Stunning Steven Austin got quite a lot of traction as a singles competitor in WCW after turning on partner Brian Pillman splitting the Hollywood Blonds: he lifted the United States title from The Natural Dustin Rhodes just after Christmas 1993, and held it for 240 days. Thats not the longest run of all time, but it would be 2006 before someone came close to it again. Things went rapidly downhill from there, though. Eric Bischoff fired Austin over the phone while he was sidelined with a triceps injury, with Austin claiming it was because Bischoff didnt know what to do with him. He would work at ECW for a few months under the name of Superstar Steve Austin while he learned how to cut promos: hed shoot on WCWs mishandling of his career, figuring out his own voice, Finally, hed sign to WWF in late 1995 as The Ringmaster. Yes, the WWF office actually tried to market the businesss biggest ever star with a name worthy of a Z-level Spider-Man villain. There wasnt even a real concept to go with the name, and (thank God) no ridiculous costume. The worst thing was that theyd partnered The Ringmaster with The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, one of the greatest talkers and managers in the business. The future Stone Cold Steve Austin, the gobbiest anti-hero in pro wrestling, was, more or less, playing a mute. Austin himself saw the gimmick as a stepping-stone a way into the company. He had bills to pay, and a family to support, and he reckoned he could make something work in WWF if he just had the opportunity to work on television. Fortunately for Austin, the Ringmaster gimmick would be phased out the following March, and the unnecessary mouthpiece DiBiase left for WCW the following May. The awful Ringmaster gimmick, such as it was, would indeed be Austins foot in the door: a month after DiBiase left WWF, Austin was booked to win the King Of The Ring tournament. Thats where he debuted the Stunner as his finishing move, improvised the Austin 3:16 promo and, with hindsight, ushered in the Attitude Era. The rest is professional wrestling history.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
