10 Awful Nicknames Given To WWE Fans Over The Years
4. Stone Cold University
The Roman Empire has already been discussed as WWE's latest attempt at branding their flagship performer's fan base. This strategy didn't just start with Roman as it stretches as far back to Vince McMahon purchasing the promotion. Hulk Hogan's fans were known as the Hulkamaniacs. Perhaps a little less creatively, the Ultimate Warrior's were the Little Warriors and in 1998, WWE tried to do the very same with their newest babyface and crossover mega star, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Only the term was just brutal. Austin's fans weren't maniacs or warriors, they were members of Stone Cold University!
What?
Let me get this straight: WWE thought that the toughest SOB in WWE, the foul-mouthed, blue collar, straight-shootin', beer-drinking anti-hero had a mass of supporters that fit right in with enrolling in higher education? It would've been one thing if WWE leaned more heavily on the partying or fraternity element of any Stone Cold related college affairs, but that's not at all what they did.
God knows where the idea was spawned and how WWE thought that a metaphor for attending a university was the perfect tie-in to their new WWE Champion. It was terrible and an obvious failure.
Hulkamania may still be running wild (maybe mild) and the Warriors are still always believing, but Stone Cold University closed its doors only months after holding its first class.