Stone Cold Steve Austin

Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the development and success of the WWF during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Austin began his professional wrestling career in 1989, after playing college football at the University of North Texas. He signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 and adopted the persona of “Stunning” Steve Austin, a villainous in-ring technician, and he won the WCW World Television Championship and the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship twice each, alongside the WCW World Tag Team Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship once each with Brian Pillman (as the Hollywood Blondes). After a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Austin signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1995.

In WWF, Austin was repackaged as a short-tempered, brash, anti-establishment antihero named “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, becoming the most popular wrestler of the Attitude Era off the back of his feud with company chairman Mr. McMahon. He won the WWF Championship six times, the Intercontinental Championship twice, the Million Dollar Championship once, and the Tag Team Championship four times, making him the fifth WWF Triple Crown Champion. He is also a record three-time Royal Rumble winner, won the 1996 King of the Ring, and headlined multiple WWF pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania (their flagship event) four times.

He was forced to retire from in-ring competition in 2003 after multiple knee injuries and a serious neck injury at the 1997 SummerSlam event, and portrayed an authority figure later that year. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 and, 19 years after his retirement, returned to in-ring competition for an impromptu one-off match at WrestleMania 38 against Kevin Owens who ironically met Austin as a young man, seeking advice on how to succeed in the wrestling industry.

Austin hosts the podcast The Steve Austin Show (2013–present) and the WWE video podcast Broken Skull Sessions (2019–present). He collaborates with El Segundo Brewing on Broken Skull IPA, an india pale ale beer. He also hosted the reality competition series Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge (2014–2017) and Straight Up Steve Austin (2019–present).

Notable Matches

vs. Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13

vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 14

vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania X7

vs. Triple H at No Way Out 2001

vs. Benoit on Smackdown, 31st May 2001

vs.. Kurt Angle at Summerslam 2001

vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania XIX

vs. Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38

Notable Feuds

vs. Mr. McMahon

vs. The Rock

vs. Triple H

vs. Shawn Michaels

vs. Eric Bischoff

vs. Bret Hart

vs. Kurt Angle

vs. Kevin Owens

Other Notable Achievements

Million Dollar Championship

NWA World Tag Team Championship – with Brian Pillman

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

WCW World Tag Team Championship – with Brian Pillman

WCW World Television Championship (2 times)

TWF Tag Team Championship – with The California Stud