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Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson, later and formerly Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin,is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. 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. Billed as "The Most Popular Superstar in WWE History", he gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF during the mid-to-late 1990s 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 off McMahon and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, his finishing move. McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. Austin is also known for his love of beer, especially Busch.
Austin held nineteen championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is recognized by WWE as a six-time World Champion, having held the WWF Championship on six occasions, and the fifth Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He was forced to retire from in ring competition in early 2003 due to a series of knee and neck injuries sustained throughout his career. Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as the Co-General Manager and "Sheriff" of Raw. Since 2005, he has continued to make occasional appearances. In 2011, Steve Austin returned to WWE to host the reality series Tough Enough.
After some time, Austin decided to become a professional wrestler and enrolled at the wrestling school run by Chris Adams, whose school was run out of the Dallas Sportatorium where he was wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling. Austin made his debut in World Class in 1989 under his real name, but was later given the name "Steve Austin" by Memphis-area booker Dutch Mantel. Austin's run in Memphis was part of the merger between World Class and the Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis, with the combined company known as the United States Wrestling Association. Austin would eventually return to Dallas and feud with Adams, with Percy Pringle and Jeannie Adams (Adams' real-life former wife and Austin's girlfriend at the time) as his valets. It was during this time Austin adopted the "Stunning" nickname that followed him to WCW.
Austin left WCCW after its final folding in 1990 and signed with WCW the next year. He was originally paired with a valet named Vivacious Veronica, but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as "Lady Blossom" Just weeks after his debut, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991. Later that year, 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.
Austin enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter.[12] 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 title. The teams wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw.
In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team known as The Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman They won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds held the title 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 title as one fall had been determined by a disqualification. At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend their title against 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 as US Champion ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan in a match that lasted thirty-five seconds. Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX.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.
In 1995, 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. Austin described his opinion on being fired over the phone as Eric Bischoff having taken the coward's way out. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), who had managed him in WCW. Heyman hired Austin to do in-ring interviews, as he still had not recovered from his injury enough to wrestle. 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.
While with ECW, Austin was known as "Superstar" Steve Austin. He had a match with The Sandman and feuded with 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 Heyman would later state that he had wanted Austin to win the ECW Title, but Austin had refused because he felt he was more effective "as the hunter, rather than the hunted."
Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson, later and formerly Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin,is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. 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. Billed as "The Most Popular Superstar in WWE History", he gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF during the mid-to-late 1990s 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 off McMahon and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, his finishing move. McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. Austin is also known for his love of beer, especially Busch.
Austin held nineteen championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is recognized by WWE as a six-time World Champion, having held the WWF Championship on six occasions, and the fifth Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He was forced to retire from in ring competition in early 2003 due to a series of knee and neck injuries sustained throughout his career. Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as the Co-General Manager and "Sheriff" of Raw. Since 2005, he has continued to make occasional appearances. In 2011, Steve Austin returned to WWE to host the reality series Tough Enough.After some time, Austin decided to become a professional wrestler and enrolled at the wrestling school run by Chris Adams, whose school was run out of the Dallas Sportatorium where he was wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling. Austin made his debut in World Class in 1989 under his real name, but was later given the name "Steve Austin" by Memphis-area booker Dutch Mantel. Austin's run in Memphis was part of the merger between World Class and the Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis, with the combined company known as the United States Wrestling Association. Austin would eventually return to Dallas and feud with Adams, with Percy Pringle and Jeannie Adams (Adams' real-life former wife and Austin's girlfriend at the time) as his valets. It was during this time Austin adopted the "Stunning" nickname that followed him to WCW.
Austin left WCCW after its final folding in 1990 and signed with WCW the next year. He was originally paired with a valet named Vivacious Veronica, but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as "Lady Blossom" Just weeks after his debut, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991. Later that year, 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.Austin enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter.[12] 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 title. The teams wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw.
In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team known as The Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman They won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds held the title 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 title as one fall had been determined by a disqualification. At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend their title against 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 as US Champion ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan in a match that lasted thirty-five seconds. Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX.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.In 1995, 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. Austin described his opinion on being fired over the phone as Eric Bischoff having taken the coward's way out. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), who had managed him in WCW. Heyman hired Austin to do in-ring interviews, as he still had not recovered from his injury enough to wrestle. 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.While with ECW, Austin was known as "Superstar" Steve Austin. He had a match with The Sandman and feuded with 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 Heyman would later state that he had wanted Austin to win the ECW Title, but Austin had refused because he felt he was more effective "as the hunter, rather than the hunted."
