'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Names His Favorite WWE Rivals

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin had a long list of rivals throughout his 13-year career, with The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle being among some of the best. According to "The Rattlesnake," however, one wrestler stands above the rest as his greatest in-ring adversary. 

Speaking on "Insight" with Chris Van Vliet, Austin named Bret Hart as his best rival inside the squared circle, stating that nobody could match the chemistry he had with "The Hitman." According to Austin, their contrasting personas complimented each other.

"Bret Hart's the best there is, the best there was, there ever will be," Austin said. "Bret, I love working with that guy. We just had instant chemistry. He was a student of the game and a student of other promotions and he had seen what I was doing in WCW, the Stunning Steve Austin, and he knew his style and my style would work well together and it did. Just a trash talking heel that I was, and he was that steady workaholic, working babyface ... I'm very thankful to that guy because he meant a lot to my career."

Despite Hart being his best in-ring nemesis, Austin admitted that the biggest rival of his career was undoubtedly former WWE CEO Vince McMahon.

"Vince, great chemistry," he claimed. "He was the mastermind. I don't know what he's doing now, but that was a feud that transcended the wrestling business. And even if you weren't a wrestling fan, per se, you were interested in being entertained. And so you would put on to see what this motherf****r from South Texas is terrorizing his boss from New York City."

Although McMahon was Austin's greatest rival, when it came to taking his iconic Stunner, the former Chairman was arguably the worst at selling the move according to the six-time WWE Champion.

"Easily Vince is the worst," Austin said. "Vince had so many opportunities and they were always so awful, especially that one at WrestleMania, whichever one it was. It was the one with Kevin Owens. ... It was just terrible, and so, I had to start laughing because I mean, you got to let everybody know that, hey man, this is really bad."

Austin admitted that Vince's wife, Linda McMahon, also ranks high on the all-time worst Stunners list. He feels bad that the move didn't go as planned, but Austin credited her for being a second mom to him during his WWE career.

The WWE star then named which of his opponents were the best at taking the Stunner, explaining that The Rock and Scott Hall are among some of his favorites, but praised Austin Theory and Pat McAfee for the way they sold the move at WrestleMania 38.

"Good kid. I thought man, the sky was the limit for him. He took a great one. McAfee took a great one ... of course when he tumbled out of the ring, he was still drinking the beer while he's laying on the mat. F*****g classic. What an entertainer."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.