Steve Austin (born
Steven James
Anderson on December 18, 1964, later
Steven
Williams), better known by his
ring
name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is an American
film and television
actor and retired
professional wrestler. Austin
wrestled for several well-known wrestling
promotions such as
World Championship Wrestling
(WCW),
Extreme
Championship Wrestling (ECW) and most famously, the
World Wrestling Federation
(WWF), which later became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in
2002. He won the 1997, 1998, & 2001 Royal Rumbles. In the late
1990s, Austin gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF
as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a disrespectful, beer-drinking
antihero who routinely defied his boss,
Vince McMahon. This defiance was often
shown by Austin flipping McMahon off and incapacitating him with
the
Stone Cold
Stunner, his
finishing move.
Austin had his first starring film role as Jack Conrad in the 2007
thriller The Condemned. In 2010 he stars as "Dan
Paine" in "
The
Expendables" for director/star
Sylvester Stallone. Austin recently
wrapped production on "
Damage," a
hard-edged, bare-knuckles fight film that focuses on the tough
choices people make in times of recession. The film is the first in
a multi-picture deal. In
USWA, Austin
feuded with
Chris Von Erich and
Chris Adams as a member of
Skandor
Akbar's "Devastation, Inc." stable.
Professional wrestling career
World Championship Wrestling (1991–1995)
Austin debuted in
World
Championship Wrestling in 1991 as "Stunning" Steve Austin,
initially managed by Vivacious Veronica. Almost immediately after
Austin's debut,
Lady Blossom became
his valet. Austin defeated
Bobby Eaton
for the WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991, just
weeks after his debut. In late 1991, Austin joined
Paul E. Dangerously's
Dangerous Alliance. Austin lost
the WCW Television Championship to
Barry
Windham in a
Two
out of three falls match on April 27, 1992. He regained the
title from Windham on May 23, 1992. Austin enjoyed a second lengthy
reign before losing to
Ricky
Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance
disbanded shortly thereafter. At
Halloween Havoc, he replaced
Terry Gordy, teaming with "Dr. Death" Steve
Williams to wrestle
Dustin Rhodes and
Barry Windham for the unified WCW and
NWA World Tag Team titles. The teams wrestled to a thirty minute
time limit draw.
In January 1993, Austin formed a
tag team
with
Brian Pillman known as
The Hollywood Blonds. The Blonds won
the
WCW World Tag Team
Championship on March 3, 1993, defeating Ricky Steamboat and
Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds
held the titles for five months. At
Clash of the
Champions XXIII the Blonds faced
Ric
Flair and
Arn Anderson in a Two out
of three falls Tag Team title match. Flair and Anderson defeated
the Blonds, but were not awarded the titles as one fall had been
determined by a disqualification. At
Clash of the
Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to
defend the titles against Arn Anderson and
Paul Roma. An injured Pillman, however, was
replaced by
Steven Regal. Austin and
Regal lost to Anderson and Roma. With Pillman still injured, Austin
joined
Colonel Robert Parker's
Stud Stable. After Pillman returned,
Austin betrayed and defeated him in a singles match at
Clash of the
Champions XXV.
At
Starrcade, in a two out of three
falls match, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls to
win the
WCW United States
Heavyweight Championship. Austin lost the title to Ricky
Steamboat on August 24, 1994. Austin was scheduled to face
Steamboat in a rematch for the title at
Fall Brawl, 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,
Jim Duggan in a
match that lasted thirty-five seconds. Austin challenged Duggan for
the United States Championship at
Halloween Havoc 1994 and
Clash of the
Champions XXIX. On both occasions, Austin lost to Duggan
by pinfall. After returning from a knee injury in early 1995,
Austin took part in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States
Heavyweight title, where he defeated Duggan via count out in the
first round, but lost to
Randy Savage
in the quarterfinals.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)
In 1995, Steve Austin was fired by WCW Vice President
Eric Bischoff, after suffering a triceps
injury, while wrestling on a Japanese tour; Bischoff and WCW did
not 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 good opportunity
to go on
Extreme
Championship Wrestling (ECW) television to air it. 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, referring to
WCW Monday Nitro as "Monday
NyQuil, where the big boys play with each
other."
While with ECW, "Superstar" Steve Austin feuded with
The Sandman and
Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck, who was the
ECW World Heavyweight Champion at
the time, defeated Austin at
November to Remember. The Sandman
defeated Steve Austin and Whipwreck in a
Triple Threat match at
December to Dismember in 1995
for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1995–2003)
The Ringmaster (1995–1996)
In late 1995, Austin joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Initially, Austin wrestled as "The Ringmaster" and was managed by
Ted DiBiase, who awarded him with the
Million Dollar
Championship. The Ringmaster defeated
Savio Vega at
WrestleMania XII. During this time, Austin
shaved his head bald, a look he has maintained since. At
In Your House:
Beware of Dog, Austin lost a "Caribbean Strap Match" to Savio
Vega. In accordance to the pre-match stipulations, DiBiase was
forced to leave the WWF, giving Austin the opportunity to forge his
own path. Austin later told announcer
Dok Hendrix (Michael P.S. Hayes)
that he had purposely lost the match in order to rid himself of his
manager.
Austin 3:16 and rise to superstardom (1996–1997)

Austin in 1996.
Austin's genuine rise to superstardom began at the
1996 King of the Ring. Austin began
using his trademark finishing maneuver, the Stone Cold Stunner;
with this new technique, he won the King of the Ring tournament,
receiving a
push
originally intended for
Triple H. After
defeating
Marc Mero in the semi-finals,
Austin defeated
Jake "The Snake"
Roberts in the finals. At the time, Roberts was portraying a
born-again Christian, so after the match, Austin cut a now famous
promo during
his coronation, 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
whooped your ass!". "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the
most popular catch phrases in wrestling history.
Austin spoke about
Bret Hart constantly
and taunted him relentlessly (one quote had Austin saying
"If
you put the letter 'S' in front of 'Hitman,' you have my exact
opinion of Bret Hart"). Hart finally accepted Austin's
challenge and returned to the WWF in October 1996. At
Survivor Series, Hart pinned Austin
in a match which helped create the foundations for the eventual
intense year-long feud between the two. 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 holding a gun. During the
1997 Royal Rumble match, Austin was
originally eliminated by Bret Hart, but the officials did not see
it, and he sneaked back into the ring and eliminated Hart by
throwing him over the ropes. This led to the first-ever
pay-per-view main event of Austin's WWF career
at
In Your House 13: Final
Four, which due to real-life events largely revolving around
Shawn Michaels, the match was for the
suddenly vacant
WWF Championship.
Austin was eliminated from the four-way match early after injuring
his knee, but was involved in the finish which saw Hart win his
fourth WWF Championship, which he lost the next night on
Raw to
Sycho Sid due to Austin's
interference, leading to the continuation of their feud. At
WrestleMania 13, Hart defeated
Austin in a 'Submission' match with
Ken
Shamrock as a special referee. During the match, Austin was cut
so that he bled, and Hart refused to release his Sharpshooter since
Austin had refused to give up. The match ended in Austin passing
out due to blood loss. Despite his wounds he refused any assistance
back to the locker room, thus turning Hart
heel and Austin
babyface in a rare
double-turn. Austin
eventually got his revenge on Hart when he injured Hart's leg in a
no disqualification match on
Raw, which featured Austin
refusing to let go of his own Sharpshooter and beating Hart while
on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. After his feud with
Hart, he had a WWF Championship shot against
The Undertaker at
In Your House
15: A Cold Day In Hell. Austin had the Undertaker down with the
Stunner, but due to a distraction from Brian Pillman, Undertaker
nailed Austin with a
Tombstone
Piledriver and got the victory.
During this time, Austin found a way to win the
WWF Tag Team Championship
on two separate occasions. On May 25, 1997, Austin and
Shawn Michaels defeated Owen Hart and
The British Bulldog for the title.
They held the title until July 14, before Michaels was forced to
vacate due to an injury. That same night a tournament was held to
determine who would face Austin and a partner of his choosing for
the vacant championship. Hart and Bulldog won the tournament, with
Austin refusing to pick a partner and choosing to wrestle the
former tag team champions by himself. Late in the match, a debuting
Dude Love came out to offer assistance
and Austin became a two-time tag team champion. He then feuded with
Owen Hart over Hart's
WWF Intercontinental
Championship.
At
SummerSlam, Austin and Hart
faced each other with the Intercontinental Championship on the line
and an added stipulation that Austin would have to kiss Hart's
buttocks if he lost. During the match Hart
botched a piledriver and dropped Austin on his head, resulting in a
legitimate broken neck for Austin and temporary paralysis. As Hart
baited the audience, Austin managed to crawl and pin Hart using a
roll-up to win
the Intercontinental Championship. A visibly injured and dazed
Austin was helped to his feet by a number of referees and led to
the back. Due to the severity of his neck injury, Austin was forced
to relinquish the Intercontinental title. Austin 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 Hart and
Faarooq, which was the final match in an
Intercontinental Championship tournament. Austin hit Faarooq with
the Intercontinental Championship belt while the referee's back was
turned, causing Hart to win the match. Austin's motives were to
keep the Intercontinental Championship around Hart's waist, and
were proven when he interfered in Hart's matched on the October 20
and 27 editions of
Raw. Austin would regain the
Intercontinental Championship from Hart at
Survivor Series.
With Hart out of the way, Austin set his sights on
Rocky Maivia, who stole Austin's belt on the
November 17 edition of
Raw after a beating by his
Nation of Domination stablemates. In
the weeks to come, Maivia began referring to himself as "The Rock"
and declaring himself to be "the best damn Intercontinental
Champion" ever. The Rock kept possession of the belt until
D-Generation X: In
Your House, when Austin defeated him to retain the title and
get his belt back.
As Austin had used his pickup truck to aid in his victory, McMahon
ordered him to defend the title against The Rock the next night on
Raw. However, Austin decided to willingly forfeit the
title to The Rock, citing his desire to chase the
WWF Championship that his former tag team
partner Shawn Michaels was holding. Austin then attacked both The
Rock and McMahon following the incident, which set Austin's pursuit
in motion.
Feuding with Mr. McMahon (1997–1999)
On
September 22, 1997, on the first ever Monday
Night Raw to be broadcast from Madison Square
Garden
, Owen Hart was giving a speech to the fans in
attendance. During his speech, Austin entered the ring with
five NYPD officers following, and assaulted Hart. As if it looked
Austin was going to fight the officers, Vince McMahon ran into the
ring to lecture Austin about why he couldn't be "physically" able
to compete. After telling McMahon that he respects the fact that he
and the WWF cared, Austin attacked McMahon with a Stone Cold
Stunner, leaving McMahon in shock. Austin was then arrested on
charges of trespassing, assault, and assaulting a police officer.
This marked the beginning of the Austin-McMahon rivalry.
With Bret Hart's departure, Austin and Shawn Michaels were the top
superstars in the company. Austin won the
1998 Royal Rumble, lastly eliminating
The Rock. The next night on
Raw, Austin interrupted Vince
McMahon in his presentation of
Mike
Tyson, who was making a special appearance, over the objection
of McMahon referring to Tyson as "the baddest man on the planet."
Austin flipped off Tyson, which led to Tyson shoving Austin much to
McMahon's embarrassment, who began to publicly disapprove of the
prospect of Austin as his champion. Tyson was later announced as
"the special enforcer" for the main event at
WrestleMania XIV, although he appeared to
be aligning himself with WWF Champion Shawn Michaels' stable
D-Generation X. This led to Austin's
WWF Championship match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, which
he won with help from Tyson, who turned on DX by making the
deciding three-count against Michaels. This victory ushered in the
Austin Era, and with it,
The Attitude
Era.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin's signature
ring entrance.
On the
Raw after Austin won the WWF Title, Vince McMahon
presented him with a new title belt and warned Austin that he did
not approve of his rebellious nature and that things could be done
"the easy way or the hard way." Austin gave his answer in the form
of another Stunner. This led to a segment a week later where Austin
had pledged a few days prior in a meeting to "play ball" with
McMahon, appearing in a suit and tie, with a beaming McMahon taking
a picture of himself and his new corporate champion. The entire
thing was a ruse by Austin who in the course of the segment
proceeded to tear off the suit, tell McMahon it was the last time
he would see Austin dressed like this, punch his boss in the
"corporate grapefruits," and take another picture of the two of
them while McMahon was doubled over in pain. In April 1998, it
appeared Austin and McMahon were going to battle out their
differences in an actual match, but the match was declared a
no contest when
Dude Love made an appearance. This led to
a match between Love and Austin at
Over the Edge: In Your House
for the WWF Championship. Austin managed to retain the title
despite McMahon acting as the referee and his "Corporate Stooges"
(
Gerald Brisco and
Pat Patterson) as timekeeper and
ring announcer, respectively.
McMahon continued to do everything he could to ruin Austin, and he
finally scored a big victory for his side at the
1998 King of the Ring tournament.
There, Austin lost the WWF Championship to
Kane in a First Blood match. Austin further
infuriated McMahon by winning back the championship the next night
on
Raw. Austin also emerged victorious against The
Undertaker at
SummerSlam. In
response, McMahon set up a Triple Threat match at
Breakdown: In Your House, where The
Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin at the same time. McMahon decided
to vacate the WWF Championship and award it based on a match
between the Undertaker and Kane, in which Austin was the guest
referee. Austin refused to count for either man and attacked both
towards the end of the match. McMahon later fired him, although
Austin got revenge by kidnapping McMahon and dragging him to the
middle of the ring at "gunpoint," which ended up being a toy gun
with a scroll that read "Bang! 3:16." Also the segment was very
"embarrassing" to McMahon as it showed he was so scared that he
urinated his pants. Stone Cold was later re-signed by
Shane McMahon. In the semifinals of a
tournament to award the vacant championship, Austin lost to
Mankind, after Shane double-crossed Austin. The next night on
Raw,
Judge Mills Lane ruled that
The Rock had to defend his newly won WWF Championship against
Austin that night. The Undertaker interfered and hit Austin with a
shovel, earning Austin a disqualification victory. At
Rock Bottom: In Your House, Steve
Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match after Kane
Tombstoned The Undertaker into the grave. With this victory, Austin
qualified for the
1999 Royal
Rumble.
Austin's next definitive chance to exact revenge on Mr. McMahon
came during the 1999 Royal Rumble match. On
Raw, McMahon
drew Austin's entry number with the obvious intention of screwing
him over. Austin drew entry number one, while McMahon drew number
two thanks to WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels. During the Rumble
match, McMahon slipped out of the ring and into the crowd as Austin
chased him down. It turned out to be a trap as McMahon led Austin
into the lobby restroom where he was ambushed by members of
The
Corporation. Austin was injured and taken away in an ambulance.
With Austin gone and not in the Rumble match, McMahon joined the
announce table in calling the match. Later on, however, Austin
returned in an ambulance and re-entered the Royal Rumble. After
Austin delivered a Stunner to the
Big Boss
Man and eliminated him. With the assistance of the Corporation
and a last minute interference from The Rock, Austin was eliminated
by McMahon himself, and McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble. With
McMahon turning down his number-one contender spot against The
Rock, WWF Commissioner Michaels awarded Austin the title shot
during
Raw the next night. At
St. Valentine's Day
Massacre, Stone Cold got a one-on-one match against McMahon in
a
Steel Cage
match, with the WWF Championship opportunity at
WrestleMania XV at stake. During the match,
Paul Wight made his debut, breaking
through from under the ring and attacking Austin. Wight's attack
propelled Austin into the side of the cage forcing the cage to give
way and dropping Austin to the floor first, making him the victor.
Austin defeated The Rock at
WrestleMania
XV for his third WWF Championship.
Austin faced The Rock in a rematch at
Backlash, in which Shane McMahon was the
referee. During the match, McMahon approached the ring, only to
hand Austin back his Smoking Skull belt and take Shane out of the
proceedings. Austin won the match when another referee made the
count. The Undertaker, however, won the WWF Championship from
Austin at
Over the Edge. Due to
events revolving around Vince McMahon,
Stephanie and
Linda McMahon made Stone Cold the Chief
Executive Officer of the company. Vince and Shane McMahon
challenged Austin to a Handicap
Ladder
match at
King of the Ring
with the CEO title on the line, which the duo of father and son
won. The next night on
Raw, however, Austin made it clear
that while he was the CEO of the company, he could have a title
shot at any time and place to be determined by himself. Austin made
the WWF Championship match that night on
Raw and defeated
The Undertaker to win his fourth WWF Championship. Austin held on
to the Championship belt until
SummerSlam when he lost it to Mankind in a
Triple Threat match also featuring
Triple
H. Austin would get his rematch at
No Mercy against Triple H but lost after
The Rock accidentally struck him with
a sledgehammer that was meant for Triple H. By
Survivor Series, Triple H was still
champion. Austin was booked into a triple threat match for the WWF
championship that also included Triple H and The Rock. Instead,
however, Austin was run down by a car in the parking lot.
The Big Show would replace Austin in the match
and would win the WWF championship. What followed was neck surgery
by Dr.
Lloyd Youngblood and a
nine-month rehabilitation with the car angle as his reason for
leaving. In reality, Austin had needed neck surgery since the Owen
Hart incident in 1997.
The Two–Man Power Trip (2000–2001)
At
Backlash, Austin attacked
Triple H and Vince McMahon, helping The Rock reclaim the WWF
Championship. At
Unforgiven,
Austin made his official return and tried to find out who ran him
down at Survivor Series the previous year.
Rikishi finally admitted to being the driver
because "he was the most stupid candy ass around." At
No Mercy, Austin was back to face Rikishi
in a No Holds Barred Match. During the match, Austin motioned he
was going to drive his truck into Rikishi, who by that time was a
bloody mess. Before he could, he was stopped by officials and the
match was deemed a no contest and Austin was (kayfabe) arrested and
later bailed by Commissioner
Mick Foley.
During a handicap match against Rikishi and
Kurt Angle, Triple H came down with the apparent
intention of teaming with Austin. After clearing the ring, Triple H
smashed his sledgehammer over Austin's head, and revealed it was
actually him behind the whole scheme, devised to shield the WWF
Championship from Austin and end his career. At
Survivor Series, Triple H had plotted
to run Austin down again during their match (thus repeating the
events of the previous year's Survivor Series) but his plot failed
when Austin lifted Triple H's automobile with a forklift, then let
it drop 20 feet.
Austin won his third
Royal
Rumble in January 2001, last eliminating Kane. His rivalry
against Triple H ended at
No Way
Out in a Three Stages of Hell match, with Triple H beating
Austin two falls to one. Then, at
WrestleMania X-Seven, Austin turned
heel by hitting The
Rock with a steel chair several times to win the WWF Championship.
After the match, Austin shook hands and shared a beer with Vince
McMahon. With the victory, Austin became a five-time WWF Champion.
The next night on
Raw, after teasing a quick face turn,
the heel turn continued. He also altered his character considerably
over the next few months, in a deliberate turn from the rebellious
and anti-establishment character beloved by the fans, Austin became
a whiny, temperamental prima donna who would complain incessantly
when he felt he was not getting the respect from the fans and
wrestlers that he deserved. He also developed an infatuation with
McMahon, going to great lengths to impress him and even going so
far as to hugging him and bringing him presents. McMahon, though
visibly uncomfortable and wary by the attention, was still grateful
to have Austin with him instead of against him. During a cage match
with The Rock in a rematch for the title, Triple H came down to the
ring with a sledgehammer and together with Austin viciously
attacked The Rock and put him out of action. Austin and Triple H
became a team and called themselves
The
Two-Man Power Trip.
Austin and Triple H were the top heels in the company feuding with
The Undertaker and Kane. After defeating Kane and The Undertaker
for the
WWF Tag Team
Championship at
Backlash, they
held the Tag Team Titles, the WWF Championship (Austin), and the
WWF Intercontinental Championship (Triple H) all at once. At
Judgment Day, Triple H lost his
Intercontinental Title against Kane. Then, the following night on
Raw, Austin and Triple H wrestled against
Chris Jericho and
Chris Benoit with the Tag Team Titles on the
line. Midway through the match, Triple H tore his quadriceps
muscle. As planned, the team lost the Tag Team Title at the end of
the match when Triple H accidentally hit Austin in the stomach with
a sledgehammer, but the injury to Triple H, which kept him out for
the remainder of the year, forced the WWF to go in another
direction. Austin had a minor injury for a month.
The Invasion (2001)
Austin was paired with Kurt Angle and feuded against Jericho and
Benoit. This culminated with a Triple Threat match at
King of the Ring, in which Austin
faced the former tag team champions. Although WCW's
Booker T interfered, Austin scored the
victory and retained his championship. The feud ended at that
point, as Benoit had neck surgery after the match, sidelining him
for the following year.
In July 2001, with Benoit out for surgery, the Austin/Jericho feud
was dropped without a mention. With Triple H out and The Rock still
away making movies, the WWF desperately rushed out the plans for
The Invasion.
As The Invasion storyline began and progressed, McMahon, was
watching helplessly as his empire was crumbling around him due to
The Alliance
luring more and more talent away from the WWF, and his biggest
allies, Austin and Angle, too busy sucking up to him and bickering
amongst themselves to successfully counter the Alliance. Austin
made it known that he was against teaming with Angle, whom Austin
saw as both a threat to his title, as well as an annoying tag
along. A frustrated McMahon appealed to Austin to return to his old
Texas Rattlesnake persona, even imploring him to give him a Stone
Cold Stunner. Though intending to fire up Austin, it backfired and
only seemed to hurt his feelings, as he promptly left the arena,
dejected. But the week before
InVasion,
the old Stone Cold Steve Austin "returned," delivering stunners to
the Alliance members. This was all part of the setup for a swerve
at the event, where Austin betrayed the WWF team and partner Angle
to help the Alliance win, as Austin assumed leadership of the
group. The reason why Austin did this was because he felt that
McMahon was grooming Angle to take over his spot, and that he was
"unappreciated" when McMahon insisted he return to the old
Austin.
Austin lost and regained his title in a feud with Angle, who was
put over by Austin as a threat. Austin lost the title to Angle at
Unforgiven before regaining it
on the October 8, 2001 episode of
Raw. Angle then joined
the Alliance. As the Invasion angle dragged on, it was ultimately
decided to bring the plot line to an end with Austin and a group of
ECW and WCW wrestlers facing The Rock and a group of WWF wrestlers
at
Survivor Series. Austin
and his team lost after Angle betrayed him, thus ending the
Invasion angle. The next night on Raw, as McMahon was about to
award Angle with the WWF Championship for actions at
Survivor Series, Ric Flair came out
and announced that he owned half of the WWF. Austin came out and
attacked Angle and McMahon, thus regaining the WWF Championship.
Austin then had a beer bash with Flair, turning Austin face once
again. Austin would hold the WWF Championship for another month
before losing it to Chris Jericho at
Vengeance due to interference from Booker
T. Jericho defeated both The Rock and Austin consecutively that
night, winning the WCW World Title and later the WWF Title and
combining them to create the
WWF
Undisputed Championship. After that, Austin continued another
feud with Booker T. In one angle, Austin and Booker T fought in a
grocery store which Austin won.
Backstage issues and departure (2002–2004)
By 2002, Austin's spot as top face in the WWF was not secure as it
had been, as Triple H was set to return from injury. At the time,
Vince McMahon had re-signed
Hulk Hogan,
Scott Hall and
Kevin Nash for a storyline that would bring the
New World
Order (nWo) into the WWF. They feuded with Austin and The Rock.
Austin was originally intended to be the one to challenge Hogan at
WrestleMania, but The Rock took his place and defeated Hogan. At
WrestleMania X8, Austin defeated
Scott Hall instead. Austin took a week long break following
WrestleMania, refusing to show up for the following night's
Raw.
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, and he ultimately chose Raw. Austin entered a feud with
the Undertaker that resulted in a number one contenders match for
the WWF Undisputed Championship at
Backlash, which Austin lost. He would later
be betrayed by Big Show, who went on to rejoin the nWo, and Ric
Flair. Austin then defeated Big Show and Flair in a handicap match
at
Judgment Day. Austin's last
appearance was on June 3, when he defeated Flair in a match where
Flair became Austin's servant. After Austin
no-showed an episode
of
Raw, the angle was dropped. Austin had decided to walk
out again because of bad storylines that were presented to him by
the creative team. This time though, he did not return for almost
nine months. Bored and run down, Austin began to create problems
backstage as the WWF rehired
Eddie
Guerrero for Austin to feud with, while prepping Austin for a
feud with
Brock Lesnar. Austin,
however, vetoed any matches that would result in him losing and
ultimately walked out of the company when the writing staff wanted
Austin to lose to Lesnar. 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 did not give Lesnar a
proper stage for such a big win over a star of the magnitude that
Austin held. Further fanning the flames amongst Austin's growing
number of detractors was a well-publicized domestic dispute
incident between Austin and his wife Debra.
In February 2003, Austin returned to WWE at
No Way Out in a short match against Eric
Bischoff. Austin would wrestle only one match between then and
WrestleMania in another short match against Bischoff on
Raw, but was then defeated by The Rock at
WrestleMania XIX, who returned about the
same time as a smug, "sell out" villain, which ultimately became
Austin's last official match in WWE to date. The night after on
Raw, Bischoff "fired" Austin on medical grounds, however
he was brought back by Linda McMahon as the Co-General Manager of
Raw. The move to the role of Co-General Manager was a way to keep
Austin on-camera while limiting Austin's in-ring performance due to
long running injuries wearing him down throughout his career. On
the November 17, 2003 edition of
Raw, Austin was "fired"
from Raw as the result of a stipulation in a match at
Survivor Series where Austin's
hand-picked team of wrestlers failed to beat Bischoff's team of
wrestlers.
Austin quickly returned to WWE television
before the end of 2003 when he was part of the WWE Tribute to the Troops
taped live in front of U.S. troops in Iraq
, posing and
stunning Mr. McMahon. He finally came back on
Raw
on December 29 as its "Sheriff."
Austin appeared on and off as 2004 began, culminating in him being
the special guest referee for the infamous match between Brock
Lesnar and
Goldberg at
WrestleMania XX. Then, on April 17, 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. This was reportedly over a contract dispute
about WWE's control of Austin's non-WWE projects, such as movies.
Austin could thus no longer use "Stone Cold" to promote himself, as
that name is trademarked by WWE. Austin had to correct many people
in interviews to ensure they did not refer to him by that
moniker.
Part–time WWE appearances (2005–2008)
Austin made his first appearance on WWE programming in a year at
WrestleMania 21 where he was
confronted by "Rowdy"
Roddy Piper in
Piper's Pit until
Carlito interrupted to insult both. This
resulted in Carlito receiving a
Stone Cold Stunner from
Austin and Piper throwing him out of the ring. The segment ended
with Austin and Piper celebrating with beer until Austin gave Piper
a Stone Cold Stunner as well.
At
ECW One Night Stand
Austin came to the ring following the show's main event. Wearing a
Las Vegas Outlaws (of the failed
XFL) jersey, Austin came to the ring to give
The Sandman a beer which he had asked
for. However, Austin invited the whole locker room to the ring for
a Beer Bash. However, before the bash he demanded the WWE Crusaders
come to the ring for a fight.
Tazz came to the
ring, which started the brawl. After Taz applied the
Tazmission to
Kurt
Angle the brawl ended. ECW stood alone in the ring after
throwing all of the Crusaders out of the ring.
Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) then dragged
Eric Bischoff to the ring. The
Dudley Boyz gave him a
Dudley
Death Drop, followed by
Chris
Benoit giving him a
Diving Headbutt,
Rey Mysterio followed that with a
619.
When Austin then asked Bischoff about his feelings on the night, he
responded with "F**K ECW", which promoted Austin to give Bischoff a
stunner. As the Dudley Boyz took Bischoff outside, and loaded him
onto a WWE production truck, the remaining ECW Originals took place
in a "'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Beer Bash" as the show went off the
air.
Then, at
WWE
Homecoming, Austin again returned to
Raw,
delivering Stunners to all four members of the McMahon family. An
angle including
Jim Ross being fired 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. Austin balked at the
decision for Coachman to win, however, and once again walked out on
the company after storyline disagreements. To explain away his
failure to appear at Taboo Tuesday, Vince McMahon said on
Raw that Austin had been involved in an accident, thus
preventing him from competing.
Batista
substituted for Austin defeating the Coach along with
Vader and
Goldust. The stipulation was dropped due to
Austin not competing.
Austin returned to WWE briefly to face
John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a beer drinking
contest at the March 5, 2006 edition of
Saturday Night's Main
Event. The feat was declared a no contest when Austin saw
JBL cheating by pouring the beer down his clothes. Austin gave a
stunner to JBL and then celebrated with the Stone Cold beer salute.
Austin then inducted Bret Hart into the
WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006.
Austin returned to WWE programming (appearing on
Raw,
ECW, and
SmackDown!)
in March 2007, partially to promote his starring role in the
release of WWE Films' production,
The
Condemned. On March 31, 2007, Austin inducted his friend
Jim Ross into the WWE Hall of Fame. At
WrestleMania 23, Austin, as a
special guest
referee, officiated the match between
Bobby Lashley and
Umaga. The stipulation for the match was that if
Lashley lost, Donald Trump's head would be shaved, and if Umaga
lost, Mr. McMahon's head would suffer the same fate. In the course
of the event, Austin delivered stunners to Umaga, Vince McMahon,
Shane McMahon, and
Donald Trump Lashley
eventually won the match, and Trump, Austin and Lashley then shaved
Mr.McMahon's head on live TV. Stone Cold ended by stunning McMahon
as well as Donald Trump and toasting beers. He then appeared in a
video on the June 11 edition of
Raw as part of "Mr.
McMahon's Appreciation Night", where he shared his thoughts on his
past feuds with McMahon.
The June 25, 2007 edition of
Raw was scheduled to be a
three-hour memorial to "Mr. McMahon" (as part of McMahon's "death"
storyline). However, due to the actual death of Chris Benoit, the
original show was cancelled and was followed by a tribute to Benoit
that filled the three-hour timeslot. Austin was one of the
superstars who discussed Benoit, and stated that he missed him and
would not forget him.

Austin would often referee matches
after retiring from wrestling
Austin appeared on the August 18, 2007 edition of
Saturday
Night's Main Event, as a possible illegitimate child of Mr.
McMahon and stunned McMahon and Jonathan Coachman. Austin appeared
at
SummerSlam where he was the
replacement for
Matt Hardy to battle
Montel Vontavious Porter in
a Beer Drinking Contest. The match ended in a no contest after
Austin handed a beer to MVP and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner. On
the November 5, 2007 edition of
Raw, Austin made an
appearance to confront
Santino
Marella for bashing
The
Condemned. The argument ended as Marella received a Stone
Cold Stunner from Austin, who then walked backstage only to return
with a
Budweiser beer
truck to hose down Marella and his valet
Maria with beer. On December 10, 2007 during
the
Raw 15th Anniversary
Spectacular, Austin returned after Vince McMahon received
the
mandible claw from
Mankind and a
chokeslam
from The Undertaker for proclaiming himself "the greatest Raw
superstar of all time." Shortly after, McMahon received a Stone
Cold Stunner as Austin called out all WWE stars in attendance to
the ring to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Raw. The show closed
as Austin, Triple H and
Hornswoggle
poured beer on McMahon, who was knocked out outside the ring.
On October 26, 2008 at
Cyber
Sunday, Austin was the special guest referee during a match
between Batista and Chris Jericho for the
World Heavyweight
Championship. In between the match Stone Cold told a fleeing
Jericho that if he was counted out or disqualified, Batista would
win the Title. During the course of the match, Batista accidentally
knocked Austin down. When Austin recovered, Randy Orton, who had
come out as the third referee, knocked Austin back down, only to
receive a Stone Cold Stunner when Austin recovered. Eventually
Batista won the match by hitting his signature Batista Bomb on
Chris Jericho, leading Austin to give the three count, making
Batista the New World Heavyweight Champion.
Hall of Fame and final departure (2009)
On January 12, 2009 edition of
Raw, Austin was announced
to be the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009.
Austin was inducted by his long-term on-screen rival WWE Chairman,
Vince McMahon and he referred to Austin as "The Greatest Superstar
of all time." During the induction, there were "
one more
match" chants to which Austin said he was officially closing
the door on his wrestling career and starting a new chapter in his
life. At
WrestleMania XXV, Austin
was introduced alongside the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. After
the introductions, Austin's theme music hit, and he re-entered the
ringside area wearing a vintage "Austin 3:16" shirt driving an ATV.
He drove the ATV around the ring, up the aisle, then in reverse
next to the ring. Austin got in the ring, and it became what will
be remembered as his farewell beer bash. He toasted the fans, and
announcer Jim Ross stated "We'll never forget the night the Austin
era began, and we'll never forget the night it ended." During the
segment, announcers Jim Ross,
Jerry
Lawler, and
Michael Cole stressed
that this was his "final time" in a WWE ring, announcer Jim Ross
gave him a standing ovation and saying "we will never forget the
man that is Stone Cold Steve Austin".
Talk ins and Apperances
As of late
2009, Steve Austin is traveling Europe doing
personal apperances and various charity events throughout the
United
Kingdom
. He was featured on the UK Saturday morning
sports show
Soccer AM in October
2009 to promote his new film 'Damage' which is due to be released
December 5th 2009. During the show Austin stated that he did not
follow any sport apart from wrestling and
NFL.
As with all Americans on the show, they made him draw an English
soccer team from a hat to follow. He drew out
Bolton Wanderers, whom he promised to
follow. Austin is doing PA events throughout the UK in support of
The Make A Wish Foundation.
Personal life
Steve Williams dated Kathryn Burrhus throughout high school and
college, and the two married on November 24, 1990. Nonetheless,
Williams pursued a relationship with
Jeannie Clark ("Lady Blossom"), with whom he
was working. His marriage to Burrhus was quickly annulled on August
7, 1992, and Williams and Jeannie married on December 18, 1992.
Together, they have two daughters, Stephanie (born in 1992) and
Cassidy (born in 1996). He also adopted Jade, Jeannie's daughter
with former husband
Chris
Adams. They divorced on May 10, 1999 and their daughters live
in England with Jeannie.
On September 13, 2000, Austin married
Debra Marshall.
On June 15, 2002,
however, police were called to their residence in San Antonio, Texas
. They found a hysterical Debra with bruises.
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 fine
and ordered to carry out eighty hours of community service. Debra
would later claim that Steve Austin was a steroid user and this
incident was the result of
roid
rage. Austin filed for divorce from Debra on July 22, 2002 and
the divorce was finalized on February 5, 2003.
In December 2007, the
Wrestling Observer newsletter
reported that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin legally changed his real
name (Steven Williams) to his wrestling name Steve Austin,
following in the footsteps of former WWE Superstars
The Ultimate Warrior and
Chyna.
In wrestling

Austin celebrated his victories by
downing cans of beer.
- Finishing moves
- As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
- As "Stunning" Steve Austin
- As The Ringmaster
- Signature moves
- As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
- As "Stunning" Steve Austin
Championships and accomplishments
- Texas Wrestling Federation
- TWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The California
Stud

Austin being inducted into the WWE
Hall of Fame
Filmography
References
Bibliography
Notes
- Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth
(p.10),
- Sammond, Nicholas, pages 6
- Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth
(p.85-86)
- Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth
(p.89)
- Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth
(p.91-93)
- Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man, p.193, Ted DiBiase with
Tom Caiazzo, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 2008, ISBN
978-1-4165-5890-3
- Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and
Sweatsocks (p.229)
-
http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/304454132122112
- http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/97.htm
-
http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/30445413212312
- Stone Cold Steve Austin.The Stone Cold Truth
(p.79)
- Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth (p.
95-97)
- Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth (p.
98)
- [Stated in The Stone Cold Truth video]
- Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Stone Cold Truth
(p.8)
External links