After a wee break, it’s time to complete the countdown of my top-five wrestlers of all-time. I’m trying to be more positive about wrestling, cos I’m getting annoyed at moaning about it all the time, whether I’m blogging or on SLTD Radio. If I’m annoying myself, you guys must be raging too! Haha.. Anyway, the countdown looks like this so far:
#5 – Randy Savage
#4 – Shawn Michaels
#3 – The Undertaker.
Logically, that means we’ve come to the man that’s second on this list. Without him, the WWE probably wouldn’t exist today. He’s the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin. I don’t know anybody who would argue with me when I say that Austin is one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time. Name any record – Austin broke it. It could have been so different though if Paul Heyman didn’t take a chance on him in ECW in the mid-90’s.
That’s why Heyman is a genius. He gives wrestlers freedom to express themselves and to create something special. Austin 3:16 might not have been born until 1996, but Stone Cold was born the year before in ECW. His gravelly Texas voice and intensity made him stand-out. Austin ranted on WCW and Eric Bischoff in some of his ECW promos. He was justified. Bischoff fired Austin either by fax or phone, which is a pretty spineless move. He didn’t think Austin was marketable.
He’s nuts. Even back in the early 90’s when Austin was teaming with Brian Pillman as the “Hollywood Blondes” in WCW, you could see he was going to be a star. He had a look. He combined intensity with ring psychology and (much like Chris Jericho after him), he was one of the most under-rated performers on the WCW roster. Austin didn’t lose out by getting fired from WCW. Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff did.
Austin’s initial run in the WWF wasn’t really all that good. Remember “The Ringmaster”. Yeah I thought so. What a weird gimmick to give someone huh? Anyway, come June 1996, everything changed. Austin busted his mouth wide open during his KoTR semi-final against Marc Mero and had to get it stitched up at hospital. He came back and beat Jake “The Snake” Roberts in the final to be crowned the 1996 King of the Ring. As he went up to accept his crown, he cut this promo, which is one of the most memorable promos in history.
That promo changed Austin’s life and the world of wrestling forever. He broke records, he sold out arenas worldwide and became arguably the biggest star created in the WWE. Austin’s work later on in his career was limited because of his neck and knee injuries, so he had to transition from being a technical wrestler into a smashmouth brawler and when Austin was on top form, he was untouchable.
His character was so relatable. Older fans could live their dreams of fighting their boss through Austin. Teenagers like me thought he was cool because he’d dish out the one-fingered salute and swear a lot. It was funny! He was so entertaining and it felt real. Very few wrestlers make wrestling seem real, but Austin was one of them. His greatest rival wasn’t The Rock, HHH, Mick Foley or The Undertaker: it was Vince McMahon. The chemistry that Vince and Austin had together, whether they were fighting or cutting promos, was untouchable. Nobody could match it, and they never will.
As if all of his career accomplishments weren’t enough, Austin’s unique because as far as I know, he’s the only man in history to have been in the ring where both he and his opponent have turned face/heel in the same match. I dunno if I’ve explained that like I wanted to, so I’ll tell you what I mean. At Wrestlemania 13, Austin went in as the heel against Bret Hart, who was a babyface. At the end of the match, Austin was a babyface and Bret Hart was the heel. The same thing happened in 2001. Austin went in to Wrestlemania as the babyface against a heel Rock, but when it was all said and done, Rock turned face and Austin became a heel, aligning with Vince McMahon. I don’t think anyone else has ever done that.
A few weeks ago on SLTD Radio, Greg talked about Austin’s heel turn and the Invasion storyline. A lot of people thought that storyline was crap, but looking back at it, it was actually pretty good. Austin as a heel was really funny. From the hugs with Vince, to wiping out the Alliance, before turning on Vince again, it was really well done. If you’ve not watched any of the Invasion stuff for years, give it a go. You won’t regret it. The sad thing about Austin’s career is that it ended before anyone was ready for it. I think Austin was, but he didn’t want to admit it. The fans definitely weren’t ready for it. That’s why even now, with Austin hurtling towards 50, people always ask when he’ll get back in the ring.
I’m sticking my neck out on the line here and I’ll say that no wrestler has, or ever will, connect with the crowd like Stone Cold Steve Austin. Not The Rock. Not HHH. Not Shawn Michaels. Not The Undertaker. Not John Cena. Just search on YouTube and watch some old Raw and listen to the crowd go nucking futs when Austin walks out. As soon as the glass crashes, the crowd explodes. Men, women, children and anybody in between are all on their feet for Austin.
The only reason he’s not at the top of my list is because there’s someone else who’s had a far more complete wrestling career than Austin and I’ll announce who that is in the next couple of days. Before I shoot off, I’ll leave you to enjoy Austin’s Hall of Fame Induction video. See ya soon!
Single Leg TakeDown 