Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes with two straight falls in a two-out-of-three-falls match to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade. On August 24, 1994, Austin lost the championship to Ricky Steamboat. Austin was supposed to have a rematch for the title at Fall Brawl but won the title by forfeit after Steamboat was not able to compete because to a back injury. His reign as champion only lasted minutes when lost to Jim Duggan, who was acting as Steamboat's replacement. The match only lasted thirty-five seconds. He had a rematch against Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX but didn't win either matches. After Austin returned from a knee injury in early 1995, he took part in a tournament to crown the new WCW United States Heavyweight title. Austin defeated Duggan in the first round by count-out but lost in the quarterfinals to Randy "Macho Man" Savage