10 Strange Things WWE Champions Did With The Belt

5. Dragged It Along The Floor (Stone Cold Steve Austin)

When Vince McMahon gave Kevin Kelly a resounding "Oh Hell No" in response to the question of whether or not he wanted Steve Austin to become WWE Champion before WrestleMania XIV, he foreshadowed a feud that would propel the entire company back to the promised land and make both individuals richer than they'd ever been before.

Such collaboration couldn't have been further from how the storyline played out, with Stone Cold the perpetual and permanent thorn in McMahon's side, balking at the prospect of being any kind of "corporate puppet" in his role as new company kingpin.

Austin loathed everything McMahon asked him to pretend to be. He refused to wear a suit. He refused to curb his foul language and beer drinking. And he refused to honour any history he wasn't making with The Chairman's top prize.

Dragging the title across the floor was a brand new visage for the champion and completely in keeping with Austin's character throughout a historic run - he wanted what it represented, but had no time for the chintz or pomp and circumstance.

To be fair to 'The Rattlesnake', it wasn't like he paid extra attention to the next one...

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett