10 Wrestlers Who Gambled On A New Catchphrase
4. Steve Austin Feels Fake (!)
Steve Austin based his 'Stone Cold' persona on real-life serial killer Richard 'Iceman' Kuklinski, and in the embryonic, animal-murdering phase of his career, Austin experimented as wrestlers do with a catchphrase.
It wasn't "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!". He sold warehouses full of t-shirts with that one after cruelly, hilariously bantering off what good born-again christianity did for Jake Roberts. It wasn't "And that's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so!". He used that sign-off after delivering a legendary promo. Nor was it "Give me a 'hell yeah!'". That monster broke the richter scale.
His first catchphrase did not, because it was as lame as it was contrived. To get there, he'd have to say something despicable. He was an awesome piece of sh*t before he became the ass-kicking avatar for the common man, so that wasn't difficult nor forced. But the interviewer would have to then say "Man, that's cold" for the set-up. "Nah man," Austin said, just once, thank f*ck, "That's stone cold".
Get it? That was his nickname.
What if Mr. Perfect said "That's harsh?" He wouldn't have, because it was fake and scripted, which was not ideal.
Was it successful?
Since he'd have to start messing with the air conditioning to summon the set-up, no. He realised it was sh*t very quickly.