What if the Montreal Screwjob didn't happen?

#3 Stone Cold Steve Austin wouldn’t have had the perfect nemesis in Mr McMahon

Steve Austin was ridiculously popular, but he needed a timeless foe to make his story perfect.

The rivalry between ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Mr McMahon is widely regarded as the greatest feud in professional wrestling history. The promos, brawls, betrayals and shocking segments between them were instrumental in elevating Austin’s own character to new heights.

But these wouldn’t have happened without Montreal.

Austin was a rising star at the time of the Screwjob but was arguably #2 or #3 in terms of popularity at the time – depending on whom you ask, behind only Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. The events of Montreal and their immediate aftermath were both critical in catapulting Austin to superstardom.

With Bret gone, WWE needed a new babyface that everyone could rally behind. And once Shawn left following his near-career-ending back injury, Austin was virtually unopposed at the top of the WWE.

What’s more, Austin’s antihero and anti-corporate mentality were gaining widespread popularity at the time. But this persona needed an ideal villain to fight, and that villain was Mr McMahon.

Without Mr McMahon – who, as we’ve established, couldn’t have come about without the Montreal Screwjob – Austin’s anti-corporate war wouldn’t have had as much popularity nor would it have been as convincing to the audience.

If Austin merely wrestled other wrestlers in wrestling matches in a wrestling ring, the stories Austin would’ve told wouldn’t have had that transcendental power that his feud with McMahon did. Austin needed an arch-nemesis that couldn’t wrestle but could get others to do his dirty work for him for this rivalry to work perfectly.