Real Name: Steve Williams Nickname: Stunning Steve, Stone Cold, Austin 3:16, SCSA Birthdate: 12/18/64 Height: 6' 2" Weight: 241 lbs Signature Moves: Reverse Jawbreaker, Armdrag, Swinging DDT, Stone Cold Stunner
Biography:
Steve Austin began his sports career playing a defensive end on the North Texas State University football team. In early '89, Steve Austin enrolled in the Chris Adams wrestling school. During his time at the school Steve Austin quickly got a reputation in the South-Eastern United States, and was the first graduate late in '89. He wrestled under his real name Steve Williams, but quickly adopted a new name after being confused with the then famous Steve "Dr. Death" Williams. The decision came after being booked to wrestle for a small show in Texas and an angry promoter who assumed he would have the "other" Williams appearing at his show.
Using the name Steve Austin, Chris Adams and he wrestled in the USWA Texas division as a tag team. After limited success, Austin struck off on his own as a singles wrestler, starting a long and bitter feud with Adams. This feud ran through the USWA and other smaller venues, eventually hitting its peak when Austin hired Chris Adams' ex-wife as his valet, and Adams hired Austin's real-life wife as his valet. Austin also enlisted the aid of Percy Pringle, wrestling in various venues for the USWA in Texas and Tennessee. After several high-profile matches with Jeff Jarrett, Austin left the USWA for the growing WCW.
Steve Austin was quickly promoted as a champion with various valets... from Veronica to Chris Adams' ex-wife. Austin won the TV title from Bobby Eaton early in his WCW career, and was soon managed by Paul E. Dangerously as part of his "Dangerous Alliance" stable with Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyzsko, Bobby Eaton, and Madusa. Austin meanwhile was pushed into lengthy feuds with Dustin Rhodes and smaller feuds with Scott Stiener, Barry Windham and Ron Simmons.
When Paul Dangerously left the WCW, Austin joined forces with Brian Pillman to form the team "The Hollywood Blondes", eventually winning the WCW Tag Team titles as a part of this combination. As part the Hollywood Blondes Steve Austin grew to become one of the most popular personalities in the WCW with the fans, but was unable to gather the clout he needed from the bookers and owners to be promoted as a World Champion. Despite this, Austin and Pillman performed several "skits", years before they would become standard fare in United States professional wrestling. One of these included a parody of Ric Flair and Arn Anderson called "walk of the old", and would become the foundation of mainstream parody angles for years to come.
When Brian Pillman became injured, Austin once again entered the singles world and won the US title from his long time rival Dustin Rhodes in late '93. Austin held the title for a short time, defending against Marc Mero and the Great Muta, the later of which gathered him a strong reputation in Japan. Austin later dropped the title to Ricky Steamboat, was awarded it back after an injury, and dropped the title the same night to Hacksaw Jim Duggan. After that point, Austin's WCW career would be a series of setbacks, after a knee and tricep injury took him out of active competition. Determining that Austin's usefulness was over inside the ring and wanting to clear out some high-priced contracts, then president Eric Bischoff terminated his contract, and Austin left the WCW.
Austin signed a development contract with the WWF, but was allowed to work in other promotions until an angle could be developed for him. Austin traveled to the ECW, where he used his recovering time to further develop his microphone skills, taking the parody angles he performed in the WCW farther with imitations of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. In his time at the ECW, Steve Austin worked with wrestler Mick Foley to develop a style to work around his injury and enhance his interview skills. Despite speculation that Steve Austin would win titles in the ECW, his time there was short, and after only four months Steve Austin debuted in the WWF in late '95.
Steve Austin was billed as the "Ringmaster", managed by the former Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase. Austin was awarded the "Million Dollar Title" and entered into a lengthy feud with Savio Vega, which ended when Austin lost a strap match with a stipulation that also forced him to give up his manager, who left the WWF. This loss would be the start of his rise to stardom, as Austin used the loss to bill himself as a "Stone Cold" wrestler, a man who looked out for himself and fought everyone. Austin would go on to win the King of the Ring Tournament in '96, defeating Jake Roberts in the final. After the match, Steve Austin would be awarded the crown and cape, which he refused, proclaiming "Austin 3:16 just whipped your ass". This line caught on with the fans, and propelled him into stardom in the WWF.
Austin would then become involved in a long feud with Bret Hart, which culminated in a submission stipulation match at WrestleMania 13, where Austin would pass out from loss of blood rather than submit to Bret Hart's finishing submission hold, the Sharpshooter. This match would be billed by PWI and the WON as the best match of '97, and the springboard for several main event status matches.
As an overwhelmingly popular fan favorite, Steve Austin would win the tag team titles with Shawn Michaels, and later with old friend Mick Foley, wrestling under the guise of Dude Love. Austin would also win the Intercontinental title from Owen Hart, but in the same match suffered damage to two vertebra and a bruised spine after a botched piledriver from Owen. Austin would be out of action for several months, but his popularity would only grow despite being stripped of both titles he held at the time. He was promoted as the leading wrestler in the organization, finally winning the World title in a match against Shawn Michaels, in which both wrestlers fought severe limiting injuries throughout the match.
From this point Austin would wrestle the most aggressive schedule seen by a World Champion in the history of the WWF, facing several opponents including the Undertaker, Kane, Dude Love, and others. Austin's biggest antagonist would not be another wrestler however, but the owner of the WWF, Vince McMahon, who used his poor reputation over the incident involving the separation of Bret Hart and the WWF to promote a new "super heel" character, who was determined to get the title off of Austin.
During this period professional wrestling has undergone a renaissance of popularity, with Steve Austin's character being one of the leading factors for the resurgence. Several similar characters have been created as a result of the popularity of Austin's "no nonsense" gimmick, and helped cross over into several other markets that it had previously only scratched the surface of. How long Austin's popularity will last remains to be seen... but his impact on the sport is indisputable, despite being billed as "washed up" a few years earlier.
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