Stone Cold was born as Steven Anderson, but adopted his stepfathers last name of Williams after his father left the family and his mother remarried. After attending North Texas State University on a football scholarship, Steve Williams decided to try his hand at professional wrestling by enrolling in Chris Adams school and wrestling for WCCW. It was here that he adopted the name Steve Austin and the Stunning prefix that would follow him to WCW and ECW.
Austin left WCCW when it folded and signed with WCW where he had a diverse, if not forgettable career. Austin started off strong by beating Bobby Eaton for the Television Title, and held onto the title for nearly a year before exchanging it with Barry Windham, and held the title for nearly four more months before dropping it to Ricky Steamboat. He would later win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, but would later drop it to Steamboat. He would later regain the title after Steamboat was force to forfeit the title, but he was then defeated by Jim Duggan in a 35 second squash. Other WCW career highlights for Steve Austin include winning the tag straps as part of the Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman and competing in Paul E. Dangerouslys Dangerous Alliance.
WCW fired Austin after he suffered an injury, with Eric Bischoff citing his belief that Austin not being a marketable wrestler as his main reason why. Austin then got back in touch with his former WCW manager, Paul Heyman, and wrestled for ECW for a little less than a year. In this one year, though, Austin was a regular challenger for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, but he never won the belt.
The WWF brought Austin into the company after Jim Ross convinced Vince McMahon to take an interest in him. He wrestled as The Ringmaster and was managed by Ted DiBiase for the better part of a year, and feuded with Savio Vega for much of it. Austin won his first Wrestlemania match at Wrestlemania XII by defeating Vega, but Vega would eventually beat Austin in a match that resulted in Ted DiBiase being fired from the WWF. From here, Austin abandoned The Ringmaster gimmick and began to blaze his own trail
Austins rise to superstardom began during the 1996 King of the Ring Tournament, a Tournament Austin won by defeating Jake Roberts in the final. After beating Roberts, Austin cut what is perhaps the most famous promo in the history of professional wrestling:
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 whooped your ass!"
Despite being the heel in the feud, fans from all over the world went crazy for Austin after this promo. Austin 3:16 is not only one of wrestlings post popular phrases, it is also the highest selling t-shirt in WWE merchandise history.
Austins meteoric rise continued as he began to feud with Bret Hart. After losing a number one contenders match to Hart, screwing Hart by cheating to win the Royal Rumble, and later costing Hart the WWF Title, Hart and Austin engaged in one of the all time greatest matches at Wrestlemania XII. This submission match saw Austin refuse to tap out to the Sharpshooter, instead passing out due to the pain and blood loss. Bret Hart was declared the winner, but continued his assault on Austin after the match was over, officially turning Austin face for the first time in his WWF career and sparking a huge USA vs. Canada feud within the WWF.
Austins greatest accomplishment was introducing the role of the anti-hero to professional wrestling. Austin had been cheered since his Austin 3:16 promo, but still played the role of the heel until after his Wrestlemania XIII match. However, even as a face he continued with his heel tendencies, going so far as to assault Bret Hart as he was being taken to the hospital by an ambulance.
Few WWF careers can rival that of Austins, as he has had legendary feuds with nearly every superstar to come through the company in the late 90s, including Triple H, Mick Foley, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, and even Vince McMahon himself. Despite Austins limited move-set following a career-changing neck injury, Austin was always able to put on great matches due to his passion, emotion, and ruthlessness. Additionally, he was one of the few stars that was able to transcend wrestling and was able to become a household name.
Without Stone Cold Steve Austin, wrestling would not be the product it is today. Austin took a show that was generally marketed towards kids and families and made it cool and edgy. He took a cartoon and made it into an action movie. Austin is the father of modern wrestling and is truly one of the all time legends of the business.
Did you know?
Steve Austins first WWF opponent was Scotty 2 Hotty.
Stone Cold may be the biggest bad ass in wrestling history, but hes an avid antiques collector in real life.
Austin is the only wrestler to both turn face (13) and heel (17) at Wrestlemania.
Austin drank Budweiser at most of the WWE live events. Hes recently started drinking Keystone.
