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 retired professional wrestler, producer, and actor. He is known for his work within the WWE where he worked from 1995 to 2002. He is currently signed with the WWE in a Legends deal.

He is known for portraying a disrespectful, beer-drinking antihero and had a popular feud with his boss Mr. McMahon during The Attitude Era. His finishing move is the Stone Cold Stunner. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 by Vince McMahon.

Stone Cold hosted of the fifth season of Tough Enough. He currently hosts weekly podcast called "The Steve Austin Show" on PodcastOne.com where he talks about stuff that interests him and interviews guests. He also hosts the reality competition show Redneck Island on CMT and debuted a new reality show for CMT on June 10, 2014 called Steve Austin's Broken Skull Ranch.

Wrestling career

Early years
Austin first joined Chris Adams' school in the Dallas Sportatorium, where Chris Adams also competed for World Class Championship Wrestling. Adams' trained purely technical and taught Austin the wrestling moves. Adams' however did not teach Austin anything relating to kayfabe or the business. The first lesson that Austin learned was from Tony Falk, a referee in Austin's 1989 televised World Class debut against a wrestler named Frogman LeBlanc. Falk called spots and helped Austin win the match by pinfall. Austin first competed under his real name but was named "Steve Austin" by Memphis booker Dutch Mantell. Austin returned to Dallas and had a feud with Adams, who was managed by Percy Pringle and was led to the ring by Jeannie Adams (Adams' real-life former wife and Austin's girlfriend at the time). During that time, Austin adopted the "Stunning" nickname which he also used in WCW.

World Championship Wrestling
After leaving the USWA in 1990, Austin signed with WCW in 1991. He was first accompanied by a valet named Vivacious Veronica but was later joined by Jeannie Adams who was known as "Lady Blossom". A couple weeks before he debuted, Austin was able to defeat Bobby Eaton to win his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991. Later in that year, he joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. On April 27, 1992, Barry Windham defeated Austin in a two out of three falls match to win the WCW Television Championship. Austin won the title back from Windham on May 23. He held the title until he lost the title to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance stable broke up a while later. During Halloween Havoc, he replaced Terry Gordy and teamed with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in a match against Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team title. The match ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw.

In January 1993, Austin joined Brian Pillman to form the tag team The Hollywood Blonds. Austin and Pillman defeated Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas on March 3 to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. The Blonds held the titles for five months. At Clash of the Champions XXIII, Austin and Pillman competed in a two-out-of-three-falls tag team title match against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. The Blonds were defeated by Flair and Anderson but they were not given the titles because one of the falls was counted by a disqualification. The Blonds were scheduled to defend their title against Anderson and Paul Roma at Clash of the Champions XXIV. Pillman was however injured and was replaced by Steven Regal. Anderson and Roma defeated Austin and Regal at the event. While Pillman was still injured, Austin joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable. When Pillman returned, he was betrayed by Austin and was defeated in a singles match against Austin at Clash of the Champions XXV.

Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes with two straight falls in a two-out-of-three-falls match to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade. On August 24, 1994, Austin lost the championship to Ricky Steamboat. Austin was supposed to have a rematch for the title at Fall Brawl but won the title by forfeit after Steamboat was not able to compete because to a back injury. His reign as champion only lasted minutes when lost to Jim Duggan, who was acting as Steamboat's replacement. The match only lasted thirty-five seconds. He had a rematch against Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX but didn't win either matches. After Austin returned from a knee injury in early 1995, he took part in a tournament to crown the new WCW United States Heavyweight title. Austin defeated Duggan in the first round by count-out but lost in the quarterfinals to Randy "Macho Man" Savage

Extreme Championship Wrestling
When Austin suffered a triceps injury while on a tour of Japan, he was fired by WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff. WCW and Bischoff thought that Austin would not be a 'marketable' wrestler. After he was fired, Austin expressed his opinion on being fired by Eric Bischoff over the phone as having taken the coward's way out. Bischoff said that he fired Austin because he refused to do a taping in Atlanta. When he heard that Austin was fired, Paul Heyman who ran Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), contacted him. Heyman hired Austin to perform in-ring interviews because Austin was still not recovered from his injury enough to compete. Austin's time in ECW helped build his future "Stone Cold" persona. He appeared in vignettes which ran down WCW and Bischoff. Some of the more memorable promos that he did involved his then-status as WCW Monday Nitro host by introducing Monday NyQuil. He was also joined by "Bongo", (which were a set of bongo drums that were meant to represent Steve "Mongo" McMichael) in helping to promote the show "where the big boys play with each other"

During his time in ECW, he was known under the ring name "Superstar" Steve Austin. He feuded with Mikey Whipwreck and had a match with The Sandman. Austin challenged for the ECW Championship but was defeated by Whipwreck at November to Remember. Austin competed in a Triple Threat match at December to Dismember against The Sandman and Whipwreck for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship but he did not win the match. Heyman said later on that he wanted to have Austin win the ECW Championship but Austin did not want to win it because he felt that he was more effective "as the hunter, rather than the hunted."

In wrestling 
 Finishing moves
 As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
 Stone Cold Stunner (Stunner)
 As "Stunning" Steve Austin
 Stun Gun (Flapjack dropped into a hangman)
 As The Ringmaster
 Million Dollar Dream (Cobra clutch)
 Signature moves
 As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
 Back body drop
 Knife-edged chop
 Leapfrog body guillotine
 Mudhole Stomp (Multiple stomps to the opponent's chest that is seated in the corner, he then follows it with the middle finger gesture to the opponent and followed with a final stomp)
 Pointed elbow drop, he sometimes performs it from the second or top rope
 Sleeper hold
 Spinebuster
 Stomp to the opponent's groin
 Texas cloverleaf
 Texas piledriver
 Thesz press or Spear, he then follows it with multiple punches
 As "Stunning" Steve Austin
 Hollywood and Vine (Standing figure four leglock)
 Knee drop
 Pointed elbow drop, sometimes from the second or top rope
 Schoolboy pin
 Sleeper hold
 That's a Wrap (Modified figure four leglock)
 Vertical suplex
 Stables
 Dangerous Alliance
 Hollywood Blonds
 Million Dollar Corporation
 The Alliance
 The Power Trip
 Managers
 Paul E. Dangerously
 Col. Robert Parker
 Ted DiBiase
 Paul Bearer
 Debra
 Nicknames
 "The Texas Rattlesnake"
 "The Bionic Redneck"
 "Toughest Son of a Bitch in the WWF/E"
 "Superstar"
 "Stunning"
 "Stone Cold"
 Entrance themes

 United States Wrestling Association
 "Unchained" (1989-1991)
 World Championship Wrestling
 As "Stunning" Steve Austin
 "Roman Love" (1991–1993)
 "Satan's Sister" (1993–1995)
 Extreme Championship Wrestling
 As "Superstar" Steve Austin
 "Jesus Christ Superstar" (1995)
 World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE
 As The Ringmaster
 "Ringmaster" by Jim Johnston (1996)
 As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
 "Hell Frozen Over" by Jim Johnston (October 20, 1996 – October 11, 1998)
 "I Won't Do What You Tell Me" by Jim Johnston (October 12, 1998–September 7, 2000; December 3, 2001–present)
 "Glass Shatters" by Disturbed (September 24, 2000–July 22, 2001; 2011, for promos)
 "Rattlesnake" by Jim Johnston (2001)
 "Hell on Earth" by Jim Johnston (2001)
 "Paranoid" by Jim Johnston (2001)
 "Venomous" by Jim Johnston (August 6, 2001–November 29, 2001)

Accomplishments

 Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 PWI Feud of the Year (1998, 1999)
 PWI Match of the Year (1997) (vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 in a Submission match)
 PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2001)
 PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1998)
 PWI Rookie of the Year (1990)
 PWI Wrestler of the Year (1998, 1999, 2001)
 PWI ranked him #1 of the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1998 and 1999.
 PWI ranked him #19 of the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI Years in 2003.
 Texas Wrestling Federation
 TWF Tag Team Championship (one time) (with The California Stud)
 World Championship Wrestling
 WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (two times)
 WCW World Tag Team Championship (one time) (with Brian Pillman)
 WCW World Television Championship (two times)
 World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment
 Million Dollar Championship (one time)
 WWF Championship (6 times)
 WWF Intercontinental Championship (two times)
 WWF Tag Team Championship (four times) (with Shawn Michaels (one), Dude Love (one), The Undertaker (one), and Triple H (one)
 King of the Ring (1996)
 Royal Rumble (1997, 1998, 2001)
 Slammy Award for Freedom of Speech (1997)
 Fifth Triple Crown Champion
 WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
 5 Star Match (1992) (with Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, and Larry Zbyszko vs. Sting, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, and Dustin Rhodes in a WarGames match at WrestleWar)
 5 Star Match (1997) (vs. Bret Hart in a Submission match at WrestleMania 13)
 Best Box Office Draw (1998, 1999)
 Best Gimmick (1997, 1998)
 Best Heel (1996)
 Best Interviews (1996–1998, 2001)
 Best Non-Wrestler (2003)
 Feud of the Year (1997) (vs. The Hart Foundation)
 Feud of the Year (1998, 1999) (vs. Vince McMahon)
 Match of the Year (1997) ()
 Most Charismatic (1997, 1998)
 Rookie of the Year (1990)
 Tag Team of the Year (1993) (with Brian Pillman as the Hollywood Blonds)
 Wrestler of the Year (1998)
 Worst Worked Match of the Year (1991) (with Terrance Taylor vs. Bobby Eaton and P.N. News in a Scaffold match at The Great American Bash)

Acting

Movies
 Beyond the Mat - Himself (1999)
 The Longest Yard - Guard Dunham (2005)
 The Condemned - Jack Conrad (2007)
 Damage - John Brickner (2009)
 The Stranger - The Stranger (2010)
 The Expendables - Paine (2010)
 Hunt to Kill - Jim Rhodes (2010)
 Recoil - Ryan Varrett (2011)
 Knockout - Dan Barnes (2011)
 Tactical Force - Tate (2011)
 Maximum Conviction - Manning (2012)
 The Package - Tommy Wick (2013)
 Grown Ups 2 - Dennis "Tommy" Cavanaugh (2013)

Television
 Celebrity Deathmatch - Himself (1998-2002)
 Nash Bridges - Detective Jake Cage (1999-2000)
 Dilbert - Juez (2000)
 The Bernie Mac Show - Himself (2005)
 Chuck - Hugo Panzer (2010)
 Tough Enough - Host/Trainer (2011)

References

Other websites
 Official website
 
 The Steve Austin Show on PodcastOne
 Stone Cold Steve Austin's WWE Hall of Fame profile

1964 births
Living people
American agnostics
American movie actors
American professional wrestlers
Former WWE wrestlers
Actors from Austin, Texas
Sportspeople from Austin, Texas
WWE Hall of Fame