Ranking the top 10 best storylines in WWE history
These are some of the most legendary moments in the wrestling history
WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world, which has a huge global fan base.The company is known for great wrestling performances, wrestling personalities and engaging storylines. The storylines inside the feud has always been one of the major reasons for the success of the company for years. The creative storylines had made some superstars the GOAt of the company and some as the ultimate jobber. Considering the importance of the storyline and the impact it made among fans to make it memorable, here we rank the top 10 best storylines in WWE history:
10. The Brothers of Destruction (Kane Debut)
It is one of the most popular storylines in WWE that has been widely spoken among fans during the later 90’s and early 2000’s. This is one of the fictional storylines of WWE that is still believed to be real for some. In 1997, The Undertaker won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 13 and started a feud with The Mankind and his former manager Paul Bearer. Paul Bearer dramatically threatened The Undertaker by teasing to unveil Taker’s “deepest, darkest secret”.
Bearer said, when The Undertaker was a teenager he murdered his parent’s and his brother by burning them. Bearer was the only witness of the incident, who saved Kane and brought him up in a mental asylum. He also pointed out that Kane’s face was burnt in the incident and he is extremely angry to keep his hands on The Undertaker. The Undertaker refused the accusation and started humiliating Bearer.
At Bad Blood: In Your House, during the Hell in a Cell Match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, Kane made his WWE debut with a red mask and fully covered wrestling gear. Kane broke the door of the cell and attacked The Undertaker with the Taker's move. The Undertaker refused to fight his brother as he promised his parent’s that he will never hit his younger brother.
Kane used this as an advantage and started humiliating The Undertaker on multiple occasions until accepting to have a match. They had a match at WrestleMania XIV, in which The Undertaker won. They again had a match at Unforgiven, in an Inferno Match which was also won by the phenom. They finally united at King of Ring 2008, where The Undertaker saved Kane from burning himself as a stipulation of the match between Stone Cold. The love- hate bromance had occurred on multiple occasions in WWE, but the initial part of the feud remains to be one of the best storylines in WWE.
9. John Cena vs The Nexus
On June 7, 2010 The Nexus made their WWE main roster debut by invading Raw. The group of 8 rookies from NXT under the name Nexus attacked Cena, CM Punk, Luke Gallows, color commentators Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole, ring announcer Matt Striker and Justin Roberts, timekeeper Mark Yeaton and other WWE professionals. They destroyed the ring and assaulted Cena, making it one of the most violent episodes of Raw. They attacked multiple wrestlers the following weeks but the main target was John Cena.
The Nexus had their first match at the main roster against John Cena in a 6-on-1 handicap match (where Daniel Bryan was exiled from the group and Darren Young was attacked by Cena) where the Nexus won. The Nexus interfered in every match in which Cena featured and cost his WWE Championship opportunity. At SummerSlam The Nexus faced Team Cena (Bret Hart, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R Truth and Daniel Bryan. Where Team Cena won as Cena being the lone survivor.
The following night they had the rematch against the seven members of Team Cena in 7 one-on-one matches where the loser got exiled from the Nexus stable. Darren Young is the only one who lost and got exiled from the stable. At Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, Barrett challenged Cena in a hell in a match, in which if Cena lost he would join the Nexus but if Cena won the Nexus would be disbanded. Barrett won with the help of Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty of NXT season 2. Cena then joined Nexus and won the Tag Team Championship with David Otunga.
Barrett faced Orton for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series with Cena as the special referee with a stipulation that if Barrett lost, Cena would be fired and if Barrett won, Cena would be relieved from Nexus. Barrett lost the match and Cena was fired, but Cena continued to show up and caused tension in the Nexus. Which forced Barrett rehire Cena and settle their score in a TLC match where Cena won by dropping 23 steel chairs on Barrett.
8. The Man- Becky Lynch’s Journey to WrestleMania 35
Becky Lynch was one of the baby faces of WWE since her main roster debut. She is the first SmackDown Women's Champion and after losing it she failed to regain it. At Money in the Bank 2018, Becky repositioned her and started a winning streak. This led her to compete for the SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair and Carmella in a triple threat match.
Becky was the favorite to win the championship amongst the three, but was flipped out when Charlotte threw Becky away and pinned Carmella to become the champion. After the match, Becky attacked Charlotte to establish herself as a heel, but the crowd kept cheering her. Charlotte and Lynch had the rematch at Hell in a Cell, where Lynch became the champion for the second time.
On the road to Survivor Series, when Team SmackDown invaded Raw, Becky attacked Ronda Rousey and got her nose broken by Nia Jax. Becky was then replaced by Charlotte to face Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey which ended in a disqualification as Charlotte attacked Rousey with the Kendo Stick. Becky returned and defended the champ in a triple threat TLC match, where Ronda cost her title by pushing Flair and Lynch from the ladder.
At Royal Rumble pay-per-view Lynch entered the Royal Rumble match as a replacement of Lana (who got injured) and won. Despite winning the match and earning a WrestleMania main event match for the championship, Becky injured her knee and was replaced by Charlotte Flair. Lynch refused to seek medical attention and claimed her spot at Mania. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon tried to convince her, but she attacked them and was suspended for 60 days.
Ronda Rousey then requested Stephanie to add Lynch to the match and her suspension was withdrawn. Lynch was said to face Flair at the Fastlane to qualify for the match, in which Lynch won by disqualification and added to the match. Charlotte meanwhile won the SmackDown Women’s Championship and transformed the match into the winner’s take all match. The trio then went for a brutal war against each other on Raw causing a police arrest of the three. At WrestleMania 35, Becky defeated Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair to become the first wrestler to hold both Raw and Women’s Championship at the same time and the first one to pin Ronda Rousey.
Also Read: Ranking the top 10 greatest WWE Superstars of all time
7. DX Reunion 2006
Shawn Michaels was in a feud with Mr. McMahon, where McMahon interfered in almost every match of HBK and controlled the opponents to make him sign the retirement papers. McMahon booked a five on one handicap match for Michaels against the Spirit Squad, which he won. After the match the Spirit Squad tried to assault Michaels but his former partner Marty Jannetty.
He then had a Street Fight against Shane McMahon and was defeated. McMahon then challenged Michaels for a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 22, where Michaels won. Michaels and God fought Shane and Vince McMahon at Backlash in a no disqualification tag team match, where Michaels won. After the match The Spirit Squad broke Michaels Knee, which took him away for a period.
Michaels returned and continued the feud with McMahon and Triple H went for the WWE Championship against John Cena. Cena and Michaels were said to face McMahon and Triple H in a no disqualification tag team match, where Triple H brutally attacked them.
McMahon tried to use Triple H to punish Michaels with the help of the Spirit Squad, but Triple H attacked the Spirit Squad with the hammer and performed a crotch chop, which made McMahon angry. McMahon then booked Triple H for a Gauntlet match against The Spirit Squad, four members of the spirit squad entered the match and started battling with Triple H. The last member of the Squad flew through the entrance, who was attacked by Michaels.
HBK then entered the ring to save Triple H and cleaned the house to reunite the D Generation X. Both performed Crotch Chops and confirmed their reunion. DX then took The Spirit Squad in a 5 on 2 Handicap match at the Vengeance and The McMahons at SummerSlam. At Unforgiven DX defeated The McMahon’s and the ECW Champion Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match to end their feud.
6. Randy Orton vs McMahon’s Family
In December 2008, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. joined hands with Randy Orton and formed a trio stable “Legacy”. In January 2009, Orton interfered with Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon during the episode of Raw and claimed that he is more worthier than Stephanie, as she became worthless. McMahon demanded an apology to her or he would fire him on the spot. When McMahon was about to fire him, Orton attacked McMahon with the punt kick, which made him unconscious and carried through the stretcher. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Orton entered and won the Royal Rumble match by eliminating Triple H in the end.
The following night on Raw, Orton claimed that he is suffering from intermittent explosive disorder, where he was unable to control his anger. He said that WWE knew his condition and did nothing, so he is going to sue the company. He also said, if Steph fires him he will sue the company anyway as he is legally entitled to compete at WrestleMania by winning the Royal Rumble and would close the company.
The following week Shane McMahon returned to Raw and attacked Orton, which led to a No Holds Barred Match at No Way Out where Orton won. Shane then had a unsanctioned match the following night on Raw, which ended in a no contest as Orton punt kicked Shane and made him unable to compete. Steph came to the ring to see his brother, but Orton hit her with the RKO, which made Triple H angry as Orton crossed the line by attacking his wife.
Triple H convinced Orton to challenge him for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 25 and took control of the McMahon’s family issue being the in-law of McMahons. Orton claimed that all his plans are to take revenge on Triple H for kicking him out of Evolution and ruining his life years before. The following weeks, Triple H attacked Orton chasing him throughout the Arena and to Orton’s house as an outburst of anger. Orton then handcuffed Triple H to the rope and punished him with his Legacy mates.
Steph came to stop the humiliation but was attacked by Orton and kissed Steph infront of Triple H. Orton and Triple H had a match at WrestleMania, where Orton was legitimately punished by Triple H, resulting in Triple H retaining the title with him. Orton won the WWE Championship in a six man tag team match with the Legacy against Triple H, Shane McMahon and Batista at Backlash.
5. Shawn Michaels Obsession with The Undertaker
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker began the epic rivalry between them at the 2007 Royal Rumble, where The Undertaker won by eliminating Shawn Michaels in the end. In 2008, both of them started the Royal Rumble but both got eliminated.
In 2009, Shawn Michaels participated in a match and won against his former employer JBL to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. He then faced Vladimir Kozlov and won, earning an opportunity to challenge The Undertaker to break his streak who has a 16-0 record at WrestleMania. The following week on Raw, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker teamed up and faced JBL and Kozlov in a tag team match, where he won.
After the match Shawn Michaels hit The Undertaker with the Sweet Chin Music to initiate the rivalry. Michaels played mind games with The Phenom by dressing like him, but in white and teased The Dark vs The Light. They finally had a match at WrestleMania 25, where Michaels almost ended The Undertaker’s streak by pushing the deadman to near death, but came out short as Undertaker converted the moonsault into a Tombstone Piledriver for the win, continuing the streak to 17-0.
The following year, Shawn Michaels demanded a match against The Phenom for another chance to break his streak as he was inches away from doing so the previous year. But Taker was the World Heavyweight Champion at the time, in order to face him at WrestleMania Michaels had to win the Royal Rumble and rightfully challenge The Taker for the Mania. Michaels entered the Rumble with the hope of winning the match, but was eliminated by Batista in the final few minutes. Michaels lost his mind and went hitting every other participant and referees with the Sweet Chin Music.
The Undertaker at the following Elimination Chamber pay-per-view defended his championship against 5 other superstars in an Elimination Chamber Match. When The Undertaker was about to retain his championship, Michaels entered the ring by breaking the chamber as a videographer and cost his title. The Undertaker was angry at Michaels and gave him the match at Mania but demanded Michaels to put his career on the line in a No Disqualification Match. The match was promoted as Streak vs Career Match and The Undertaker played mind games with Michaels by cutting promo from the graveyard and teased of burying Michaels.
The match went too far, where both fought till the final gas left in the tank, Michaels broke Taker’s ankle and kept targeting it over and over. Undertaker gained momentum at the end and started countering Michaels move for two Tombstone Piledriver. Undertaker signaled cut throat action but stopped in the middle to ask Michaels to stay Tombstone Piledriver with a jump that made him victorious and ending Michaels career. After the match, they shook hands and Michaels addressed the fans.
4. The Bloodline
Roman Reigns was on a vacation since the pandemic and was away from the Thunderdome era for a while, which altered his WrestleMania plans to face Goldberg for the Universal Championship. Roman Reigns then returned to SummerSlam 2020 by attacking the new Universal Champion The Fiend Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. The following week on SmackDown, Roman Reigns was backstage and introduced his special counselor Paul Heyman.
Where they demanded a Universal Championship match against The Fiend and was made a triple threat match. Reigns did not sign the championship contract and took the contract with him. At Extreme Rules, Reigns didn’t show up on the match and it started as a one on one match between Wyatt and Strowman. At the final moments of the match, Reigns signed the contract anc came to the ring to pin Strowman and win the championship.
Reigns carried his championship to the SmackDown, where his cousin Jey Uso returned and confronted him and requested him to leave Paul Heyman. Which ended in a match for the Universal Championship at Clash of Champions, where Reigns won by technical knockout. Jey Uso again challenged a rematch against Reigns, which was made a Hell in a Cell I Quit match, where Jey refused to quit which led to Reigns' brutal assault. Jimmy came for the aid of Jey and requested Reigns for forgiveness, which broke emotions in the ring until Reigns locked Jimmy with the guillotine forcing Jey to submit.
Jey then joined Reigns as the Right Hand Man, where Jimmy opposed initially and joined later. Jimmy and Jey Uso went for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and won, which resulted in forming The Bloodline stable. The Usos helped Roman Reign on every occasion to retain the Universal Championship and were successful over years. In 2022, Roman Reigns unified the WWE Championship with the Universal Championship by defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. They tried to capture every gold of the company and demanded a tag team championship unification match against the Raw Tag Team Champions, Randy Orton and Matt Riddle, where the Usos won and became the first ever to hold both Raw and SmackDown Tag Titles simultaneously.
Meanwhile Sami Zayn tried to join The Bloodline by assisting them in every possible way to gain trust. Zayn was then inducted as the Honorary Member of the Bloodline and called himself Sami Uso. Although all the members of the Bloodline accepted Zayn, Jey Uso did not trust him as he was the friend of Kevin Owens and this could be a plan to dethrone the Bloodline.
At Clash at the Castle pay-per-view, when the Usos and Zayn were not at the Arena, Solo Sikoa made his appearance to assist Reigns to retain his championship against McIntyre. Which made Solo Sikoa debut at the main roster and inducted into the Bloodline. At the 2022 Survivor Series War Games, The Bloodline with Sami Zayn went for a war against The Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens, where Zayn’s loyalty was put into test as he won the match for The Bloodline by hitting Owens with the low blow, which made Zayn earn Jey’s trust.
Sami Zayn and The Usos then went for an invasion to Raw and caused the conflict, which led to Zayn for a trial at Tribal Court to prove his loyalty. Where Zayn was accused and about to be punished by Solo Sikoa, where Jey defended him stating his contribution. Zayn was then declared not guilty and remained in the Bloodline. At Royal Rumble 2023, when Reigns took Owens, he ordered Zayn to hit Owens with the steel chair, where Zayn betrayed the Bloodline by hitting Reigns instead of Owens, where he was punished by the Bloodline except Jey Uso as he walked away with emotions.
Zayn faced Roman Reigns at the Elimination Chamber at his home town and gained a huge pop, but came up short as Reigns retained the title in a hard fought win. Jey teased an internal tension in The Bloodline and teased to join Zayn but regretted it by continuing his alliance with The Bloodline. Zayn and Owens reunited and challenged The Usos for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania and won. Which made a huge crack in the Bloodline as Reigns never allowed The Usos near him unless they won the championships back.
The Usos had their rematch but ended in a failed attempt, which made The Tribal Chief angry. Meanwhile a crack in the Bloodline was teased between Solo Sikoa and Jey Uso at The Backlash. Roman Reigns started abusing The Usos verbally and teased them to kick them out of the Bloodline. The Usos demanded a last shot at the tag titles, but Reigns insulted them and replaced Usos with him and Solo Sikoa.
The following week, Reigns and Solo had a face to face with the tag champs, which was interrupted by The Usos, who attacked Owens and Zayn. At Night of Champions, they had their tag team championship match, where the Usos came to the aid of Reigns and Sikoa when the referee was unconscious. But accidentally super kicked Solo Sikoa, which made Reigns angry and pushed Jimmy and Jey away. Jimmy soon turned on Reigns by superkicking twice to cost their championship opportunity.
The following week, Jimmy Uso interfered with Reigns and asked to continue the stable with respect as they had done before, but Reigns rejected his proposal. Solo Sikoa hit Jimmy with the Somoan Spike and picked his side. Jey Uso went to the tribal court the following week for the trial on which side he is on. Where Jey joined his twin and left Reigns and Solo. The split into 2 and had a tag team match at Money in the Bank, where The Usos pinned Roman Reigns for the win, marking Reign's first straight pinfall loss in 3 years.
Also Read: Five reasons why The Bloodline is one of the greatest WWE storylines ever
3. CM Punk’s Anti-Corporate Rebel
In 2011, CM Punk claimed that he is the rightful challenger for the WWE Championship as he defeated the champion John Cena. He sat on the ring and wanted a confirmation, but the Anonymous Raw General Manager forced him to earn the opportunity via #1 contender's triple threat match with Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio. In which punk won and became the #1 Contender. He then teased of leaving WWE as his contract is said to expire at the Money in the Bank pay per view and he is not interested in re-signing another contract. He also hinted that he will take the WWE Championship with him.
Punk started interfering with Cena and Vince McMahon on Raw with the pipe bomb. He spoke of some of the unspoken myths of the company referencing other promotions and McMahon, which resulted in firing Punk from WWE. John Cena threatened McMahon to reinstate Punk into WWE and give him the championship match that he deserves, if not Cena would walk out by forfeiting the championship. McMahon accepted Cena's proposal in fear of leaving Cena, but added that if Cena doesn't win he will be suspended.
At Money in the Bank, CM Punk won the championship and walked away with the championship with a goodbye to McMahon. The match was given a five star rating by Dave Meltzer, marking the first match since 1997 to win this rating. CM Punk then went to the San Diego Press Conference and teased the new CEO Triple H, that he is not going to give the championship belt to the company unless he has a match at his hometown Chicago.
Cena was fired and McMahon decided to crown the new WWE Champion via championship tournament in which Rey Mysterio won and became the WWE Championship. While Rey was appreciated by fellow superstars on the backstage, Cena returned to Raw and claimed a rematch for the championship, where Cena won.
After Cena's victory, CM Punk made a surprise return with the original WWE Championship for a face off. Both Cena and Punk claimed themselves as the champions, where Triple H booked a match between them at SummerSlam to figure out the undisputed WWE Champion. In which Punk won but lost after minutes where Alberto Del Rio cashed his Money in the Bank Contract after Kevin Nash attacked Punk post match.
Triple H tried to keep Punk away from the championship shadow by inserting Nash into Punk's path. Punk continued to verbally attack Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon which pissed off The Game, where he replaced Nash in a No Disqualification match at Night of Champions. Where Punk lost after Nash, Miz and Truth attacked both of them. Punk teamed with Triple H to face The Miz and Truth but ended in a disqualification, where Nash attacked Triple H.
2. Daniel Bryan vs The Authority
In 2013, after losing the WWE Tag Team Championship Team Hell No split their paths and started following their own paths. Where Bryan fought against Orton, Sheamus and Christian for the win and maintained a winning streak to enter the Money in the Bank for the WWE Championship, where Bryan was attacked by the non participant Curtis Axel to keep him away from winning the championship.
On July 2013, WWE Champion Cena picked Daniel Bryam as his next opponent at SummerSlam, but Vince McMahon stood against the decision as he doesn't see him as the championship material, but Triple H supported Bryan. Bryan was put into a gauntlet match to prove his worth to be the #1 Contender against Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, Ryback and Kane in which he won.
Bryan was given the opportunity to face Cena at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship, with Triple H as the special guest referee. In which Bryan won the WWE Champion and had the victory celebration, which was interrupted by the MITB contract holder, Randy Orton. Triple H turned on Bryan by delivering a pedigree to make Orton win the championship. The following night Triple H and McMahons praised Orton as the face of WWE and labeled Bryan as a B+ player.
Bryan stood against them and was attacked by Orton and Shield. He then won the championship from Orton at Night of Champions, but he was stripped of the championship as the referee counted too fast. He again challenged twice but both ended in a disqualification due to interference. At Royal Rumble 2013 everyone expected Bryan to enter the Rumble Match but he hadn't showed up. Bryan somehow finds a way to qualify for the Elimination chamber by teaming up with Cena and Sheamus. He subsequently maintained the feud with the Authority as Kane kept attacking him backstage to injure him before the chamber match.
At Elimination Chamber Bryan became the final two participants, but wasn't able to win the championship from Orton as Kane attacked him in favor of Orton. Triple H did not book Bryan for WrestleMania 30, fans occupied the ring with Bryan chanting Yes! and refused to leave the ring unless Bryan was given a title shot at Mania. Triple H got irate and was forced to give Bryan a title shot, but he needs to face Triple H and the winner gets added to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match later the same night at WrestleMania 30.
Bryan defeated Triple H at the initial part of the show, but Triple H attacked Bryan to cause him an injury. Bryan got injured and entered the main event against Batista and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match and won. The hard fought championship victory did not last longer as he lost strength in his right arm and needed neck surgery. Bryan underwent the surgery and the Authority started threatening Bryan's wife Brie Bella to make Daniel Bryan drop the championship or will result in firing her. Brie rejected the proposal and quitted WWE instead. The Authority then stripped the title from Bryan as he failed to defend the championship at Money in the Bank.
1. Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon
In 1998 Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble by lastly eliminating The Rock and booked his spot to have a championship main event match at WrestleMania 14. The following night on Raw Stone Cold interfered with Vince McMahon who claimed Mike Tyson as "the baddest man on the planet" and insulted Tyson, who was the WrestleMania Host. Mike Tyson aligned with the DX as Stone Cold was said to fight against Shawn Michaels of DX.
At WrestleMania, Tyson acted as the special guest referee who favored Michaels, but turned on him at the very end to make Stone Cold win the WWF Championship. McMahon presented Austin the new Championship belt and warned Austin that he doesn't want him to be the champion and instead wanted a corporate champion. Austin responded with a stunner to McMahon, which leads to get arrested by the police. McMahon was again attacked by Austin leading to a match that ended in a no contest when Dude Love appeared.
At Unforgiven, Austin defended his title against Dude Love by attacking McMahon with the steel chair. They had a rematch at Over the Edge: In Your House where McMahon was the special referee and his corporate members the time keeper and ring announcer. But somehow Austin managed to win the championship. McMahon tried everything to strip out the championship from Austin's waist and finally lost to Kane, as The Undertaker hit Kane accidentally with the steel chair. Austin regained the championship from Kane the following night on Raw which angered McMahon.
McMahon announced a triple threat match for the championship and put Kane and The Undertaker against Austin. Which ended in a double count and the championship was vacated. McMahon made a match between Kane and The Undertaker for the WWF Championship with Austin as the special guest referee at Judgement Day: In Your House, where Austin refused to count for both and ended attacking both.
McMahon fired Austin, but Austin had his revenge by kidnapping McMahon at gunpoint to the middle of the ring. It was later announced that Austin got re-signed to the company by Shane McMahon. As a part of the contract Austin received a title shot against the newly crowned WWF Champion The Rock, but ended in a disqualification as The Undertaker attacked Austin with the Shovel.
Austin qualified for the 1999 Royal Rumble match and entered the match first with McMahon as the second entrant. They fought throughout the Arena and got attacked by the Corporate members. Austin got injured and was sent to the hospital, while McMahon entered the rumble. Austin returned sooner and entered the rumble but was eliminated by McMahon with the help of The Rock.
McMahon won the Royal Rumble but turned his number one contenders spot, where WWE Commissioner Shawn Michaels offered Austin with the contract to face the WWF Champion at WrestleMania. Meanwhile Austin fought McMahon in a steel cage match at Valentine's Day Massacre, where Big Show made his debut tearing the ring and attacking Austin. On the road to WrestleMania, Steve Austin interfered with Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and the WWF Champion The Rock with a Beer Van and sprayed the beer on the trio.
At WrestleMania 15, Austin won the WWF Championship from The Rock. He successfully defended the championship at Backlash despite the interference from McMahons. At Over the Edge, Austin lost his title to The Undertaker. Vince had a problem with his family, where Linda and Stephanie McMahon made Stone Cold the CEO of the company.
Vince and Shane fought Austin for the CEO position in a ladder match where the McMahons won. Stone Cold then had a rematch with The Undertaker and won the WWF Championship for the fourth time. Austin and McMahon had a First Blood match at Fully Loaded with a stipulation that if Austin lost he would never fight for the WWF Championship, if McMahon won he would depart the company. In which Austin won by the interference of X-Pac and McMahon departed.