10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Sept 8, 2017)
5. Steve Austin Views Billy Graham As The Original Stone Cold
The arrogant, bragging promos of 'Superstar' Billy Graham inspired everyone from Hulk Hogan to Scott Steiner. Another who studied Graham's work as the WWWF Champion was one Steve Austin. To Austin, Graham was actually the original 'Stone Cold', because he was a heel so good at his job that people started to root for him.
Austin described to Sean Waltman on the X-Pac 1, 2, 360 show that he often draws parallels between his own run and the career of Graham. Back then, Vince McMahon Senior didn't really know what to do with the 'Superstar' once fans began cheering his rule breaking and blowhard ways during promos. Austin had the same 'problem' in 1996.
Catching fire as Stone Cold, Austin appealed to fans because he was a departure from happy, smiling babyfaces of before. It's fascinating to learn that Steve Austin cites Billy Graham's trouble transitioning from heel to babyface as a road block he had to overcome in his own career, but doesn't claim he did so first.