10 Things That Prove January Is The Best Month For Wrestling

4. The Arrival Of Steve Austin

The Rock John Cena
WWE

He may not have quite been Stone Cold, but January holds a special place in the hearts of wrestling fans due to it being the month that Steve Austin officially debuted in the World Wrestling Federation.

As Ted DiBiase's new Million Dollar Champion, Austin would debut as The Ringmaster during the January 8th, 1996 episode of Monday Night Raw. Sporting a buzz cut and still wearing his old Hollywood Blonds boots, this was clearly a vastly different Austin to the hell-raising star who would lead the charge during the Attitude Era. But still, this was Steve Austin stepping foot into a then-WWF ring for the very first time.

Fast forward a year, and January 1997 saw a bald-headed, middle finger-waving, beer-swilling, Stunner-dropping Austin winning the Royal Rumble match, and he'd soon go on to have the iconic WrestleMania 13 bout against Bret Hart that fully launched Stone Cold as a babyface who was destined for the top.

Was The Ringmaster a great gimmick that made the most of Steve Austin's talents? Hell no, but January 8th, 1996 is a date etched in the record books as the start of Austin's legendary WWE journey.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.