11 WWE Wrestlers Who Lived The Gimmick In Real Life
6. Steve Austin
The gimmick:
After forgettable spells as 'Stunning' Steve and The Ringmaster, it wasn’t until he adopted the Stone Cold moniker that Steve Austin really found his niche.
As a beer-drinking, trash-talking everyman from Texas, Stone Cold Steve Austin became one of the most popular figures in wrestling history—and he also got to beat up his boss along the way. His feud with Mr McMahon, not to mention his colourful language and middle finger gestures, took the wrestling world by storm and helped create one of the most profitable periods the business has ever seen.
In real life:
Austin often remarks that the Stone Cold gimmick was just a dialed-up version of his real-life self, and having legally adopted the Austin surname back in 2007, in some ways he’s more married to his wrestling persona than most.
There’s also nothing gimmicked about his fondness of beer, as he’s since set up his own brewing company after retiring from the ring—a retirement that came about after a backstage disagreement over creative matters involving his character’s old nemesis, Vince McMahon.
Rather ironically, after his in-ring career was made during a feud with Vince McMahon, it was a real-life dispute between the two that contributed to its end.