10 Wrestlers Who Had Their Best Runs In WWE
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Austin's journey from
WCW also-ran to global megastar is a well-told tale, but to
summarise: despite getting over as part of the Hollywood Blondes
tag-team with Brian Pillman (he of the aforementioned squeegee
incident), WCW failed to realise what they were sitting on and
summarily fired Austin while he was recuperating from injury. Austin
then had a brief run in ECW where he entertained fans through
explosive skits that highlighted the frustrations of his run in
Bischoff's company before he got signed by Vince McMahon.
After enduring a poorly booked first few months in the WWE, Austin found his feet and became the foul-mouthed, finger-flipping, boss-abusing entertainment juggernaut that made wrestling the coolest thing on the planet in the late '90s. Even now, seventeen years after his last match, Austin continues to do great work with the WWE. His Broken Skull Sessions interviews are stunning (pun very much intended) viewing, as Austin shoots the s**t with some of the greatest names in wrestling and comes away with some cracking stories and insights into the business.
And when he does make one of his infrequent live appearances, it's always accompanied by the biggest pop of the night.