Stone Cold Steve Austin

"Steve Austin" redirects here. For other people with similar names, see Steve Austin (disambiguation).

Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson, December 18, 1964; later Steven James Williams) is an American television host, actor, and retired professional wrestler who competed under the name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time, Austin was integral to the development and success of the Attitude Era in the WWF, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Austin started his professional wrestling career after playing college football at the University of North Texas. He became "Stunning" Steve Austin in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1991 to 1995, using the character of a handsome man who relied on his good looks and flowing blond hair, and during 1993 he made up one half of the tag team The Hollywood Blonds alongside Brian Pillman. After a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in late 1995, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) as The Ringmaster. The following year, having grown a goatee and shaved his head, he was repackaged as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a trigger-happy "Texas rattlesnake". Under this gimmick, Austin gained prominent status and significant mainstream popularity as a brash, brazen, blindsiding, beer-drinking antihero, given to foul language and shamelessly vulgar acts. Central to this gimmick, Austin routinely defied the establishment and showed the utmost in disdain for his boss, then-WWF chairman Mr. McMahon. Austin thus became the "poster boy" of the Attitude Era. He was forced to retire from in-ring competition in 2003 due to multiple knee injuries and also a serious neck injury. Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as an on-screen authority figure of Raw.

Austin held 19 championships throughout his wrestling career. He is a six-time WWF Champion, a two-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, a four-time WWF Tag Team Champion, and a one-time Million Dollar Champion in WWE. In WCW, he was a two-time WCW World Television Champion, a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, and a one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion. In addition, he is the fifth-ever WWE Triple Crown Champion, the winner of the 1996 WWF King of the Ring tournament, and a record three-time Royal Rumble winner. Austin headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including three WrestleManias (XIV, XV, and X-Seven). He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

Following his wrestling career, Austin started a podcast named The Steve Austin Show and released an IPA beer called the "Broken Skull IPA". Austin hosted a reality competition series, Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge, from 2014 to 2017 and has been the star of Straight Up Steve Austin since 2019.

Early life

Austin was born Steven James Anderson in Austin, Texas, on December 18, 1964. His parents, Beverly (née Harrison) and James Anderson, divorced when he was around a year old. His mother moved to Edna, Texas, where Austin would spend most of his childhood, and she married Ken Williams in 1968. Austin adopted his stepfather's surname and legally changed his name to Steven James Williams, though he would legally change it again to Steve Austin later in life. He has three brothers (Scott, Kevin, and Jeff) and a younger sister, Jennifer. Kevin is less than a year younger than Austin, leading Austin to theorize in his autobiography that their father may have left because he could not handle another child so soon.After finishing his education at Edna High School, he got a football scholarship to Wharton County Junior College followed by a full scholarship to the University of North Texas. Austin played originally as a linebacker before suffering a knee injury, prompting him to switch to play as a defensive end.

The first wrestling events he watched were those produced by Houston Wrestling and run by Paul Boesch,and Austin would later say "I fell in love with the business when I was 7 or 8 years old. All I ever wanted to be was a professional wrestler. Wrestling was the biggest thing in my life". When Austin moved to attend university, he was living approximately 30 miles from the Dallas Sportatorium, a building he describes fondly as a "magnificent shit hole of a building", where World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) ran shows on a Friday night.

Early career (1989–1990)

Deciding to become a wrestler, Austin joined "Gentleman" Chris Adams's school in the Dallas Sportatorium, where Adams also wrestled for WCCW; the first seminar cost Austin $45. Adams's training was purely technical, teaching Austin the moves, but nothing relating to kayfabe (still somewhat a guarded secret at the time) or business. Austin would later describe Adams as a "conman" who "didn't try to smarten me up or teach me the real deal when it came to wrestling".

His first lesson in that came from Tony Falk, the referee in his 1989 televised WCCW debut against Frogman LeBlanc, who called the spots to lead him to a pinfall and a $40 payday.[citation needed] Early influences on his career were the Von Erich family, Dusty Rhodes, and Ric Flair.

Initially working under his real name, he was renamed Steve Austin by Memphis booker Dutch Mantell during the merger of WCCW and the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) into the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The name change occurred to avoid confusion with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, a well-known wrestler during that time. Austin later returned to Dallas, managed by Percy Pringle and accompanied by Jeannie Adams (Adams's ex-girlfriend and Austin's girlfriend at the time) and feuded with Adams and his wife Toni. Austin then left the USWA in 1990.

The Dangerous Alliance (1991–1992)

Main article: The Dangerous Alliance

Arriving in WCW, he was now nicknamed "Stunning" Steve Austin, a name and gimmick he later said he couldn't commit to. Austin was originally paired with a valet named Vivacious Veronica but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as "Lady Blossom." Just weeks after his debut, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991, and later that year joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. Austin lost the WCW World Television Championship to Barry Windham in a two-out-of-three-falls match on April 27, 1992, but later regained the championship from Windham and enjoyed a second lengthy reign as champion, before losing the championship to Ricky Steamboat, while The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter. At Halloween Havoc, Austin replaced Terry Gordy, teaming with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle Dustin Rhodes and Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team Championships. The teams wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw.

The Hollywood Blonds and The Stud Stable (1993–1995)

In October 1992, Austin formed a tag team known as The Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman, at the behest of lead booker Dusty Rhodes. Austin would later say that he wasn't excited about being placed into a tag team, as he was earmarked for a run with the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship with Harley Race as his manager.Initially billed under their individual personas, Pillman decided the pair needed their own finishing move, ring gear and team name, with travelling partner Scott Levy proposing The Hollywood Blonds, used in the 1970s by Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown. The pair adopted an "old-style movie camera hand gesture", and informed opponents they had experienced a "brush with greatness".

On March 27, 1993, the team won the unified NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championship by defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas, and held the championship for five months. In the main event of Clash of the Champions XXIII, the Blondes defended their championship against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a two-out-of-three-falls, where despite losing the first two falls, retained the championship as the second fall had been determined by a disqualification caused by Barry Windham. At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend their championship against Anderson and Paul Roma but a legitimately injured Pillman was replaced by Steven Regal, with whom Austin lost to Anderson and Roma.

With Pillman still injured, Austin joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable. After Pillman returned, the team was broken up when Austin turned on him, a decision Austin describes as a "mystery". Austin defeated Pillman in a singles match at Clash of the Champions XXV. At Starrcade, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes 2–0 in a two-out-of-three-falls match to win the United States championship. Austin lost the championship to Ricky Steamboat and was scheduled to face him in a rematch at Fall Brawl; Steamboat was though unable to wrestle due to a legitimate back injury and Austin was awarded the championship by forfeit. His second reign with the championship ended just five minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan, in a match that lasted 35 seconds. Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the championship at both Halloween Havoc and Clash of the Champions XXIX. The influence of Hulk Hogan and the Hulkamania era was beginning to take hold in WCW, with vice president Eric Bischoff saying this was likely the reason Austin lost to Duggan, who had been a popular figure during that period of time. Around this time, Austin pitched a storyline idea to Bischoff, wherein it would be revealed Austin was a family member of Hogan, a proposal which was quickly turned down on account of Bischoff's belief Hogan would not work with somebody who wasn't a proven name such as Austin.

After returning from a knee injury in early 1995, Austin took part in a tournament for the vacant United States championship, defeating Duggan via countout in the first round but losing to Randy Savage in the quarter-final. In June 1995, Austin was fired by Bischoff after suffering a triceps injury while wrestling on a Japanese tour—Bischoff and WCW did not see Austin as a marketable wrestler. Additionally, Bischoff thought Austin was hard to work with

Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), who had managed him in WCW.Heyman hired him to do promos and in-ring interviews as he had not adequately recovered from his injury, paying Austin $500 a night. Changing his nickname to "Superstar", Austin debuted in ECW at Gangstas Paradise on September 18, 1995.

While in ECW, Austin used the platform to develop his future "Stone Cold" persona as well as a series of vignettes running down WCW in general and Bischoff in particular, most memorably in several promos that mocked his then-status as Nitro host by introducing Monday NyQuil, where he was joined by "Bongo" (a set of drums, meant to represent Steve "Mongo" McMichael) in promoting the show "where the big boys play with each other." Several wrestlers have credited ECW as the place where Austin developed his microphone skills. Austin has credited Heyman as the man who taught him how to cut a promo.

Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion at the time, defeated Austin to retain the championship at November to Remember. The Sandman defeated Austin and Whipwreck in a triple threat match at December to Dismember for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE

The Ringmaster and birth of "Stone Cold" (1995–1996)

Austin joined the WWF after Kevin Nash and Jim Ross helped convince WWF's owner Vince McMahon to hire him in late 1995.He debuted on a 1996 episode of Raw and was awarded the Million Dollar Championship by his manager, Ted DiBiase.Wrestling in his debut match on Raw he defeated Matt Hardy using the moniker "The Ringmaster".While making his first pay-per-view (PPV) appearance at the Royal Rumble, he was scripted to be among the final four wrestlers in the ring, which could have given him an early push; however, The Ringmaster failed to hang onto the ropes after Fatu clotheslined him over and slipped out of the ring early.

Austin soon thought the Ringmaster gimmick was weak and asked for a change. Having battled thinning hair for a few years, Austin shaved his head, saying in a 2017 interview, "After watching the Pulp Fiction movie with Bruce Willis, that's the haircut that inspired me. [...] I was traveling on the road to Pittsburgh with Dustin Rhodes and before I went to the show, I said fuck it. I went into the bathroom with a razor blade and shaved all my hair off. [...] Then I grew the goatee and everything came full circle." By March 11, The Ringmaster moniker (now merely a prefix to his ring name) would be discarded in favor of his most famous ring name, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The new name was prompted by his then-wife Jeanie, who told him to drink a cup of tea before it became "stone cold", while his new persona was inspired by serial killer Richard Kuklinski.

Austin wrestled Savio Vega on Raw to a double countout, before defeating him in his first WrestleMania appearance at WrestleMania XII. At In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies, Austin lost to Vega in a rematch. At In Your House: Beware of Dog, Austin lost a Caribbean strap match to Vega, with the added stipulation that DiBiase was forced to leave the WWF as a result. DiBiase would later say that nobody foresaw the success Austin would have, and had advised him to ignore the advice given to him by producers and continue what he was doing as success required patience.

Austin 3:16 and rise to superstardom (1996–1997)

Austin's rise to stardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring, where he won the tournament by defeating Jake "The Snake" Roberts. At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian, which inspired Austin to ad-lib a famous promo during his coronation, mocking Roberts' religious faith and proclaiming the now-iconic catchphrase "Austin 3:16" as derision of the Bible verse John 3:16. Austin's win and rise to stardom proved to be an unexpected stroke of luck. Hunter Hearst Helmsley was originally scheduled to win the tournament, but plans changed as he was punished for taking part in the Curtain Call incident. "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the most popular catchphrases in wrestling history, and one of the best-selling T-shirts in WWE merchandise history.

Austin in 1996

Throughout August and September, Austin spoke about Bret Hart, challenging him constantly and taunting him relentlessly, before Hart finally returned on Raw to challenge Austin to a match at Survivor Series, which he accepted.During an episode of Superstars, old friend Brian Pillman conducted an interview with Austin regarding his upcoming match. After Pillman inadvertently complimented Hart, Austin grew angry and attacked him. He then proceeded to wedge Pillman's ankle in between a steel chair and stomp on it, breaking his ankle in storyline. It would lead to the infamous "Pillman's got a gun" segment on Raw wherein Austin broke into Pillman's home while he was nursing his injury. Pillman had been anticipating him and was armed with a pistol. Just as Austin broke in, Pillman aimed his gun at him before the episode cut to commercial break. The segment was highly controversial for its perceived violence and rare use of profanity in WWF programming. The segment is also credited for paving the way for WWF's shift to more mature programming. At Survivor Series, in a match to determine the number-one contender to the WWF Championship, Hart defeated Austin by using a turnbuckle to push himself backward while locked in the Million Dollar Dream.

During the 1997 Royal Rumble match, Austin was originally eliminated by Hart but the officials did not see it; he snuck back into the ring and eliminated Hart by throwing him over the ropes, winning the match.This led to the first-ever PPV main event of Austin's WWF career at In Your House 13: Final Four, where he competed in a four corners elimination match against Hart, The Undertaker, and Vader for the vacant WWF Championship. Austin was eliminated early from the match after injuring his knee; Hart would win the match and the championship. Hart lost the championship the next night on Raw to Sycho Sid due to Austin's interference, continuing their feud. At WrestleMania 13, Hart defeated Austin in a highly acclaimed submission match with Ken Shamrock as a special referee. During the match, Austin had been cut and was bleeding profusely from his face, but he refused to tap out when Hart locked in his Sharpshooter, and finally passed out from blood loss, losing the match. After the match, Hart continued to hold the Sharpshooter on Austin, who despite his wounds refused any assistance back to the locker room, thus turning Hart heel and Austin babyface in a rare double-turn. Austin portrayed an anti-hero instead of a traditional babyface, and he didn't embrace the fans at first either. Austin eventually got his revenge on Hart in the main event of In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, defeating him in a match to determine the next contender to The Undertaker's WWF Championship. Austin won when Hart was disqualified due to assistance from The British Bulldog. Austin faced Hart once again in a street fight on April 21 episode of Raw, injuring his opponent's leg with a steel chair during the bout. The match was ruled a no contest, but Austin proceeded to beat Hart while he was on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. At In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell, Austin had The Undertaker down with the Stone Cold Stunner but was distracted by Pillman, allowing The Undertaker to recover and perform a Tombstone Piledriver for the victory.

On Raw, Austin partnered with the returning Shawn Michaels, as they both had a mutual enemy in the Harts. They defeated Owen Hart and The British Bulldog for the WWF Tag Team Championship, his first championship in the WWF.Despite being champions, the two constantly argued and ultimately faced each other in a match at King of the Ring, which ended in a double disqualification after both men attacked the referee. Michaels was later forced to vacate his championship due to an injury. Hart and Bulldog won a tournament to face Austin and a partner of his choice, but he refused to pick a partner and decided to face the duo by himself. Late in the match, a debuting Dude Love came out to offer assistance. Austin accepted and the duo won the match and the titles, making Austin a two-time tag team champion. Austin continued his feud with the Hart family, becoming embroiled in a heated rivalry particularly with Owen, who pinned a distracted Austin and secured victory for The Hart Foundation in the ten-man Tag Team match main event of In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede, where Austin was partnered with Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and The Legion of Doom.

At SummerSlam, Austin and Owen faced each other with the Intercontinental Championship on the line, with Owen adding a stipulation that Austin would have to kiss his buttocks if he lost. During the match, Owen botched a Tombstone Piledriver and dropped Austin on his head, resulting in a legitimate broken neck and temporary paralysis for Austin. As Owen stalled by baiting the audience, Austin managed to crawl over and pin Hart using a roll-up to win the championship. A visibly injured and dazed Austin was helped to his feet by several referees and led to the back. Due to the severity of his neck injury, Austin was forced to relinquish both championships. On September 22, on the first-ever Raw to be broadcast from Madison Square Garden, McMahon told Austin he wasn't physically cleared to compete, and after several weeks of build-up, Austin delivered his Stone Cold Stunner to McMahon, causing the fans in attendance to go "ballistic". Austin was then arrested as part of the storyline, and was sidelined until Survivor Series. However, in the interim he made several appearances, one being at Badd Blood where he was involved in the finish of a match between Owen and Faarooq. Austin hit Faarooq with the Intercontinental Championship belt while the referee's back was turned, causing Hart to win the match. Austin's motive was to keep Owen as champion, as demonstrated when he interfered in Hart's matches on Raw. Austin regained the Intercontinental Championship from Hart at Survivor Series.

With Hart out of the way, Austin set his sights on The Rock, who stole Austin's championship belt after Austin suffered a beating by his Nation of Domination stablemates. In the weeks to come, The Rock began declaring himself to be "the best damn Intercontinental Champion ever." The Rock kept possession of the championship belt until D-Generation X: In Your House, when Austin defeated him to retain the championship and regain the belt.[citation needed] As Austin had used his pickup truck to aid his victory, McMahon ordered him to defend the championship against The Rock the next night on Raw. In an act of defiance, Austin forfeited the championship to The Rock before tossing the belt into the Piscataqua River.