10 Ways Stone Cold Steve Austin Changed WWE FOREVER
7. What?
Steve Austin may be second only to The Rock as a generator of catchphrases, and as discussed, his iconic slogans shifted a lot of merch. His longest lasting contribution to wrestling may just be the simplest he has come up with - and in the eyes of some, his most damaging.
The story goes that, while on the road, Austin phoned Christian to kill some time. While leaving a long voicemail, he amused himself by peppering his monologue with the word “what?”
Stone Cold quickly took this to TV. “What?” was added to Austin’s promos as a simple way of throwing off whoever he was speaking to. He would bludgeon them with the syllable, and it immediately caught on with the crowd.
Years later, this remained a popular bit of audience participation. While it seems to have died off now, there was a time when less over wrestlers simply couldn’t get their words out without the "WWE Universe" cutting them off at every turn. It altered the way superstars cut promos - you couldn’t leave room for the crowd to get in a “what?”
While it was funny when Stone Cold did it, “what?” has certainly made an aspect of the job difficult for some.