10 Wrestlers Who Succeeded Against The Odds
6. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Younger fans may only remember Stone Cold Steve Austin as an all-conquering main event force, and one of the industry’s biggest stars of all-time. This wasn’t always the case, though, as Austin was once little more than a pro-wrestling journeyman, and his early career was far removed from the success of his later years.
Austin bounced around the midcards of WCW, ECW, and WWE prior to his career-making “Austin 3:16” speech at King of the Ring ‘96. Whether working as Stunning Steve, The Ringmaster, or as one half of The Hollywood Blondes, Austin was considered a talented workhorse who played a valuable midcard role, but would never “make it” as a major player.
The “Stone Cold” gimmick was an act of desperation from Vince McMahon. His company was haemorrhaging money and lagging dangerously behind WCW in the Monday Night Wars, and this was one of his final rolls of the dice. It paid off big time, and the smack-talking, middle finger-raising, beer-drinking, authority-defying Stone Cold became the industry’s biggest star, and a driving force in WWE’s eventual triumph over WCW.
Austin went from faceless midcarder to one of the most influential wrestlers of all-time, and if that wasn’t enough, he also fought through a potentially career-ending broken neck in 1997. A botched Owen Hart piledriver almost ended his WWE career, but Austin overcame it all to become a household name and WWE’s saviour during a very difficult period.