWE’s YouTube Channel.

“We didn’t get a chance to pull out all the stops,” Austin said about his match with Shawn Michaels. “I didn’t get the best out of Shawn Michaels, and he didn’t get the best out of me. I walked right back past the blue curtains and there was Vince (McMahon). I looked at him and I said, ‘Man, that match sucked.’”

Austin broke down a lot of the details surrounding the build-up and the match itself, starting with the questionable status of Michaels.

“We didn’t know if Shawn was going to get in the ring,” Austin said. “He really wasn’t in a good place at that time in his head, in his back. He was beat up, battered. I was on fire. Tyson came in, he was a the X-factor. A lot of outside eyeballs were coming into the product and we were able to capitalize on that, but the bottom line was the match even going to happen.”

Michales had been battling a back injury that he’d suffered in a match with The Undertaker months prior. He’d remain retired from in-ring action following his match with Austin up until 2002.

Austin also revealed that at one point McMahon pitched the idea of he and Tyson fighting each other, which Austin wanted no part of.

“Hey man, I was Stone Cold Steve Austin. And when I’m Stone Cold Steve Austin I’m in 150 percent. I was smart enough to know, I knew my place. My role is in a WWE 20 by 20 (ring). I’ve got no business going up against Mike Tyson and him killing everything I’ve built up by him knocking my ass out within 20 seconds of the bell ringing.”

Despite Tyson having no wrestling experience, Austin commended how he went about himself during the match.

“I was wondering how Mike was going to be once everything started going,” Austin said. “And he seemed to be very calm on the outside. He maintained his resolve. Mike is Mike, but when you tell him something he gets it.”

Austin famously won the match by countering Michaels’ Sweet Chin Music finisher twice and hitting a Stunner to secure the pinfall. Tyson, who had alinged himself with D-Generation X in the build-up to the match, turned in the final moments and counted the pin as the referee was knocked out.

While he may not have been satisfied with the WrestleMania match, things immediately picked up for Austin as he began his legendary feud with McMahon the following evening.