10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 1998

#6 Stone Cold threatens to kill Vince McMahon

WWF at its controversial best

As all fans of professional wrestling know, the feud between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon is generally considered one of the most important in the history of the business as a whole. The two complemented each other so well, with Austin as the all-American hero of the new millennium who distrusted authority and Vince as the embodiment of evil corporate management.

The feud really began in earnest after Stone Cold became WWF Champion at Wrestlemania 14. Vince essentially told Austin that he would have to learn to be more 'corporate-friendly' or else face the consequences. For the rest of 1998, the WWF main event scene was built around Vince's attempts to keep Stone Cold from holding his company's main belt.

Perhaps the apex of the rivalry, at least as far as 1998 was concerned, occurred immediately after Vince fired Stone Cold for not doing his duties as a referee in the Kane and Undertaker WWF Championship match. Austin had basically been screwed out of the title despite defeating Taker at Summerslam a month earlier.

Vince's plan backfired, as Austin was now a former employee with nothing left to lose. He would proceed to stalk his former boss throughout the RAW episode, eventually kidnapping Vince who was confined to a wheelchair at the time. Austin rolled McMahon to the ring and placed a gun next to the Owner's temple.

In what has become a legendary scene, Austin pulled the trigger to unveil a piece of cloth attached to the gun with 'Bang 3:16' written on it. In a humiliating scene for McMahon, Austin then let the viewing audience know that the owner had wet himself out of fear.

In many ways, this kind of scene was made possible by the earlier rivalry between Stone Cold and Brian Pillman back in 97. Vince had worked out that controversy was the key to his success, and this realisation led to many similar promos and backstage segments throughout the rest of the Attitude Era.