As far as WWE’s Attitude Era goes, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the man.
The Texas rattlesnake transcended the wrestling entertainment business and even at age 56 and having been in retirement since 2003, he is still one of the most beloved wrestlers.
Archivo Hulton – Getty
‘Austin 3:16’ was born in 1996 and his iconic King of the Ring speech is believed to kick off the Attitude Era
The crowd reaction to his return to Madison Square Garden in 2019, an arena considered the home of WWE, was the kind of pop that most top-tier artists in WWE today could only wish for.
But, Steve Austin didn’t just pull it off. It changed the entire industry.
In 1996, when the King of the Ring won, a tournament in which Triple H was supposed to triumph, but was instead punished by Vince McMahon for the ‘Curtain Call’, Austin delivered an iconic and unscripted speech deemed the birth of the Attitude Era. , which was the poster boy.
‘Austin 3:16’ was born and while the WWE Hall of Famer exhibited all the signs of a carefree heel, he became the antihero everyone needed during a climate change in business.
Coincidentally, WCW, with whom WWE was in a ratings war, told Austin that it would never be a draw.
He was fired and about seven years later, he established himself as the biggest box office sensation wrestling has ever seen.
However, even some of the best dogs within WWE weren’t sure of his appeal.
“It was in 1996 and [WWE merchandise guru] Jimmy Miranda came up with a checklist of different t-shirts and he wanted to know if he would be interested in a Mankind t-shirt, “recalled Mick Foley.
“Steve Austin came in and said ‘Hey Miranda, how about a Stone Cold shirt?’ Miranda was a little nervous and told him that the company just doesn’t see marketing potential in you. Then there was a rocket ride and Steve Austin took off.
WWE Superstar ‘The Undertaker’ on his 30-year career with the company and reflects on the famous ladder match with Jeff Hardy
WWE’s average attendance and headlining ticket receipts at turn-of-the-millennium shows remain records to this day.
Pay-per-view purchases while he was a champion outside of WrestleMania, which will grow exponentially each year, were also record-breaking.
This was a company that has bragged about Hulk Hogan and The Rock to name two superstars.
«[Austin] it beat all Hogan records, “McMahon said in 2004.” In terms of marketing and licensing, and pay-per-view and live events. Without a doubt, the most popular artist we have ever had.
WWE
Stone Cold Steve Austin was the antihero wrestling fans drank beer from and his feud with McMahon was one of the highlights of the Attitude Era.
People wanted to see Steve Austin build hell, turn his boss around and the people at Stone Cold Stunner. It seems simple, but people paid a lot of money to see it.
“It was the way I did things, but that’s how I did things with that attitude,” Austin told WWE.com. The more he sped it up, the crazier people became.
MMA legend Ken Shamrock, who joined WWF in 1997, told talkSPORT what it was like to work with Austin at the peak of his powers.
“Austin had a connection to the audience that only a select few people will achieve or have had. Every live event he headlined was electric.
«To have that experience of being able to understand part of the psychology and the thought process that [the roster] put in their matches that made them who they are… I was a student of the game.
Brochure – Getty
In an era of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin was still the biggest draw and when the glass broke when he made his entrance, the sands exploded
“By learning from all these great artists, I really had the opportunity to take the time to understand who they were, how they got to where they were. The way they were using their psychology to build their characters, and I paid attention to that.
The Rock is probably the most famous person to come out of the wrestling business, and Hulk Hogan took up wrestling, but there has never been a bigger star than Stone Cold Steve Austin between those ropes, with the character of Mr McMahon providing. the perfect foiling.
Road Dogg summed it up by saying that timing was everything to the character. “At that time in America, it was exactly what the doctor ordered.”
AFP – Getty
Even Mike Tyson, the so-called ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’, wanted to be involved with Austin and appeared at WrestleMania in 1998 where Stone Cold headlined Shawn Michaels.
–
