This weekend, the WWE will induct “Stone Cold” Steve Austin into their Hall of Fame.  Austin was the top dog in the WWE for a for a few years. His plain ring attire and beer drinking, middle-finger throwing persona were legendary with fans of wrestling.  Austin first broke into the WWE as The Ringmaster, a thug that Ted DiBiase Sr. paid to do his dirty work. 

Once Austin adopted the “Stone Cold” personality, he had legendary feuds with Mick Foley, The Rock, and Vince McMahon.  McMahon will be giving the induction speech for Austin’s induction ceremony.  Austin personified what Mickey Rourke was all about in the wrestler.  Bad knees were his obvious undoing, forcing him to retire as an active competitor. 

Often portrayed as rebelious, Austin made McMahon look perfect as the overbearing boss who had no control of his champion.  I still think his greatest stretch in the WWE was as a champion.  The storyline was for Vince McMahon to demand Austin to be “corporate”.  This meant wearing a suit, not throwing the bird, eliminating the drinking, and being polite and respectful.  The writers of the era (Vince Russo deserves the credit), really sold McMahon going nuts as Austin would repeatedly push his buttons to see how far he could go.

Steve Austin’s biggest contribution to the sport was his attitude.  He breathed arrogance every step he took while on camera.  He didn’t care who he was competing against or who rooted for him.  He didn’t have any in-character friends or true allies, and WWE did the best they possibly could at maximizing his cocky and foul-mouthed persona.