10 WWE Wrestlers Who Lived Their Gimmicks
7. Steve Austin
It’s often said that some of the best characters in wrestling history are just extensions of the performer’s real personalities. Stone Cold Steve Austin is the perfect example of that.
It took several years for Austin’s career to truly catch fire, but when he cut that famous “Austin 3:16” promo at King of the Ring 1996, Stone Cold was on a path to glory. He became one of the most popular professional wrestlers of all-time, a cornerstone of the Attitude Era’s incredible success, and the jewel in WWE’s crown as they battled WCW in the Monday Night Wars.
He couldn’t have done it without the Stone Cold gimmick, however. Austin was going nowhere as The Ringmaster in WWE, and he found little traction as WCW’s Stunning Steve. Stone Cold was a beer-drinking, ass-kicking anti-authority badass whose wars with Mr. Mahon made him an avatar for fans who were frustrated with their own careers, and would’ve loved nothing more than to walk into work on a Monday morning and hand out a few Stone Cold Stunners.
Austin has attributed the character’s success not only to its perfect timing, but to the fact that he was essentially getting paid to be himself. While he exaggerated certain traits, there was essentially very little difference between himself and his character. In fact, Steve became so attached to Stone Cold that he changed his last name from Williams to Austin back in 2007.