10 Biggest Stone Cold Steve Austin "What Ifs" In WWE

1. What If He Didn't Have The Name Stone Cold?

Stone Cold Steve Austin
WWE.com

Something phonetically just sounds right about the name Stone Cold. Both words sound so tough, and there's a nice slant rhyme to it as well.

Inversely, something just sounds wrong about the names, "Otto Von Ruthless" and "Chilly McFreeze." These names were supposed to be inspired by serial killer Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski, but sound more like bargain bin comic book villains. Thanks to Austin's ex-wife, encouraging him to drink his tea before it got "stone cold" he finally found a moniker that sounded perfect coming out of the mouth of JR or Howard Finkel.

Still though, fans shudder to think of how poorly everything could have gotten had he not had that name. The names creative pitched hardly passed the poster test, and no one can imagine someone with name like that being in the main event picture.

While all these other moments hinged on Stone Cold doing something in order to get ahead or hinder himself, this final entry simply hinges on Stone Cold being able to be Stone Cold. Those other names that creative pitched are not the ones that help start a new era like the attitude era. Instead they're names that get lost in the shuffle of WWE's atrocious new generation.

When people ask, "What's in a name?" the answer is a simple one,

"Everything."

Contributor
Contributor

A former NCAA runner turned writer, and an ardent aficionado of all things academic, aesthetic and athletic.