10 Wrestlers That Became Stars In ONE SECOND
The rise of Batista, the fall of Hulkamania, and a Very Nice Very Evil surprise.
The discussion of what makes a star is as necessary as it is futile.
Stewart Lee and Homer Simpson alike have both sardonically noted that you can prove anything with facts, proving in turn that even solid statistics can be spun to suit a set narrative.
This is particularly relevant in an industry like pro wrestling, where exaggeration is welcome, understood and indulged in if it helps tell a particular story more effectively. Everything from heights to years in the game to - and remember, this actually happened at the first WrestleMania - the number of seconds a match took despite all of us having access to time, can be twisted to taste.
Everybody in the below list can claim something that renders them a star by supposedly objective measures, but exactly how they got there can always remain up for some debate. Beauty will thankfully always be in the eye of the beholder, and sometimes isn't it just nicer to go back and enjoy the moments rather than debate their validity anyway? That's what makes the free-flowing Stone Cold Steve Austin podcast so enjoyable more often than not.
And speaking of 'The Rattlesnake'...
10. Steve Austin (ECW, September 26th 1995)
When it suited WWE, they'd allow Paul Heyman or another ECW original to remind fans that Stone Cold Steve Austin "drank his first beer in Extreme Championship Wrestling". This was cute copy, but didn't cut through to what actually made him such a big deal during a relatively short stint.
Debuting as an infuriated WCW cast-off, the future 'Rattlesnake' let rip with venomous promos at the expense of Dusty Rhodes, Eric Bischoff and the Atlanta organisation in general, but his most powerful parody came at the expense of Hulk Hogan.
Targeting the biggest name in wrestling, Austin revealed a fearlessness that hadn't been noticed during his time working for Ted Turner. An already good talker became an incredible one over the course of a minute as Joey Styles looked on in disbelief at an industry icon being ripped to shreds.
Austin pledged not to "do this sh*t", correctly surmising that it wasn't going to get the job done anywhere. Like Hogan, he'd make his 1990s millions dressed all in black soon enough, but it was a brief flirtation with the red and yellow that revealed a headliner of a different kind beneath the surface.