WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin recently shared his thoughts on the legendary WrestleMania 13 Submission Match against Bret “The Hitman” Hart being honored as the inaugural “Immortal Moment” in the WWE Hall of Fame. The announcement was made during WrestleMania 41 weekend, solidifying the iconic bout’s legacy in professional wrestling history.
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Austin looked back on the match, its groundbreaking impact, and what the honor meant to him personally.
“I knew that was a great match, no doubt,” Austin said. “I noticed it as it was going down because Chicago’s Rosemont Horizon—probably my favorite building to work in—and I love Bret Hart. We just always had great chemistry from day one.”
Austin revealed that WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H was the one who personally delivered the news.
“Triple H gave me the call. He said, ‘Hey, man, we’re thinking about doing this, and this is gonna be the first match to go in.’ I have such a long list of great matches in my mind that could’ve gone first, but this one obviously made sense.”
The match is widely considered one of the greatest in WWE history, not only for its storytelling and physicality but for the monumental double turn it delivered—Bret Hart turning heel and Steve Austin’s rise as the anti-hero babyface that defined the Attitude Era.
“This is one of the great matches, but just the historical impact that it had on the rest of the business after this match unfolded—where Bret would go on to become a heel, I would turn into an anti-hero babyface and have the Austin run—I couldn’t have had that run without Bret,” Austin emphasized.
Austin credited Vince McMahon’s vision for the successful double turn, suggesting it came from a deeper understanding of storytelling in wrestling.
“It was Vince’s vision… I guess I didn’t see the big picture that Vince saw of turning me babyface. Certainly, I was becoming one just from crowd response. Vince had that vision. We did the turn, the double turn, and executed that with perfection.”
He also praised others who contributed to the moment’s success:
“Shout out to Ken Shamrock, who was a big part of it, as well as the announce team. It was awesome.”
Reflecting on the experience, Austin added:
“It was a great night at the office. Every time you go in the ring, you want to have a match like that. That doesn’t always happen, of course, but at the highest level, we were able to execute and go out there and have a great match.
It’s just a big honor to go in and be the first match of this kind to start this new trend.”
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more exclusive coverage from WrestleMania 41 weekend and beyond.
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
