Trivia / "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

---

• Breakup Breakout: He and Brian Pillman formed the Hollywood Blondes in WCW: Austin went on to become the biggest star of all-time. Pillman, however, is revered as a legend in his own right, pioneering the high-flying cruiserweight style in North America that would go on to be a staple of the late 90s. Pillman was poised for super-stardom, avoiding the trope, but his untimely death stopped that.
• Common Knowledge: The infamous incident where Owen Hart dropped Austin on his head didn’t break Austin’s neck. Rather, it bruised two areas of his spinal cord. Austin was very keen to set this misconception straight in his episode of WWE Rivals.
• Creative Differences: Left WWE in 2002 when WWE told him to throw a loss to Brock Lesnar on free TV. Austin would say afterwards that it wasn't losing to Lesnar that he objected to, it was that said loss was to occur on Raw and not on a PPV with the proper buildup, feeling that losing on Raw would not do either man's careers any favors. That being said, though, by Austin's own admission, he previously would veto ideas without proposing a suggestion of his own, which couldn't have helped the dispute.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Despite being the one to come up with the idea to turn heel in 2001, Austin has since acknowledged it was a mistake and that he was just way too popular as a face to get any genuine heel heat for himself. He admitted it wasn't a good idea to do the turn in his home state (as he'd be cheered no matter what), and that what he^note his character in kayfabe that is should have done is stunnered McMahon right then and there after handing him a beer. He also admits that the idea was entirely his as he enjoyed being a Heel and felt it was a natural progression for his character at the time, underestimating that he was so popular with the fans that they would still cheer for him no matter what he did.
  • "The Ringmaster" was a character that was only created in order to distance Austin from his past in other promotions (particularly his "Stunning" phase in WCW). The character was flavorless and it just buried Austin's early going in WWF, which is a dark spot on what would eventually become the "Stone Cold" phenomenon.
  • Said "Stunning" Steve Austin gimmick at WCW is also a big punching bag for Austin, so much so that him pounding his WCW years became a running joke during his days at ECW.
  • During a Raw segment with CM Punk he admits that he finds the "WHAT?" catchphrase being perpetuated by the crowds annoying. While Austin has acknowledged its usefulness for getting heat during his heel run, its popularity as a t-shirt seller, and his ability to use it as a face to shut down heels, he has also admitted to being “surprised” that fans continue to chant it over twenty years later. Austin also said he wouldn’t miss it if it disappeared tomorrow as a chant.
• Fan Community Nicknames: Averted, despite the fact that Austin probably rivaled only the New World Order for sheer merchandise sold in the late 1990s. Austin never suggested a name for his fans, and it doesn't seem like they ever came up with one themselves. This may have something to do with his Everyman gimmick.
• Irony as She Is Cast: While his in-ring persona is that of an alcoholic, Austin drinks responsibly in real life.
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Austin's receding hairline led to him experimenting with different hairstyles in order to deal with it. First he cut it short in 1992 and kept it short for a few years before growing it long again, then he got a buzzcut in late 1995, before finally shaving it off in early 1996. The bald head and goatee really helped the Stone Cold persona shine.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • A lot of people saw potential in Stunning Steve Austin at that time, although he wasn't a part of Bischoff's grand plan. WCW had pegged him as a future star before Bischoff took over and cleaned house: Steve was working matches with Ric Flair, Vader, Sting and Ricky Steamboat. But when the push to mainstream went live, Austin got shoved on the backburner to make room for old WWF guys. That's when Paul picked him up in ECW. And, as Paul has said, he just gave Austin a mic and let him vent. Austin's circumstances created Stone Cold, not Paul, WWE, or anyone else.
  • In a sense. After a botched piledriver by Owen Hart broke Austin's neck, Austin had to change his wrestling style to accommodate his injury; in turn, other wrestlers adapted to this, and produced what is termed by some as the "main event style" that is still employed to this day.
  • An actual version of this happened following the infamous "Curtain Call Incident" at Madison Square Garden on May 19th, 1996, involving The Kliq (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, HHH, and Shawn Michaels, a mixture of babyfaces and heels, all hugged each other in the middle of the ring following Nash's last match in the WWF until his return in 2002). Somebody had to take the fall; with Hall and Nash leaving for WCW, and Shawn holding the WWF Championship, HHH had to accept the punishment - which was to be denied winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament. The man who took his spot as the tournament's ultimate victor? Steve Austin, who was catapulted to superstardom thanks to the victory.
• Real Song Theme Tune: "Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar in ECW.
• Romance on the Set:
  • Debra Marshall divorced her then-husband Steven "Mongo" McMichael and, after emigrating to WWF along with the wrestler she then managed, Jeff Jarrett, met and fell for Steve there. Jarrett would return to WCW, but not her. This is foreshadowed, nicely, in a Nitro storyline where Ric Flair woos away Debra and adds her to his ever-growing list of conquests, causing Mongo to go berserk in the announcer's booth. (In the words of one reviewer, "All because Ric Flair wanted a different color of mid-30s wrestling wife tail.")
  • Austin's valet in WCCW and very early on in WCW, Jeannie Clarke (aka Lady Blossom), became his second wife. She was the ex-wife of Austin's trainer, "Gentleman" Chris Adams.
• Short-Lived, Big Impact: He retired at 38, and was only on top for four years (1997-2001, with late '99 and most of 2000 off to recover from neck surgery), but the general consensus is that small time frame is bigger than anyone else's biggest four years on top before or since.
• Star-Making Role: He first got over with his King of the Ring win in 1996, but it was his submission match at WrestleMania 13 with Bret Hart and subsequent Heel–Face Turn that solidified his standing. That match with Hart also supplied one of his signature visuals: a close-up of his bloody face as he struggled vainly to get out of Hart's Sharpshooter.
• Throw It In!:
  • Austin's "Stone Cold" moniker was inspired by a comment from his wife at the time he was brainstorming ideas for a moniker; she handed him a cup of tea, and remarked that he should hurry up and drink it before it got "stone cold". Mick Foley mentioned in his book how, at the time, Austin was searching for a suitable "cold" nickname to suit his character— and was very lucky for that one to come along, as the writers had been coming up with some stinkers. Foley mentioned Austin could have had the exact same personality, but the moment he was announced as "Chilly McFreeze", there wouldn't have been much hope. Austin actually appeared on at least one TV broadcast as "Ice Dagger" Steve Austin. Which... isn't that bad of a nickname, really.
  • The "WHAT?!" catchprase. He was calling Christian one afternoon and left a voicemail. He said "what?" every other line for some reason. Christian found it so funny (if incoherent) that he suggested that Stone Cold use it. The rest, they say, is history.
• What Could Have Been:
  • After Halloween Havoc 1994 (where Ric Flair was forced into [kayfabe] retirement), the plan was to have Flair's valet Sherri Martell start accompanying Stunning Steve Austin to the ring. Austin would have started styling himself as a new Nature Boy type and getting over as a heel. He would have eventually feuded with Flair when he returned in mid-1995. It's possible that this feud would have primed Austin for a run at Hulk Hogan and the title, but we will never know. The plug was pulled, and Austin would be fired in June 1995.
  • After the decision to pair him with Sherri Martell and the feud with Flair was canceled, there was talk of bringing Austin into a new version of the Four Horsemen. Theoretically, the lineup would have also brought Brian Pillman (who did become a Horseman in 1995) and reunited the Hollywood Blondes alongside Flair and Arn Anderson.
  • Austin and Pillman, former tag partners with a great relationship and great chemistry, could have had some legendary feuds over the years had Pillman not died at 35.
  • Had Bret Hart not been released from the company in the circumstances surrounding the Montreal Screwjob; the plan for Wrestlemania 14 was to have Bret drop the title to Austin in a rematch of their Wrestlemania 13 classic.
    • Their match at Wrestlemania 13 was also only a Plan B as Bret was set to wrestle Shawn Michaels for the championship in a rematch from the previous year. However, Michaels took an impromptu leave of absence to rehab a knee injury so Hart continued his pre-existing feud with Austin instead.
  • Austin was also supposed to feud with Mick Foley, with Foley being revealed as the "Higher Power" behind the Ministry of Darkness. Foley declined, as Foley's numerous injuries had caught up with him at this point.
  • Austin was supposed to wrestle Hogan at WrestleMania X8 instead of the Rock. Austin actually declined, believing that his style and Hogan's wouldn't mesh, and that the match wouldn't live up to the hype. Austin deeply regrets not working with Hogan.
  • Paul Heyman noted on The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD that he wanted Austin as ECW World Champion. Austin declined, noting that being so close to making it made him want it even more, in character, adding to "The Extreme Superstar" persona.
  • Despite being considered quite likely the single biggest wrestling superstar in the entire history of the industry, Austin's career was a lot shorter than most- only 14 years from his debut in 1989 to his retirement in 2003, with his time at the top covering barely half of that. The broken neck he got from Owen Hart's botched piledriver not only cost him most of a year in 2000, but shortened his career as a whole, forcing him to retire at the age of only 38, and only returning for a match at Wrestlemania 38 aged 57, with an absence of 19 years from the ring.
  • The original plan for Summerslam 2001 was for Austin and The Rock to have a rematch, culminating in Austin dropping the Heavyweight title to The Rock. However, some creative plans had changed by the time The Rock came back from his filming schedule, and instead Austin faced Kurt Angle.
  • Had the “Curtain Call” never happened, there’s a decent chance Austin never would have reached the heights he got to. Since Triple H was scheduled to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, at a minimum “Austin 3:16” never would have happened, and Vince may have never given Austin the push that put him on top. Austin had been languishing in the middle of the card for the first several months of his run with the company due to Vince not seeing Austin as having good mic skills.
• Written-In Infirmity: Austin being run down by a car in the parking lot at Survivor Series 1999 was done to write him off television so that Austin could undergo neck surgery for his neck injury from the piledriver at SummerSlam 1997 two years prior.

---