10 Wrestling Stars Who Reinvented Their Way To Longevity

3. Steve Austin

'Stunning' Steve Austin was massively removed from 'Stone Cold'.

As one half of the Hollywood Blondes, Austin was a flamboyant show-off, who loved to patronise his opponents with his camera roll taunt as a reminder that his pretty face was built for TV.

Despite evidently possessing acres of personality - and deftly foreshadowing in ECW his industry-changing persona - Austin was lumbered with the Dead On Arrival Ringmaster gimmick upon his WWF debut. He wasn't even allowed to demonstrate his imperious mic game - Ted DiBiase was his unwelcome mouthpiece.

Austin was given the 'Stone Cold' moniker by his then-wife (narrowly beating out Chilly McFreeze!) but it was he and he alone who carved out his destiny with his improvised Austin 3:16 promo. From there, he ascended to the top of the WWF mountain.

A broken neck couldn't even halt his momentum. He reinvented his ring style to mitigate the long-term damage, setting the arena-wide brawl blueprint in the process - something the WWF would use to great effect throughout its Attitude Era.

Austin's stop/start heel run was probably doomed to fail - the timing was all wrong - but his serenading of Vince McMahon, if nothing else, was indicative of his standing as one of WWE's most multifarious stars.