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Stone Cold Steve Austin

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Steve Williams
File:StoneColdSteveAustinPortrait.jpg
BornDecember 18, 1964
Victoria, Texas
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)"Stunning" Steve Williams,
"Superstar" Steve Austin,
The Ringmaster,
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Billed weight252 lb (114 kg)
Trained byChris Adams
Debut1989

Steven James Anderson-Williams (born December 18, 1964 in Victoria, Texas), better known by his stage name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an actor and professional wrestler. His birth name was Steve Anderson; he took on the surname Williams when he was adopted by his stepfather, Ken (his biological father had left the family when Steve was a small child).

As Steve Austin, he is best known for establishing the "anti-authority" tweener and "Boss vs. Employee" storyline, which has been used in some variation by numerous wrestlers like The Rock and John Cena. Traditionally, faces in wrestling were known as clean cut, respectable role models, and rebellious characters who bent the rules were labeled as heels. Austin effectively changed the dynamic of the face/heel structure in wrestling forever, and in the process, became one of the most beloved and influential wrestlers of all time.

Early life and career

Williams played football at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) and, after holding down various odd jobs, began his wrestling career in the late 1980s in Texas. He took the ring name Steve Austin when he turned professional in 1990 because there was already a prominent, if not massively famous, wrestler with the ring name (and real name) Steve Williams. Austin states that he received the blessing of actor Lee Majors to use the name "Steve Austin", the name of the character Majors played in the 1970s sci fi TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. Austin was trained by "Gentleman" Chris Adams among others.

On an interesting note, in Mick Foley's autobiography, he mentions watching a group of young wrestlers at a gym he was working at. He said that there was only one spark of talent amongst these kids - a young, muscular man with blond hair. This turned out to be Steve Austin.

World Championship Wrestling

File:Austin & Pillman.jpg
"Stunning" Steve Austin and Flyin' Brian Pillman, the Hollywood Blondes.

In early 1991, "Stunning" Steve Austin moved on from the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) to the Atlanta-based World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Initially, Austin was managed in WCW by a woman named "Vivacious Veronica," but was soon rejoined by his USWA manager Jeannie Clark, now using the name "Lady Blossom." From the start of his WCW run, Austin experienced success in the ring. On June 3, Austin won the WCW World Television Championship from Bobby Eaton, kicking off the first of two WCW TV title reigns. Months later, Austin joined a faction called the Dangerous Alliance, led by manager Paul E. Dangerously. The young sensation from Texas was in veteran company, aligned with "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, and the same man Austin defeated to win his first TV title, Bobby Eaton.

On September 2, 1992, Austin's second TV title reign came to an end at the hands of Ricky Steamboat at Clash of the Champions XX. Not long after, the members of the Dangerous Alliance parted ways. Austin would soon find success again after forming a heel tag team with the late Brian Pillman, calling themselves the Hollywood Blondes. On March 2, 1993, the Hollywood Blondes reached the top of the tag team division, winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship from Steamboat and Shane Douglas. This kicked off what the Blondes called their "Brush with Greatness" tour, in which Austin and Pillman would give lesser-known grapplers a "brush with greatness" by granting them a match each week. In the summer of 1993, the Hollywood Blondes experienced an unexpected breakup when Pillman was felled by injury. Lord Steven Regal substituted for Pillman for a tag team title defense at Clash of the Champions XXIV against Four Horsemen members Arn Anderson and Paul Roma. Austin and Regal lost the titles to them, and Austin blamed his partner Brian Pillman for the loss, citing his inability to team with him due to injury. Austin took on Col. Robert Parker as his manager, and a feud between the two former partners started, which culminated in a victory for Austin at Clash of the Champions XXV in November 1993.

Austin won the WCW United States Championship on December 27, 1993 at Starrcade, defeating "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls of a two-out-of-three-falls match. Austin would go on to hold the title on two different occasions. His second reign lasted only a few minutes, on September 18, 1994 at Fall Brawl. The champion at the time, Ricky Steamboat, was asked by then-WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel to forfeit his title to Austin due to injury. After Austin was awarded the championship, he was forced to defend the title immediately against "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. A shocked Austin lost his title to Duggan in a match which lasted a mere 35 seconds.

In 1995, Austin toured Japan, where he suffered a tricep injury. WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff fired Steve over the phone, telling Austin he was unmarketable (possibly the biggest mistake a wrestling official has ever made). This embittered Austin for several years. At the time, Austin was living close to the location of WCW headquarters, and felt Bischoff could have visited him while convalescing and fired him in person.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

As Austin recovered from his tricep injury, he was contacted by his former manager in WCW, Paul Heyman. Heyman was in charge of his own promotion at the time, the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and wanted to offer Austin a platform for which he could air out his frustrations toward WCW. This is where Austin would develop his future "Stone Cold" persona. Using his wit and biting sense of humor to air out his grievances, Austin regularly imitated Eric Bischoff and other WCW luminaries. One of his most famous vignettes centered around Austin (in the role of Bischoff) announcing the lineup for what he called "Monday Nyquil". "Bischoff" announced there would be a "Bottle of Geritol On a Pole" match, in which WCW wrestlers who were past their prime would use their sticks and walkers to do battle. As "Superstar" Steve Austin, he was able to connect with the viewing public in a manner he was never allowed to do while with WCW.

Austin also made his return to the ring under the ECW banner, feuding with The Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Champion at the time, scored a huge upset win over Austin at ECW's November To Remember, on November 18, 1995. Years later, Paul Heyman stated he originally wanted to book Austin to win the World championship, but Austin disagreed, feeling it would be better for business if Austin was the "hunter" instead of the "hunted."

World Wrestling Federation

In January 1996, Austin joined the World Wrestling Federation. Initially, Austin used the moniker "The Ringmaster", holder of Ted DiBiase's unsanctioned "Million Dollar Belt", a title DiBiase created for himself in 1989. Not liking his ring name at all, Austin asked WWF writers to come up with a new name for his character that would suggest a ruthless, cold-hearted persona; according to legend and Mick Foley in particular, the writers suggested "Chilly McFreeze", "Freezy Pops" and "Ice Dagger", among other, less ridiculous pseudonyms. Austin then came up with the name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, after his then-wife Jeannie Clark (the same woman who managed Austin in the USWA and WCW) advised him to drink his tea before it became "stone cold." Austin shaved his head bald, a look he has maintained for a decade now, and overcame Savio Vega in a tough bout at WrestleMania XII. At an In Your House pay-per-view (PPV) event subtitled "Beware of Dog", Austin lost a "Caribbean Strap Match" to Vega. In accordance to the pre-match stipulations, DiBiase was forced to leave the WWF, giving Austin the opportunity to forge his own path. He would later tell announcer Dok Hendrix he purposely lost the match in order to rid himself of his manager.

Austin 3:16

Austin's genuine rise to superstardom began on June 23, 1996, when he won the WWF's annual King of the Ring single-elimination tournament on PPV. After toppling Marc Mero in the semi-finals, he defeated the veteran Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the final, who was then incorporating a moral, Christian message in his gimmick. After the match, Austin cut a promo during his coronation which viciously mocked Jake's reformed lifestyle.

"You sit there and you thump your Bible, and 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!"

Austin 3:16 ultimately became one of the most popular catchphrases in wrestling history. Austin would later turn face, as spontaneous fan support for him grew larger by the week.

Austin was not originally intended to win the tournament. The WWF originally booked Triple H to win. However, the WWF changed its plans a few weeks before the PPV because of the MSG Incident.

Austin, still a heel, was somewhat underused by the WWF for the next few months, and was mired in midcard feuds with the likes of Yokozuna and Triple H. One thing drove Austin on, however: the in-exile and unhappy Bret Hart. Austin spoke about Hart constantly and taunted him relentlessly on TV (one memorable quote had Austin saying "If you put the letter 'S' in front of 'Hitman', you get my exact opinion of him"), before Hart finally accepted Austin's challenge and returned to the WWF in October 1996. At the Survivor Series that November, Hart cleanly pinned Austin in a match which helped create the foundations for the eventual year-long feud between the two. In spite of his loss, Austin's ever-growing popularity and notoriety multiplied after his strong showing. The match came hot on the heels of a highly controversial incident broadcast live on RAW, which saw Austin "break into" the late Brian Pillman's house, with Pillman allegedly brandishing a gun.

Feud with the Hart Foundation

Two months later, Austin won the 1997 Royal Rumble match; he was eliminated by Bret Hart, but the officials did not see it, and he sneaked back into the ring and eliminated Hart. Due to real-life events largely revolving around Shawn Michaels, Hart and Austin were booked at the 11th hour for a re-match at WrestleMania 13 in March 1997. Hart defeated Austin in a Submission match refereed by Ken Shamrock, but the iconic image of the night was Austin's grimacing, bloody face being massively cheered on by the live Chicago crowd, as the relentless Hart refused to release his patented Sharpshooter. That moment was alluded to by Jim Ross at WrestleMania X-Seven, when Stone Cold challenged then-WWF Champion The Rock in the main event. Austin was bleeding from the head, and The Rock placed him in the Sharpshooter.

Despite Austin's passing out that led to his defeat, he did not tap out and refused to give up, which made Austin the new fan favorite. He would then replace Bret Hart as the new hero of the WWF, although Austin was not going to be the traditional hero. One of the main distinguishing features about Austin's character was that he was one who broke the rules and defied authority, and thus was considered to be an "anti-hero," or as a fan put it, "He was a hero that didn't try to be one." For many reasons, Austin's persona and his attitude would lead the WWF into perhaps their most popular era yet - the "Attitude" Era.

After a rematch with Hart, a WWE Championship shot against The Undertaker, and brief tag team runs with both Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley, Austin challenged Bret Hart's younger brother, the late Owen Hart. Austin's anti-Hart and anti-Canada stance made him easily the most popular star the WWF had for over a decade, but he certainly wasn't popular up in Calgary during the Canadian Stampede PPV in July 1997. Austin was almost booed out of the country by the fiercely Hart-loyal crowd and the sight of a handcuffed Austin being led out of the arena by "policemen" while giving the finger - the "Stone Cold Salute" - to the fans is one of the resounding images of his career.

At SummerSlam 1997, disaster struck when Austin suffered a near-career ending neck injury as a result of a botched piledriver by Owen. After being briefly paralyzed, Austin recovered and was able to win the match as planned, but the incident would force him to take time off for surgery in 1999 and would be one of the factors that shortened his career. Although Austin recounts that he had specifically asked Hart not to perform the dangerous piledriver move on him, where an opponent's head is placed between the other wrestler's legs, and viciously dropped to the mat, giving the illusion of being dropped on their head. In this instance, Austin's head was not safely tucked above Hart's legs when the move was performed, legitimately dropping Austin on his head. In fact, during that match of SummerSlam 1997, after realising that Austin was hurt, Owen pranced around the ring claiming that Austin was going to "Kiss his ass" (as the stipulation of the match was that if Austin lost, he would kiss Owen's ass). In reality though, he was shocked and scared of the possibility that he may have ended Austin's career. This injury was played up on WWF TV afterwards, to explain why Austin did not wrestle for several months. The WWF would use Austin's injury as a backdrop for his intense rivalry with Owen Hart, leading to various backstage beatings, match interferences and even costing Owen Hart and The British Bulldog their WWF World Tag Team Championship shot at WWF In Your House: Ground Zero in 1997. At the 1997 Survivor Series, Owen Hart would walk into the Montreal arena wearing a T-Shirt mocking Austin's "3:16" moniker: "Owen 3:16" and the back said "I Just Broke Your Neck". Owen would lose the WWF Intercontinental Championship that night at the Survivor Series to Stone Cold. Austin was always angered at Hart for performing the move on him after he requested him not to, and despite the WWF playing up Hart as a vicious crippler, Hart himself was always uncomfortable with it, as he had a reputation of being safe to work with, never having hurt anyone in the ring. Austin harbored a grudge against Hart for injuring him until Hart's death in 1999, one reason being that, according to Austin, Hart never apoligized for the incident.

"Austin 3:16" T-shirts were becoming the hottest item in wrestling and the "Austin 3:16" interpretation of the classic "#1" foam hand, now flipping a middle finger to the world, was also a best seller.

Austin vs. McMahon

After regaining the WWF Intercontinental Championship at WWF Survivor Series in 1997, and retaining it at December's WWF In Your House: DeGeneration X PPV, he would hand that championship over to The Rock, as his sights were now on bigger things. Austin won the 1998 Royal Rumble in January, his second consecutive win, which triggered a storyline feud with WWF owner Vince McMahon, which in turn ultimately helped lead to the WWF's final victory over WCW in their war for the pro wrestling marketplace and Monday night TV ratings. Simultaneously, the feud catapulted Austin to mainstream superstardom, the likes of which had not been seen since the glory years of Hulk Hogan in the 1980s. Austin was even cast in recurring roles on two TV series: MTV's animated series Celebrity Deathmatch, and CBS' Nash Bridges, and featured in the nationwide "Got Milk?" ad campaign. He even had a 1-800-Call-ATT Commercial with fellow superstar D'Lo Brown.

The feud with McMahon officially began after the Royal Rumble on an episode of RAW is WAR, when Austin crashed McMahon's announcement of Mike Tyson as a guest at WrestleMania XIV. A few weeks later, also on RAW, Austin told McMahon to kiss his ass and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner. Shortly after that, Tyson appeared to join D-Generation X against Austin in the leadup to WrestleMania XIV.

Austin went on to win his first WWF Championship in March 1998, defeating Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV in Boston. Mike Tyson served as special guest referee for their contest, but helped Austin win. After the match, when Shawn Michaels shoved Tyson, Tyson knocked him out with one punch. Photographs of Austin & Tyson celebrating together after the bout made newspapers worldwide. By now, Austin's authority-challenging, beer-swilling everyman persona was firmly over with the fans, who loudly lapped up every middle finger, swear word and catchphrase, including "Hell Yeah!" and "And Thats The Bottom Line Cause Stone Cold Said So!"

The next night on RAW, Vince McMahon offered to work with Stone Cold, but only if Austin would agree to do things "his way." Austin refused, giving McMahon another Stunner and thereby choosing to do things "the hard way." The feud built over the next few weeks until finally McMahon challenged Austin to a match on RAW that ended in a disqualification due to interference from Dude Love. The Austin vs. McMahon match resulted in the first ratings victory by the WWF in the Monday Night Wars against WCW in 84 weeks.

The two feuded throughout 1998 and 1999, with Austin being challenged by McMahon's Corporation, resulting in some of the best TV the company ever produced. The success of the feud helped usher in the most successful era in WWF history, the Attitude Era. The rivalry was "blown off" at St. Valentine's Day Massacre in February 1999, when Austin defeated McMahon in a Steel Cage Match. At WrestleMania XV, Austin defeated the Rock to win the WWF Championship. Austin and McMahon would resume their feud post-WrestleMania with the climax coming at Fully Loaded where Austin defeated Undertaker in a First Blood match. The stipulation being that if Austin won, McMahon would have to resign appearing on WWF television, ending Vince's on-screen role for months.

After more feuds and arguments with The Undertaker, Mr. McMahon and the re-emerging Triple H, Austin's body began to genuinely wear out, forcing him to wear braces on his knees, and he also was still suffering lingering effects from his SummerSlam 1997 neck injury. That injury, compounded by years of general wear and tear, forced him to undergo serious spinal fusion surgery in late 1999. When it was learned by the WWF that Austin needed the surgery and a year away from action, Austin's injury was staged as a backstage hit-and-run incident at Survivor Series 1999. Austin would not wrestle for a full 11 months after the surgery.

Ausin made a brief appearance at an episode of SmackDown!, where he destroyed DX's bus by dropping a girder from a crane onto it, causing it to explode. At Backlash 2000, he was to appear in The Rock's corner during his match for the WWF Heavyweight Championship against Triple H. He did not appear until late in the match but his presence helped The Rock win the match and become the champion.

Austin made a successful wrestling comeback in October 2000 to avenge his on-screen storyline hit-and-run attacker. It transpired that the driver was actually Rikishi, but when their battles failed to set the world on fire, the focus was shifted to Austin taking it out on Rikishi's alleged puppetmaster, Triple H. Austin and Triple H met in a series of intense matches, one at Survivor Series that ended in a no contest when Austin raised a car with Triple H still inside with a crane and dropped it to the floor below, and finally culminating in a Three Stages of Hell match at No Way Out 2001, in which Triple H was able to defeat Stone Cold 2-1 after they had won one a piece, Triple H won the third match, a cage match.

2001 to 2002

During this time, Austin won his third Royal Rumble in January 2001, last eliminating his old nemesis, Kane, even after he was attacked by Triple H and left in a pool of his own blood ealier that night. As of 2006, he is the only wrestler to win the Royal Rumble three times. Then, on April 1, 2001 at WrestleMania 17, Austin made one of the most shocking heel turns ever, hitting The Rock with a steel chair to win the WWF Championship, aligning himself with WWF boss Vince McMahon. Commentator Jim Ross infamous line "He's sold his soul to the devil, to win the WWF Title." The next night on RAW, after teasing a quick face turn, the heel turn continued as during a cage match with The Rock in a rematch for the title, Triple H came down to the ring with a sledgehammer. Many thought he was coming to help The Rock but it transpired that he had joined the Austin/McMahon partnership by hitting The Rock instead. Austin and Triple H became a Tag Team and called themselves The Two-Man Power Trip.

Unlike the storyline involving Hulk Hogan's heel turn back in 1996, fans never got into Austin's turn. They argued the utter lack of explanation towards the heel turn and the fact that the WWE refused to turn Triple H (who by this time was being cheered heavily by fans) face as an opponent for Austin, since The Rock left the company immediately after Wrestlemania X-Seven to film a movie and was unable to continue his feud with Austin.

The WWE positioned Austin and HHH as the villains of the company and had them feud with Undertaker and Kane for the bulk of April and May of 2001. Fans turned off and ratings fell at an alarming rate for the company's flagship brand RAW. Many argue it was Austin's heel turn that caused the drastic drop in ratings, as most fans struggled to accept him in this new role, especially after being rivals with both McMahon and HHH for so long. Others argue though that the Undertaker and Kane feuds have been done so many times before between Austin that it was just becoming too repetitive and that he should be feuding with rising stars like Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho.

The Two-Man Power Trip had many rivalries, most notably being against The Undertaker and Kane, and against The Hardy Boyz. After Backlash 2001, they held the WWF Tag Team Titles, the WWF Heavyweight Title (Austin), and the WWF Intercontinental Title (Triple H) at once.

Ultimately in June, 2001 the WWE started an angle between The Two-Man Power Trip and Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho, which culminated in Benoit and Jericho winning the tag-team belts from Austin and HHH. However the match featured a tragic turn of events for the company, as HHH suffered a major quadriceps injury during the match and would be out for nearly seven months. Things were made even worse when, several weeks later, Chris Benoit was forced to leave as well for surgery for long-standing injuries he suffered from and had put off having surgery.

Hastily, Steve Austin was paired with popular rookie wrestler Kurt Angle and continued feuding with Jericho and Benoit (who opted to wait until after that month's PPV to have his surgery. Austin's matches with Jericho and Benoit were widely praised, though many argued that the fact that Austin always won the match did little to elevate the two Canadians. Rumors circulated that Austin had been convinced by fellow veterans the Undertaker and HHH to not put the two wrestlers over as top guys, playing into Austin's growing paranoia regarding the apparent failure of his heel turn. Indeed, as soon as July 2001 began, with Benoit out for surgery, the Austin/Jericho feud was dropped without a mention.

With HHH out and Rock still away making movies, the WWE desperately rushed out the plans for the WCW/WWF Invasion. Still wanting to prove himself as a heel, Austin politically manuevered himself into the role as "leader" of the WCW (and later ECW) alliance alongside Stephanie and Shane MacMahon. Fans were not entirely fond of this storyline either, as fans never associated Austin with either brands (though Austin did spend time with both companies) and Austin spent much of the angle belittling the WCW and ECW talent who made up The Alliance, which included Austin's "WHAT?" catchphrase which he would say after every sentence of his opponent. Fans still sometimes chant the phrase after pauses in other wrestlers' promos, most notably Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon's.

The "WHAT?" catchphrase actually originated when Austin was on the road. Completely bored, he left a 15 minute message to Christian's phone where the whole 'WHAT?!' chant started. He would say a sentence and go 'WHAT?!' after he paused.

As the Invasion storyline continued, Vince McMahon had been begging for Stone Cold to return to his old "Texas Rattlesnake" persona. Austin refused though, as he was developing into a more comedic character, exchanging gifts, singing songs and giving hugs over the summer of 2001. But the week before the Invasion Pay-Per-View, the old Stone Cold Steve Austin "returned", delivering stunners to the WCW/ECW alliance members, and temporarily turning face. This was all part of a swerve at the event, where Austin betrayed the WWF team and partner Kurt Angle to help The Alliance win, as Austin assumed leadership of the group.

Austin lost and regained his title in a feud with Kurt Angle in a feud that many fans enjoyed, partially due to Angle being put over by Austin as a legitimate threat. As the Invasion angle dragged on and on, it was ultimately decided to bring the plotline to an end with Austin and a group of ECW and WCW wrestlers facing the Rock and a group of WWE wrestlers at that year's Survivor Series. Austin and his team lost and Austin was promptly turned back to a babyface again, with no explanation given other than "Austin being Austin". Austin would hold the WWF Championship for another month before losing it to the first Undisputed WWF Champion in history, Chris Jericho at the Vengeance Pay-Per-View in December 2001. Jericho beat both The Rock and Austin consecutively in that night winning the World Title (formally the WCW Title) and later the WWF Title and combining them to create the WWF Undisputed Championship. Austin had gotten into a short feud with Booker T after this, as he had cost Austin the match with Jericho, and the immediate rematch on RAW the night after the PPV.

Austin's spot as top face in the WWF was not as secure as it had been in previous years, as Triple H was set to return from injury and headline WrestleMania X8 against Chris Jericho. At the time, Vince McMahon had re-signed Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash for a storyline that would bring the nWo back into the wrestling world. They would feud with Austin and The Rock, and rumors began that a dream match between Hogan and Austin would take place. But due to Austin's refusal to work with Hogan because of past experiences with him in WCW, the match with Hogan was given to The Rock, and Austin was reduced to a feud with Scott Hall (ealier in career known as Razor Ramone in the 80s WWF). Austin refused to lose to Hall at the event for reasons such as not believing that a recovering addict as Hall should be awarded with a big victory at WrestleMania, and Austin's fear for his safety in the ring with a person like Hall considering his problems. After WrestleMania X8, Austin had no-showed the next two weeks of programming. This would be the first of Austin's walk-outs on the WWF/WWE.

Austin returned on the April 1, 2002 episode of RAW, the first of the new "brand extension" era. The show was centered on which show he would sign with. Ultimately, he chose RAW after stunning Vince McMahon, the then owner of SmackDown!, but also stunned Ric Flair, who would be his boss on RAW. He would from there continue his feud with the nWo, and start a feud with Flair as well. Austin's last appearance was on June 3, 2002, when he defeated Flair in a match where he would become Austin's servant. The angle wasn't furthered because Austin had decided to walk out again on bad storylines that were presented to him by the creative team. This time though, he wouldn't return for almost 9 months.

Bored and run down, Austin began to create problems backstage as the WWE rehired Eddie Guerrero for Austin to feud with, while prepping Austin for a feud with WWE golden boy Brock Lesnar. By this point, Austin was vetoing any matches that would result in him losing and ultimately walked out of the company when the writing staff wanted Austin to lose to Brock Lesnar, as part of the set-up to his PPV match against Eddie Guerrero in June 2002. This act was at first viewed as unprofessional and in a negative light by fans. But viewpoints changed when Austin later explained that he thought hot-shotting a victory did no favors to either side, as it made Austin look weak losing to a rookie, and didn't give Lesnar a proper stage for such a big win over a star of the magnitude that Austin holds.

Austin later publicly stated that at the time, his anti-social attitude behind the scenes were the result of him dealing with chronic knee and neck injuries that had never properly healed. Further fanning the flames amongst Austin's growing number of detractors was a well-publicized domestic dispute incident between Austin and his wife Debra, which led to his evasion of the police. Austin served probation time for the offense, and has not discussed it publicly since. However, the event permanently tarnished Austin's reputation with many of his fans, who saw Austin becoming the same sort of self-absorbed prima donna that Austin railed against when he was fired from WCW.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Soon before walking out on WWF, the company would change its name from WWF to WWE in an unrelated legal fight with the World Wildlife Fund. The company's slogan for the brand name change, "Get the F Out!" was perceived by some as a jab at Austin leaving the company. The Rock used the line in a WWE vignette about the name change, further fueling such speculation.

In February 2003, he returned to WWE at No Way Out in a short match against Eric Bischoff. Austin was finally defeated by the Rock at WrestleMania XIX. The night after on RAW, Bischoff "suspended" Austin because on medical grounds, however he was brought back by Linda McMahon as the "Co-General Manager" for RAW, much to the horror of his old WCW nemesis and then RAW brand General Manager, Eric Bischoff (outside the ring, the two men have largely settled their differences). The move to the role of "Co-General Manager" (and later "Sheriff") was a way to keep Austin on-camera while limiting Austin's in-ring performance (due to his injuries). However, Austin's on-camera persona as a self-absorbed bully who only cared about himself and the pain he could inflict on others failed to catch on and was even reflected in both Chris Jericho and Christian regularly giving shoot-style promos condemning Austin for his selfish bullying of other wrestlers. Ultimately, on the November 16, 2003 edition of RAW, Austin was "fired" from RAW as the result of a stipulation in a match at WWE's Survivor Series PPV where if Austin's hand-picked team of wrestlers failed to beat Jericho and Christian's team of wrestlers. He sat out TV shows for several weeks to sell the storyline and make it appear like a real firing, but quickly returned to WWE television before the end of 2003, when he was part of a WWE Christmas special taped live in front of U.S. troops in Iraq, posing as Santa Claus and stunning Mr. McMahon. He finally came back on RAW on December 29, 2003 as its "Sheriff".

Austin appeared on and off as 2004 began, culminating in him being the special guest referee for the match between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg at WrestleMania XX. The "dream" match was hounded by contract disputes and Lesnar's pursuit of an NFL career, so Austin ended up the only man over at the end by stunning both participants. Then on April 17 2004, WWE put out a press release on their website claiming that Steve Austin and WWE were unable to settle long-running contract disputes and had again parted ways, reportedly over a contract dispute about WWE's control of Austin's non-WWE projects, such as movies and music. Austin could thus no longer use "Stone Cold" to promote himself, as that name is trademarked by WWE; Austin had to correct many in interviews to ensure they do not refer to him by that moniker. Another issue that may have influenced WWE in its decision is Austin's recent history of domestic violence incidents, which WWE saw as tarnishing their popular image. In November 2002, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge after striking his then-wife during an argument. Police in San Antonio were investigating charges that he threw his current girlfriend to the ground during a domestic dispute on March 24, 2004.

Return to the ring

Steve Austin made his first appearance on WWE TV in a year on April 3, 2005 at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles. Austin was interviewed by 2005 Hall of Fame inductee "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in a Piper's Pit segment and then Stone Cold Stunned both Piper and Carlito Caribbean Cool. Austin then stunned Maven and Simon Dean on the following night's WWE RAW show, also from Los Angeles.

Austin appeared at the WWE-promoted ECW One Night Stand event, sharing beer at the end with ECW wrestlers, including The Sandman. The following night on RAW, Austin acted as a special guest enforcer in an Intercontinental title match and cost Muhammad Hassan a submission victory against then-Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin. After the match, Austin promptly delivered Stunners to both Hassan and Hassan's manager Daivari, then drank beer with Benjamin to celebrate. The appearance did not sooth many critics of Austin, especially when Austin called Hassan and Daivari "sand people" during a promo that set up the match between Hassan and Benjamin (although the live audience, not fans of Hassan, cheered at the reference).

At WWE Homecoming, Austin again returned to RAW, delivering stunners to all four members of the McMahon family including long-time neutral McMahon, Linda. The following week, Linda and her family united in the ring and 'fired' announcer Jim Ross, a good friend of Stone Cold, for failing to apologize properly for his inaction during this incident. This angle led to a match in which Austin agreed to face Ross's replacement, Jonathan Coachman, at Taboo Tuesday, with the stipulation of Ross regaining his announcing job if Austin were to win, and Austin losing his own job if he lost the match. To explain away his failure to appear at Taboo Tuesday Vince McMahon said on Monday Night RAW that Austin had actually pinched a nerve in his back the week before moving furniture, thus preventing him from competing (though the insincerity of the promo made it obvious he thought Austin was "faking it"). A substitution for Austin was made in the form of Batista, who faced the Coach along with Vader and Goldust, brought in to generate some last minute interest in the match. To explain away the stipulation regarding Jim Ross, it was stated that the stipulation was conditional on Austin competing and that since Batista instead was the one who wrestled, that the match would have no stipulations attached to it.

It was announced [1] that Austin will be inducting Bret "The Hitman" Hart into the WWE Hall Of Fame on April 1st, 2006, the night before the Wrestlemania 22 PPV. It was appropriate because Austin was Hart's last WrestleMania opponent (coincidentally in Chicago) in a match that catapulted Austin to stardom.

Austin revealed in an interview he was apparently considering acting. [2] for the full interview. Austin would go on to face JBL in a beer drinking contest at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event on March 18, 2006 in which he would win ending with a Stone Cold Stunner to JBL and then celebrating by drinking beer's the way only Austin can. The drinking contest ending up as a no-contest as Stone Cold caught JBL cheating, as he was pouring the beer down his clothes behind Austin's back.

One More Match

Recently there have been rumors circulating that Austin will return to the ring to fight Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 22 in Chicago, Illinois but that appears to have been shot down, as Austin has had some heat with Hogan back in WCW, along with the fact that Austin did not want to deal with the same kind of backstage politics that Hogan had recently displayed during his Shawn Michaels feud.

At WWE RAW Homecoming in October 2005, Hulk Hogan hinted at a possible match between the two when he posed the question, "What would all these Hulkamaniacs do, if Hulk Hogan climbed in the ring with that Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin?!"

At the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremonies before inducting Bret "The Hitman" Hart Austin hinted at a possible match between himself and Hulk Hogan when after the crowd kept chanting "Austin-Hogan!" Austin said "Funny story, I was in the back looking through my bag and I found a can of whoop-ass that had Hulk Hogan's name on it." Austin then turned looked at Hogan, back at the audience then said "Damn Right!"

The match between the two is now rumoured to take place at Wrestlemania 23 at The Ford Field in [[Detroit], after Hogan's comments in a recent interview that an angle was in the works scheduled for an upcoming WWE RAW episode. It is one of the few "dream matches" left in the wrestling world and is the one match wrestling fans all around the world have been clamouring to see for nearly a decade now. The match would bring about the clash of two of wrestling's most prosperous ages also. The 1980's which were personified in Hulk Hogan's goody two shoes, all American, babyface character and the late 1990's, which were typified by Steve Austin's anti-establishment, rebellious anti-hero character.

Finishing and signature moves

File:Stunner.jpg
Steve Austin hits the Stone Cold Stunner

Championships and accomplishments


Championship succession

WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Preceded by:
Shawn Michaels 		First Succeeded by:
Kane
Preceded by:
Kane 		Second Succeeded by:
Vacated
Preceded by:
The Rock 		Third Succeeded by:
The Undertaker
Preceded by:
The Undertaker 		Fourth Succeeded by:
Mankind
Preceded by:
The Rock 		Fifth Succeeded by:
Kurt Angle
Preceded by:
Kurt Angle 		Sixth Succeeded by:
Chris Jericho
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Preceded by:
Owen Hart 		First Succeeded by:
Owen Hart
Preceded by:
Owen Hart 		Second Succeeded by:
The Rock
WWF World Tag Team Championship
Preceded by:
The British Bulldog and Owen Hart 		First (with Shawn Michaels) Succeeded by:
Vacant
Preceded by:
Vacant 		Second (with Dude Love) Succeeded by:
Vacant
Preceded by:
Mankind and Kane 		Third (with The Undertaker) Succeeded by:
Mankind and Kane
Preceded by:
The Undertaker and Kane 		Fourth (with Triple H) Succeeded by:
Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit
Royal Rumble
Preceded by:
Shawn Michaels 		First

(1997)

Succeeded by:
Himself
Preceded by:
Himself 		Second

(1998)

Succeeded by:
Vince McMahon
Preceded by:
The Rock 		Third

(2001)

Succeeded by:
Triple H
King of the Ring
Preceded by:
Mabel 		First Succeeded by:
Triple H
Million Dollar Belt
Preceded by:
Ted DiBiase 		First Succeeded by:
Retired
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
Preceded by:
"The Natural" Dustin Rhodes 		First Succeeded by:
Ricky Steamboat
Preceded by:
Ricky Steamboat 		Second Succeeded by:
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
WCW World Television Championship
Preceded by:
Bobby Eaton 		First Succeeded by:
Barry Windham
Preceded by:
Barry Windham 		Second Succeeded by:
Ricky Steamboat
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Preceded by:
Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas 		First, (with Brian Pillman as the Hollywood Blondes) Succeeded by:
Arn Anderson and Paul Roma

Books

Autobiography: The Stone Cold Truth with Dennis Brent 2003

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to Stone Cold Steve Austin.
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