If you need any true proof of his nearly unparalleled significance to the sport, know that Steve Austin is the man that made wrestling cool.
2. “STONE COLD” STEVE AUSTIN
Real Name –Steven Williams
Aliases – “Stunning” Steve Austin, The Ringmaster, The Texas Rattlesnake, “Superstar” Steve Austin
Hometown – Austin, Texas
Billed From – Victoria, Texas
Debuted – May 11, 1989
Titles Held – 6-Time WWF Champion, 2-Time WWF Intercontinental Champion, 4-Time WWF Tag Champion, 2-Time WCW US Champion, 2-Time WCW TV Champion, WCW Tag Team Champion, TWF Tag Team Championship,
Other Accomplishments – 3-Time Royal Rumble Winner, 1996 King of the Ring, 5th WWE Triple Crown Champion, PWI Feud of the Year 1998 and 1999 with Mr. McMahon, PWI Match of the Year 1997 with Bret Hart, PWI Rookie of the Year 1990, PWI Wrestler of the Year 1998, 1999 and 2001, Wrestling Observer Rookie of the Year 1990, Wrestling Observer Wrestler of the Year 1998, WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009
The Beginning
Wrestling has always been a cyclical business, going through highs in lows in terms of television ratings, pay-per-view buy rates, and overall popularity and acceptance with a world that generally views wrestling as a big-budget carnival sideshow. In the 1980s, it was alright to be a Hulkamaniac until Hulk Hogan grew older and less interesting, and wrestling became the domain of wrestling plumbers and evil clowns. Fans retreated back into their bunkers, quietly trading barbs and complaints on the fledgling internet, able to look at tapes from Japan to get a fix of something slightly more for grownups.
Then, Steve Williams was allowed to be himself, and everything went supernova.
Williams (now legally named Steve Austin) was a college dropout (only seventeen credits shy) when he decided to become a trained wrestler, joining the school of “superkick†originator “Gentleman†Chris Adams, and beginning his wrestling career in May of 1989 in World Class Championship Wrestling. While he was hesitant to change his name, “Steve Williams†simply wouldn’t work, as “Dr. Death†Steve Williams had already achieved fame across the world. Thus, Steve Austin, using the name of his hometown, was born, and would stick with him the rest of his life.
World Championship Wrestling
Austin’s first national exposure would come as “Stunning†Steve Austin in World Champion Wrestling, debuting in 1991. He would bring with him as a manager his wife Jeannie Clark, aka Lady Blossom, aka the ex-wife of his mentor, “Gentleman†Chris Adams. Regardless of that odd fact, he would have some initial success, beating Bobby Eaton for the WCW Television Title only three short weeks after his debut, and joining the Dangerous Alliance of top heel manager Paul E. Dangerously, whom we would, of course, all come to know and love later as ECW mastermind Paul Heyman. He lost the title in a two out of three falls match with Barry Windham, but would win it back about a month later.
Austin was excellent at being a heel, his long blonde tresses backing up the “stunning†persona, although his attitude was not that of the typical cocky bad guy. Austin wasn’t completely a narcissist, or an egomaniac; he was vicious, capable, and was happy to win by any means necessary, anything that could get him out with the TV title. However, when he lost the belt to Ricky Steamboat, Austin needed something new to do.
Enter the era of the Hollywood Blondes.
Paired up with another rising star, the now not-quite-as-“Flyin’†Brian Pillman, the two would go on to be one of the most despicable tag teams of the early nineties, acting as cocky cheating heels that could also, if called for, back it up in the ring with the fine wrestling acumen that the two possessed. Ultimately, their success would be moderately short-lived, as Pillman was injured in 1993, leading to them losing their beloved tag titles when Steven Regal stepped in for the injured Blonde, and he and Austin were defeated at Clash of the Champions XXIV by Arn Anderson and Paul Roma.
After feuding with former partner Pillman, Austin would defeat Dustin Rhodes for the WCW US Title, the next step up on what could be seen as a path to the holy grail of the company, the World Heavyweight Championship. While he lost the belt to, again, Ricky Steamboat in 1994, they were scheduled for a match at Fall Brawl, and Steamboat was out of action with a back injury; it seemed that Austin would win the US title back by forfeit. However, his seemingly immediate success would be derailed when he lost the title match to, of all people, surprise competitor and lovable oaf “Hacksaw†Jim Duggan, who defeated the future megastar in a mind-bending thirty-five seconds. Despite two rematches, “Stunning†Steve Austin simply could not defeat the immovable “U.S.A.†chanting, two-by-four wielding wrestling dynamo known as Duggan, losing by disqualification both times.
Austin’s last appearance would be losing to Randy Savage in the quarterfinals of a 1995 tournament for the now-vacant US Title. After suffering a triceps injury, Austin was unceremoniously fired by then-WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff, as he wasn’t seen as a marketable star.
It would be the best thing that ever happened to him.
E…C…W!
Luckily, Paul Heyman didn’t forget who his friends were, and brought in Steve Austin, now going by the prefix “Superstar,†perhaps as a bit of a dig at his former employers who apparently didn’t see him as much more than a midcard mainstay.
In the scope of his career, his time in Extreme Championship wrestling would add up to little more than a quick cup of coffee before heading off to the big leagues of the WWE, but this stop on his journey would allow Austin to transition into a role he was more comfortable with, creating the rebellious stir that would eventually blossom into the character that he was meant to play. If one searches, they can still find the footage of Austin doing the now-infamous Hulk Hogan impression, referring to WCW’s show as Monday Nyquil, and generally running down the company that tossed him aside.
That anger and frustration would serve him well.
Come one, come all
However, Austin’s WWE debut would be relatively underwhelming, as he’d wrestle in the soon-to-be-trademark simple black trunks, debuting a new shaved head as “The Ringmaster,†Ted DiBiase’s protégé and new holder of the Million Dollar Belt. Unsurprisingly, this dull gimmick went nowhere, and The Ringmaster got rid of his manager by having him ousted via stipulation of a strap match with Savio Vega, which Austin just so happened to lose.
Later on, he would reveal that it was on purpose, and there was no one who was going to tell him what to do now.
That was when everything exploded.
Three Little Numbers
1996 saw Austin crowned King of the Ring after winning the final match of the tournament against one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Jake “The Snake†Roberts. At the time, Roberts was supposed to have found God and become a born-again Christian (he would fall off of the wagon again, of course), and as he was being carried out, past Austin standing by his silly wrestling throne and scepter, he uttered the promo that would shoot him into the stratosphere:
“You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn’t get you anywhere! Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16… Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!â€
All of the anger and frustration built up over the years, fighting for titles and recognition, had found its outlet in the creation of one of the most dynamic and interesting characters the then-WWF had managed to stumble onto in decades. No longer were fans cheering for Duke “The Dumpster†Droese, but for a man who was pissed off, frustrated, a little violent, and always at least mildly intoxicated. WCW had created his frustrations, ECW allowed him to air them out, and WWF was now letting him show them off.
From there, he’d have an amazing feud with a returning Bret Hart, and he famously passed out in a Sharpshooter at Wrestlemania XXIII, bleeding profusely but refusing to give up, only further solidifying his image as the badass anti-hero that everyone wanted to cheer for, as solid gold babyfaces like Bret were on the way out, finding themselves in new heel roles or simply finding somewhere else to work..
But really, the feud that defined who Austin would become would be with the greatest evil that most Americans could possibly identify with: the boss.
The Defining Battle
Much has been made of how Steve Austin’s feuds with Mr. McMahon worked because Austin was the everyman, while McMahon played the role of the unscrupulous, over-controlling boss to perfection. Every writer has talked about how Austin was able to do what all of the worker drones that paid money to watch this stuff always wanted to do: beat the holy hell out of their boss. As a writer, I must pay attention to this. People did love his feud with McMahon, and people did relate to Austin’s battle against authority.
By tapping into our common urges as disgruntled employees and our shared experiences with slimy corporate monsters, Austin allowed all of us to join him in fighting against a man who, yes, was evil, but simply didn’t get it. That’s, ultimately, what made their feud so perfect. McMahon, first of all, rarely got one over on Austin, but also could never quite understand why we liked him so much in the first place. After all, he was a rude, beer-drinking Texan redneck who enjoyed flashing the middle finger to anyone he didn’t like, spoke his min to power, and would simply beat up anyone that happened to be in his way.
Just like all of us wish we could do.
Steve Austin was fantasy fulfillment in black trunks, and no matter who Vince threw at him, Austin would come out on top, just like we wished that we could. Shawn Michaels of Degeneration X? Retired at Wrestlemania XIV. Mike Tyson as special enforcer? Backfired, giving Vince’s worst nightmare the most prestigious item he had in the World Championship. Dude Love? Defeated in one of the most amazing brawls the WWF had ever seen at that point, in the process creating WWF “Main Event Style.â€
Kane was able to take the title for a day, only to lose it to Austin the following night on Raw.
There were battles with the Undertaker, some for the title, some not, including a period of time where it seemed like Austin was only allowed to wrestle some combination of the Brothers of Destruction, leading to some, frankly, rather boring television and predictable matches for a few months. And, of course, some of the best matches that WWF could produce, pitting the biggest man in the industry, “Stone Cold†Steve Austin, against the next biggest superstar in the business, The Rock.†Headlining or co-headlining multiple Wrestlemanias, these two men would have such great chemistry that their battles seemed to be more than simple brawls, but wars between two titans, as each punch seemed to rattle the world around it, as the popularity of professional wrestling soared to new heights with the Attitude Era in full swing.
Legacy
I could go on, but there are tons of histories about Mr. Austin, chronicling his outstanding matches with Chris Benoit and Triple H, as well as the many negatives that would end up clouding the later years of his active wrestling career, such as his marriage to Debra McMichael, which would reveal his abusive domestic tendencies, or his recent actions as a backstage politician who would walk out on a match if he didn’t like the ending. Information on these things can be found elsewhere.
Instead, what needs to be discussed is Austin’s contribution to the game, and what he truly meant and represented. This, despite the final turbulent years of his involvement, is where we need to look to see just how important the former “Stunning†Steve just so happened to be.
He was someone who could have a match consisting almost solely of kicks and punches, and no one could complain that they’d seen anything boring or lacking, as those of us who take the “sport†too seriously call it, workrate. When Vince Russo left WWF for WCW, and all fans thought that the ratings would completely switch, Austin simply decided to rely less on bizarre Crash TV story-editing and wrestle more, showing himself to have a moveset far deeper than anyone suspected. He could brawl, he could wrestle, and he could cut promos that made people want to stand on their seats and cheer for him to tear the heads off of anyone that so much as looked at him funny. He was an outstanding hero and, when Vince decided to turn him after Wrestlemania XVII, a hell of a villain, talking to his watch and getting crowds that were previously enamored with him to nearly boo him out of the building as he became the boss’ best buddy.
However, the most important thing about Austin is that he was someone that we, as wrestling fans, didn’t need to feel embarrassed about. He was cool, and not “wrestling-cool†like a Chris Jericho, who all of the smart marks worship as if he were born in a manger, but someone that a fan could wear a t-shirt for and not fear that girls would ever talk to him again. Austin’s outstanding anti-hero was someone that people could not only relate to, but he was someone that we could cheer for, as adults, and not feel that we were the inferior man-children that we all secretly knew ourselves to be.
Despite not having been in a full wrestling match since Wrestlemania XIX, Austin’s shadow looms large over the WWE of today, as every time a wrestler has a problem with an authority figure, they owe a debt to “Stone Cold†for being the pioneer of the true wrestling anti-hero, cheating when necessary, crude yet lovable, and able to get the crowd to adore them by still being the same old jerk that they were when the crowd just started to catch on.
So, if you’re able to, just for a few minutes, put aside your thoughts on the tail end of his career, ignoring the later years of prima donna attitude and backstage issues, pop open a couple of Steveweisers and join me.
If you think that ol’ “Stone Cold†Steve Austin revolutionized the wrestling industry and allowed fans to hold their heads high for a few years as our sport enjoyed a one-man-led Renaissance through the mid-to-late 90s and early 2000s, give me a “Hell yeah!â€
Hell yeah.
