10 Major Stars Who Escaped WWE Creative Jail
7. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Chilly McFreeze, Fang McFrost, Ice Dagger - those dumbasses in creative almost invited pure fatalism by taking the hottest free agent in the game, and literally branding him with an ice-cold name. And, were this anybody but Austin, a man who knew precisely of which he was capable, such a gimmick was grimly plausible. This was early 1996 we're talking.
Guys willingly dressed up in actual garbagemen outfits.
Mercifully for us, and the very future of North American wrestling, Austin, to paraphrase a quality promo he's still cutting deep into the 2010s, turned to the office and said "Now why in the f*ck would I do that?"
Drawing inspiration from then-wife Jeannie, Austin reinvented himself as 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, and essentially booked his way to a summit of the game even Hulk Hogan had not ascended to. He bantered off that awful early "Naw man, that's Stone Cold" catchphrase. Vince thought Austin's gruff, badass one-liners were too funny. Austin told Vince that he reminded him of a jackass, and continued his unassailable climb.
After a time, there was no doubting that Austin was The Man. Vince, acknowledging this, humiliated himself for the cause.