10 Ways Stone Cold Steve Austin Changed WWE FOREVER
1. The Attitude Era
Stone Cold was not, of course, solely responsible for the Attitude Era. The late ‘90s to early ‘00s were a generally golden period for wrestling, with stacked locker rooms on both sides of the WWE/WCW divide, great work going on in creative, and genuine competition between the two biggest US promotions leading to incredible product.
For all that, though, there’s no one more important to the ignition and success of the Attitude Era than the Texas rattlesnake. While it’s a matter for debate, you could argue that the era is bookended by two Austin title wins - against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XIV and against The Rock at WrestleMania X-Seven.
Stone Cold simply encapsulates the Attitude Era. The beer swilling, bird flipping, authority fighting face of the business is part and parcel with the more mature product Vince was pedalling at the time.
The Attitude Era isn’t Austin along, but Austin is the Attitude Era. Has a performer ever been better suited for a place and time than Austin was for WWE in the late 1990s?
His time as an active performer was relatively short, but he left one hell of a legacy.