10 Ways Stone Cold Steve Austin Changed WWE FOREVER
4. The How-To Guide For Tweeners
The era of the squeaky clean, vitamin eating, prayer-saying babyface was coming to an end before Stone Cold became the biggest thing in wrestling, but his ascendency could be seen as the final death knell. Austin, and the era he ushered in, was clearly the way to do it. People no longer wanted a (pre-nWo) Hogan style good guy, they wanted a rule breaking tweener like Steve Austin.
Even in his heel days, Austin’s brand of no-nonsense, in-your-face truth-telling meant that the fans couldn’t help but get behind him, and he basically didn’t have to change a thing when he turned face. He could still act like, by most people’s standards, a bad guy - he caused untold property damage, attacked Vince McMahon in hospital, and even attempted to murder Rikishi - and still got over everywhere he went.
The likes of Edge and CM Punk (who sported a Stone Cold t shirt during his 2011 run) took major cues from Austin. By no means did he invent the pro wrestling tweener, but he probably perfected it, creating a blueprint for others to follow.