10 Wrestlers Who Got Much Worse (But WAY More Over)

8. Steve Austin

Yeet Thumb
WWE

The “What makes a great wrestler?” argument resurfaces on social media most weeks. It’s difficult to answer, since it’s all subjective to a degree, but weirdly, Steve Austin’s name is too often brought up. 

No, he wasn’t too ambitious in the ring at his drawing peak, but Austin was superb at brawling - mostly - which is just as difficult a task to do well as technical wrestling (for evidence of this, compare Austin’s 1998 main events to almost every 1998 undercard match). 

He also couldn’t be too ambitious: with his shot neck, Austin had to modify his style after it was broken at SummerSlam 1997. 

Austin was also an incredible technician. He had already shifted away from the sort of scientific wonders he put together with Ricky Steamboat in WCW when dialling into the ‘Stone Cold’ persona deep into 1996, but the neck injury forced him to limit his range yet further. He wasn’t as good, but the broad beats of his new style were a far better fit for the bloodthirsty fans that the WWF had cultivated when business boomed.

Another argument supporting this “Austin got much worse” take: his constant barrage of worked punches were far more weak than a lot of people remember. He was no Bobby Eaton at that.

In this post: 
Jey Uso
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!