Stone Cold Steve Austin: Difference between revisions

Steve Williams
File:StoneColdSteveAustin.jpg
Born	December 18, 1964 Victoria, Texas
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	The Ringmaster Steve Austin
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Billed weight	252 lb (115 kg)
Trained by	Chris Adams, Lewis Pearce
Debut	1989
Retired	2003

"Stone Cold" redirects here. The term may also refer to Stone Cold, a 1991 movie starring Brian Bosworth

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

After debuting in 1989, Williams wrestled for promotions such as World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation. His greatest success came perhaps in the late 1990s, when the World Wrestling Federation, with Austin at its helm as one of the promotion's marquee stars, went public. Austin was forced to retire from the ring in 2003 due to a variety of chronic injuries.

Early life and career

Williams played football at North Texas State University. After holding down various odd jobs, he began his wrestling career in the late 1980s in Texas. Austin was trained by "Gentleman" Chris Adams among others. Early in his early career, Austin decided to use his real name Steve Williams for wrestling, however there was already a famous wrestler named Steve "Dr. Death" Williams. He was then assigned the name Steve Austin. Austin at first was reluctant because he didn't want the fans to think of "Steve Austin" of the Six Million Dollar Man, but the real reason was because he was from Austin, Texas in kayfabe.

World Championship Wrestling

Austin debuted in World Championship Wrestling in 1991 as "Stunning" Steve Austin. Managed by Lady Blossom, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for the WCW Television Championship on June 3, 1991 in Birmingham, Alabama. In late 1991, Austin joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. As a member of the Alliance, Austin regularly teamed with Larry Zbyszko, feuding with Barry Windham and Sting. Austin lost the WCW Television Championship to Windham in a two out of three falls match on April 27, 1992 in Atlanta, Georgia. He regained the title from Windham on May 23, 1992 in Chattanooga, Tennessee and enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat on September 2, 1992 in Atlanta in a no-disqualification match at Clash of the Champions XX. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter.

File:Austin & Pillman.jpg

Steve Austin and Brian Pillman, "The Hollywood Blondes"

Austin went on to form a tag team with Flyin' Brian Pillman known as the Hollywood Blondes. The Blondes won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, 1993 in Macon, Georgia, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blondes held the titles for six months, during which they feuded with veteran wrestlers Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. On June 5, 1993 the Blondes lampooned Flair's talk show, "A Flair For The Gold" with their own version, "A Flare For the Old". The Blondes went on to face Flair and Anderson in a two out of three falls tag team title match at Clash of the Champions XXIII on June 17, 1993. Flair and Anderson defeated the Blondes, but were not awarded the titles as one fall had been determined by a disqualification.

On August 18, 1993 at Clash of the Champions XXIV in Daytona, Florida, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend the titles against Arn Anderson and his new partner, Paul Roma. However, Pillman was injured, and was replaced by Steven Regal. Austin and Regal went on to lose to Anderson and Roma. With Pillman still injured, Austin went on to join Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable. After Pillman returned, Austin betrayed him, and went on to defeat him in a singles bout at Clash of the Champions XXV on November 10, 1993.

On December 27, 1993 in Charlotte, North Carolina in a two out of three falls match at StarrCade 1993, Austin defeated "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls to win the WCW United States Championship. He lost the title to his long term nemesis Ricky Steamboat on August 24, 1994 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Austin was scheduled to face Steamboat in a rematch for the title on September 18, 1994 in Roanoke, Virginia at Fall Brawl 1994, but Steamboat was unable to wrestle due to a back injury, and Austin was awarded the title by forfeit. His second reign ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in a match that went just 29 seconds. Austin went on to challenge Duggan for the WCW United States Championship at Halloween Havoc 1994 on October 23, 1994 and at Clash of the Champions XXIX on November 16, 1994. On both occasions, Austin lost to Duggan by disqualification.

While on a wrestling tour of Japan, Austin tore his triceps brachii muscle. While he was injured, Austin received a phone call from WCW informing him that he had been released.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In 1995, Steve Austin was fired by World Championship Wrestling Vice President Eric Bischoff. Austin, who was healing from a tricep injury at the time, was disgruntled because he felt that Bischoff should have fired him to his face rather than via the telephone. Bischoff and WCW didn't see Austin as a 'marketable' wrestler. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman, who had managed him in WCW. Heyman told Austin that since he had a TV show and Austin had a grievance, it would be a great opportunity to go on ECW television to air it.

While at ECW, Steve Austin used the platform to not only develop his future "Stone Cold" persona, but to also vent his frustrations toward WCW. Thus, what came was a series of humorous and biting vignettes which featured Austin lampooning such WCW luminaries as Hulk Hogan (Steve-a-Mania instead of Hulk-a-Mania) and most notably, Eric Bischoff (where Austin wore a jet-black wig while targeting Bischoff). Perhaps Austin's most memorable promos involved a spoof of Monday Nitro entitled Monday NyQuil. On Monday NyQuil, Austin as Eric Bischoff announced that there would be a "Bottle of Geritol on a Pole" match, in which aging WCW performers who were past their prime (presumably Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, etc.) would use their canes and walkers to do battle. At "Bischoff's side was Bongo as opposed to Steve Mongo McMichael.

While with ECW, "Superstar" Steve Austin feuded with The Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion at the time, scored an upset win over Austin at the November To Remember, on November 18, 1995. Years later, Paul Heyman stated that 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

1996

On December 18, 1995 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. Foley also went on to say that any other name would not have worked, saying "Same middle finger, same entrance music, and same beer drinking, but as soon as you're announced as Baron Von Ruthless, you're done." 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 match 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's genuine rise to super stardom 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 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, telling Roberts:

"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!"

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 quote had Austin saying "If you put the letter 'S' in front of 'Hitman', you have my exact opinion of Bret Hart"), 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 intense 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" Brian Pillman's house, with Pillman allegedly brandishing a gun.

1997

In January, Austin won the 1997 Royal Rumble match; he was eliminated by Bret Hart, but the officials did not see it, and he snuck 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 WWF Championship shot against The Undertaker, and brief tag team runs with both Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley, Austin challenged Bret Hart's younger brother, 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, 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. 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 realizing that Austin was hurt, Owen pranced around the ring claiming that Austin was going to "Kiss his 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 apologized 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.

1998

In late 1997, Bret Hart departed for WCW after a controversial finish to his WWF Championship match against Shawn Michaels at the 1997 Survivor Series. Austin was now the clear top babyface in the company and after managing to ruffle the feathers of every WWF superstar he entered and won the 1998 Royal Rumble. This led to his WWF Championship match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV where he won his first WWF Championship with a little help from boxer Mike Tyson. This victory ushered in the Austin Era and with it the Attitude Era.

In 1998, Austin was clearly regarded as the face of the WWF, despite chairman Vince McMahon's disapproval over his free-willed beer-drinking, swearing, and finger-gestures.

On April 13, 1998, it appeared the WWF fans would finally get to see Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon battle out their differences in the ring on RAW. But the match was declared a No-Contest when Dude Love made an appearance, coming between the boss and Stone Cold. This led to a match between Dude Love and Austin at Over The Edge. Despite the fact that McMahon was the guest referee and had the rules of the match changed at various times when it appeared Austin was in control of the match, Austin managed to retain the title when he covered a knocked out Dude Love. McMahon, who was knocked out by an errent chair shot by Dude Love, made the three count when Austin took McMahon's hand and made the three count himself. McMahon continued to do everything he could to ruin The Rattlesnake, and he finally scored a big victory for his side at the 1998 King of the Ring tournament. There, Stone Cold lost the WWF Championship to the “Big Red Monster” Kane in a First Blood Match. McMahon couldn’t savor the victory for long. Stone Cold further infuriated his nemesis by winning back the championship the next night on RAW. Stone Cold delivered another blow to McMahon by taking away the World Tag Team Championship a month later alongside the Undertaker. It was a combustible combination, leading to a match between them at SummerSlam. Stone Cold emerged victorious — something Mr. McMahon couldn’t tolerate. So, the boss set up a Triple Threat Match at Breakdown in September. It proved to be more like a Handicap Match in the end, as half-brothers Undertaker and Kane pinned Stone Cold simultaneously.

With no single winner, Mr. McMahon decided to vacate the WWF Championship and award it based on a match between Undertaker and Kane at the next pay-per-view. Since former champion Stone Cold was also involved in the original match, he was made special referee. In typical Stone Cold fashion, he screwed both competitors, hitting Stunners on both and stealing the championship for himself. Feeling he had no other recourse, Mr. McMahon fired The Rattlesnake for his actions. Mysteriously, Stone Cold re-emerged having inked a brand-new five-year contract. Mr. McMahon was beside himself, and it was all the more aggravating when it was revealed that his son, Shane McMahon, was the McMahon that re-signed The Rattlesnake. With Steve back in the fold, there was a Survivor Series tournament to award the vacant WWF Championship. Stone Cold was building momentum toward his third WWF Championship, and in the semifinals against Mankind, he appeared a mere three-count from moving on to the final match. But acting referee Shane refused to count a pin for Stone Cold. Without a way to win, Stone Cold eventually succumbed to Mankind. The Rock would benefit most greatly, winning the tournament to become WWF Champion. The next night on Raw, Judge Mills Lane ruled that the Rock had to defend his just won WWF Championship against Austin that night. Austin almost became a three time WWF Champion, but the Undertaker interfeared and hit Austin with a shovel, earning Austin a disqualification victory. Because of the shovel shot, Austin began having blackouts and was soon taken to the hospital. The Undertaker kidnapped him from the hospital and thought about burying him alive, but soon decided to embalm him alive. Before he could go through with it however, Kane attacked the Undertaker.

At In Your House: Rock Bottom, Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match due to Kane's interference. With this victory, Steve Austin was now qualified to enter The Royal Rumble match.

1999

On the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw (taped a week earlier), Austin helped Mankind win the WWF title for the first time when he knocked out the Rock with a chair. He then put Mankind's arm on top of the Rock and the referee made the three count. Austin then left the ring choosing not to join the post match celebration.

The Rattlesnake’s next definitive chance to exact revenge from Mr. McMahon came during the 1999 Royal Rumble Match. Stone Cold drew entry No. 1, while McMahon drew No. 2. Despite a vicious attack from McMahon’s Corporation, both lasted until the end. The odds proved insurmountable, however. With the assistance of the Corporation, Stone Cold was eliminated — making Mr. McMahon the Royal Rumble Match winner. On Feb. 14, 1999, at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Stone Cold finally got a one-on-one match against Mr. McMahon in a steel cage. With a world championship opportunity at WrestleMania at stake, Mr. McMahon devised a large surprise. During the match, Big Show made his shocking debut, breaking through from the under the ring and attacking Stone Cold. But Show’s attack propelled Stone Cold into the side of the cage forcing the cage to give way dropping Austin to the floor first, technically making him the victor. Stone Cold made the most of his chance, defeating the Corporation’s The Rock at WrestleMania XV for his third WWF Championship.

The WWF then took an ominous turn when Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness and McMahon’s Corporation merged in an effort to overpower Stone Cold. It temporarily worked; Undertaker won the WWE Championship thanks to McMahon’s meddling. But Stone Cold had an equalizer for the Corporate Ministry: power granted by Linda McMahon, who named Stone Cold Steve Austin CEO of the WWF. This was an intolerable development for Mr. McMahon, who placed himself and Shane in a Ladder Match against The Rattlesnake with control of the company at stake. Once again, Stone Cold would have won on the merits, but the McMahons had another game plan. When Stone Cold scaled the ladder to attempt to acquire the winning briefcase, it was mysteriously raised beyond his reach. This continued until the McMahons secured victory and full control of WWF. But Stone Cold wouldn’t stay down for long. In fact, he bounced back in a big way the very next night — winning the WWF Championship by beating Undertaker on RAW. Austin would hold on to the Championship belt until SummerSlam 1999 when he lost it to Mankind in a Triple Threat Match featuring rising main-eventer Triple H. It was around this period that Austin's body began to wear out however Austin continued to appear at WWF shows, he was the special enforcer for the 6 Pack Challenge match at Unforgiven 1999 where he awarded Triple H his second WWF Championship and then went on to face Triple H at No Mercy for the title the following month. He lost the match. By Survivor Series in 1999, Triple H was champion, and Stone Cold was supposed to get his chance to reclaim gold in a Triple Threat Match which featured Austin, Triple H and The Rock the 3 biggest WWF stars of that era. Instead, he was run down by a car in the parking lot. What followed was neck surgery and a nine-month rehabilitation. But Stone Cold Steve Austin would eventually return for payback.

2000

Five months later, at Backlash, Austin appeared during the main event, attacking Triple H, Vince McMahon, and their associates, helping The Rock reclaim the WWF Championship. He was brought into the picture by Linda McMahon in order to even the playing field between The Rock and the McMahon-Helmsley Regime. Part of the build-up to the match involved Austin destroying the DX Express bus on an edition of SmackDown!.

On September 24, 2000 at Unforgiven, Austin tried to find out who ran him down at the Survivor Series the previous year. The segment began with Shane McMahon coming to the ring and claiming that he knew who ran over Austin. He then showed a video of Steve Blackman running over Ken Shamrock with a car. Because of this, he claimed that Blackman was guilty of running down Austin as well. Blackman came out to confront him and Stone Cold joined them soon after. Blackman swore that he didn't do it, but Austin didn't believe him and gave him a Stone Cold Stunner. Shane got very excited and wanted to celebrate with a beer toast. Austin played along at first, but as it turned out, he knew Shane wasn't telling the truth and gave him three Stone Cold Stunners. After a long investigation led by Mick Foley, Rikishi finally admitted to being the driver on the October 9th episode of Raw.

At No Mercy, beer-swilling, trash-talking Stone Cold was back to annihilate Rikishi, who admitted to committing the vehicular assault. But in the process of beating him down, Stone Cold learned that it was actually The Cerebral Assassin behind the whole scheme — devised to shield the WWF Championship from Austin and end his career. Meanwhile, Austin's short feud with Rikishi ended when Austin defeated him in a Steel Cage Match on the October 30th episode of Raw. At Survivor Series 2000, Stone Cold gave Triple H a taste of his own medicine: Triple H had plotted to run Austin down again (thus repeating the events of the previous year's Survivor Series) but his plot failed when Austin, who had withstood a backstage assault from the Radicalz, lifted Triple H's automobile with a construction crane, then let it drop 30 feet. It was from this action where Triple H would realise that there’s nothing Stone Cold won’t do.

The next night on Raw Austin had his first ever match with Chris Benoit. Austin would defeat Benoit with a Stone Cold Stunner. Austin then got a title shot at the WWE title in a 6-Man Hell in a Cell at Armageddon. Austin was unsuccessful as Kurt Angle retained the title by pinning The Rock after a Stone Cold Stunner.

2001

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 earlier that night. As of 2006, he is the only wrestler to win the Royal Rumble three times. His rivalry with Triple H ended at No Way Out 2001 in a 3 Stages of Hell match. The near 40 minute match was considered by many to be the best match of the year and can be found as an extra on the "What?" DVD that the WWE released in 2002. Austin lost but his feud with Triple H had come to an epic conclusion. Then, on April 1, 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven, 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 WWF desperately rushed out the plans for the WCW/WWF Invasion. Still wanting to prove himself as a heel, Austin politically maneuvered himself into the role as "leader" of the WCW (and later ECW) alliance alongside Stephanie and Shane McMahon. 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. Austin lost the title to Kurt Angle at Unforgiven 2001 before regaining it on the October 8, 2001 episode of Raw. Austin's sixth WWF Championship reign tied him with the Rock for most world title reigns in WWF history at the time. It would also be his last reign. 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.

2002

By 2002, 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 (earlier in career known as Razor Ramon in the 90's 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 (a feud that Austin himself was in fact supportive of), while prepping Austin for a feud with Brock Lesnar. The most memorable part of this short feud involved Austin and Guerrero singing at a bar with Guerrero serenading Austin's wife Debra. Unfortunately 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. Also, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has stated that Austin was written to lose, because the previous week Austin had criticized the writing team in an interview (he'd called the writing sub-standard on an episode of Byte This), and he saw it for what it was- a ploy to punish him for his criticism.

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.

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.

2003

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 "fired" Austin 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 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". As the "Sheriff" of RAW, Austin would drive to the ring on a Polaris Industries ATV.

2004

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.

2005

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. Austin then stunned Maven and Simon Dean on the following night's WWE RAW show.

Austin appeared at the WWE-promoted ECW One Night Stand 2005 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 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. However, Austin went against his word, backing out on an agreement to wrestle the match, and once again walking out on the company after storyline disagreements. To explain away his failure to appear at Taboo Tuesday Vince McMahon said on Monday Night RAW that Austin had been involved in an accident, 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. Austin's apparent explanation for refusing to show up for the event was that he had injured his back moving furniture. McMahon, not wanting to take the matter any further, accepted his excuse.

2006

Austin inducted 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. It is noted in Power Slam Magazine that during the Hall of Fame ceremony, Bret Hart & Austin ignored Hulk Hogan when he walked over to congratulate Hart. This snub by Hart & Austin stems from the fact that Hogan ignored Hart's handshake offer back in 1992 when Hart won the WWF/WWE World title and Hogan had undermined every young wrestler in WCW to keep himself as the main attraction, which led to Austin's release in 1995. Austin has stated publicly that he is reluctant to face Hogan in a match due to the aforementioned reason.

Austin revealed in an interview he was apparently considering acting. [1] for the full interview. Austin would go on to face John Bradshaw Layfield in a beer drinking contest at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event on March 18, 2006 in which would go to a no-contest when Austin saw JBL cheating by pouring the beer down his clothes. JBL tried to run, but was thrown back into the ring by Chris Benoit (who JBL was challenging for the United States Title at WrestleMania 22), and he ended up recieving the inevitable Stone Cold Stunner. Austin then celebrated with the Stone Cold beer salute.

Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves

File:Stunner.jpg

Steve Austin hits the Stone Cold Stunner on Triple H.

• As Stone Cold Steve Austin
  • Stone Cold Stunner (Sitdown three-quarter facelock jawbreaker)
  • Mudhole Stompin (Corner stomps)
  • Axe handle elbow drop
  • Lou Thesz press with punches
  • Piledriver
  • Spinebuster
  • Texas Cloverleaf (mid 1990s)
• As The Ringmaster
  • Million Dollar Dream (Cobra clutch)
• As "Stunning" Steve Austin
  • Stun Gun (Flapjack with opponent dropped on top rope throat first)
  • That's a Wrap (Standing figure four leglock)
  • Hollywood and Vine (Shin grapevine with Achilles tendon hold)

Nicknames

• Austin 3:16
• The Bionic Redneck
• B.M.F. (Bad Mother Fucker)
• The Extreme Superstar
• Stone Cold
• Stunning
• Superstar
• The Texas Rattlesnake
• The Toughest S.O.B.

Championships and accomplishments

File:Wmxivscsa.jpg

Steve Austin celebrates with Mike Tyson after winning the WWF title at WrestleMania XIV.

File:WWEstonecoldbelt.jpg

Stone Cold's custom "Smoking Skull" title belt (WWF Championship)

• National Wrestling Alliance
  • 1-time NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Brian Pillman)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him # 19 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years (2003)
  • PWI ranked him # 50 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years with Brian Pillman.
  • PWI Rookie of the Year Award (1990)
  • PWI Match of the Year Award, versus Bret Hart (1997)
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (1998)
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year Award (1998)
  • PWI Feud of the Year Award, versus Vince McMahon (1998)
  • PWI Feud of the Year Award, versus Vince McMahon (1999)
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year Award (1999)
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year Award (2001)
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler Award (2001)
  • PWI ranked him #1 in both the 1998 and 1999 PWI 500

• Texas Wrestling Federation
  • 1-time TWF Tag Team Champion (with Rod Price)

• World Championship Wrestling
  • 2-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion
  • 2-time WCW World Television Champion
  • 1-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Brian Pillman)

• World Wrestling Federation
  • 2-time WWF Intercontinental Champion
  • 6-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion
  • 4-time WWF World Tag Team Champion (1-time with Shawn Michaels, 1-time with Dude Love, 1-time with The Undertaker, 1-time with Triple H)
  • 1-time WWF Million Dollar Champion
  • 1996 King of the Ring
  • 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumble winner (holds the record for most Royal Rumble wins)
  • Fifth Triple Crown Champion

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 2000)
  • 1990 Rookie of the Year
  • 5 Star Match: with Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, & Larry Zbyszko vs. Sting, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, & Dustin Rhodes (February 24, 1991, WCW WrestleWar 1992)
  • 1993 Tag Team of the Year (with Brian Pillman)
  • 1996 Best Heel
  • 1996 Best Interviews
  • 1997 Feud of the Year (vs Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Davey-Boy Smith and Brian Pillman)
  • 1997 Best Interviews
  • 1997 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1997 Match of the Year (vs Bret Hart)
  • 5 Star Match: vs. Bret Hart (WWE Wrestlemania 13, March 23, 1997: "I Quit" match)
  • 1998 Wrestler of the Year
  • 1998 Best Box Office Draw
  • 1998 Feud of the Year (vs Vince McMahon)
  • 1998 Best Interviews
  • 1998 Most Charismatic Wrestler
  • 1999 Best Box Office Draw
  • 1999 Feud of the Year (vs Vince McMahon)
  • 2001 Best Interviews
  • 2001 Best Brawler
  • 2003 Best Non-Wrestler

Acting career

File:Dilbert 217.jpg

An animated version of Austin in episode "The Delivery" of Dilbert.

Following the end of his in-ring wrestling career, Austin began pursuing a career in acting. In January 2005, Austin signed a three picture deal with WWE Films, with his first film named as The Condemned. Austin has also appeared on several television series, and, along with fellow wrestlers Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Bob Sapp and Giant Singh, appeared in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard.

Filmography

• The Longest Yard (2005) as "Guard Dunham"
• Tales of the Rat Fink (2006) as "Heavy Chevy"
• The Condemned (2007) as "Joe Conrad"

Television appearances

• V.I.P. (October 24, 1998) in episode "Scents and Sensibility"
• Dilbert (June 13, 2000) in episode "The Delivery"
• Nash Bridges (1999-2000) in six episodes as "Detective Jack Cage"
• Celebrity Deathmatch (1998-2002)
• Punk'd (April 25, 2005)

Personal life

Austin married his high school girlfriend, but the couple later divorced. His second marriage was to Jeannie Clark (the second wife of Austin's trainer, "Gentleman" Chris Adams) with whom he had two daughters before divorcing in 1999. On September 6, 2000, Austin married wrestling valet Debra Marshall.

On June 15, 2002, police were called to the residence of Debra and Austin in San Antonio, Texas. They found Debra bruised and hysterical. Austin had left the house and was asked by police not to return. On August 14, 2002, Austin was arrested and charged with domestic abuse. He pled no contest on November 25, 2002 and was given a year's probation, a $1,000 USD fine and ordered to carry out eighty hours of community service. In addition, he was banned from drinking alcoholic beer for a year, as alcohol was believed to be linked to his offence. Austin filed for divorce on July 22, 2002, and the couple were legally divorced in 2003.

In 2004, Austin dated actress Tess Broussard. The relationship ended in acrimony later that year, with either partner filing lawsuits against the other and alleging abuse.

Austin has a tattoo of the State of Texas on his lower leg.

Austin and The Rock are good friends in real life.

DVDs and Videos

• 'Cause Stone Cold Said So (1997)
• Austin 3:16 Uncensored (1998)
• Hell Yeah! (1999)
• Austin vs. McMahon (2000)
• Steve Austin - Lord Of The Ring (2001)
• WHAT? (2002)
• The Stone Cold Truth (2004)
• Stone Cold (3 disk)(2006)

Books

• Austin, Steve, Brent, Dennis and Ross, Jim (2003) The Stone Cold Truth, ISBN 0743477200

References

• Austin Files Suit Against Ex (October 10, 2004)
• Solie's title histories
• Steve Austin at The Smoking Gun
• Steve Austin at The Smoking Gun (2)
• Steve Austin at ObsessedWithWrestling.com

External links

• WWE profile
• "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at IMDb
• Steve Austin at Canoe.ca