12 Stone Cold Steve Austin Moments That Were Genuinely Savage
Come on! That's not necessary.
Steve Austin? Savage? Surely that's everything he did between 1996 and the mid-2000s right?
Well, the definition of "savage" in this case does not represent the middle finger-flipping, booze-swilling, Titantron-ripping antics that made the Texas Rattlesnake an anti-establishment icon. We all love those traits. The focus here is on the more awkwardly unsettling moments when the kayfabe of violence was wrung out for all it was worth. Like that scene in Fight Club, when Edward Norton takes his beat-down on the blonde kid too far, we might have even squirmed a little.
In the same proportion, fans also got a kick. It was the Attitude Era after all. The only exception might be the few entries on this list which occurred during Austin's not entirely appreciated heel run of 2001. Many of these are just downright painful to watch, but Steve played the part, did his job, and so they turned out to be remarkably effective for it.
Get ready for some classics and some not so classic, but they all qualify as savage and are predominately spattered with the red stuff.
12. Doctor Austin
Let's get the obvious one out the way.
Everybody knows this segment, and it's mostly funny rather than savage. The altercations between Vince and Austin ranged from the terrific to the absurd, and this one definitely rests closer in the latter. "Angry wrestler infiltrates hospital room and smacks injured boss on the head with a bedpan..." So many questions.
Everyone also knows the closing moment; a tube, an orifice and Vince's soon to be cry of "You violated me Austin!" It wouldn't even be dreamt of in today's WWE climate, and that's 1998 for you. So why exactly is a defenceless middle-aged man getting assaulted and worse on a bed more entertaining than it definitely should be? Maybe it's because that middle aged man was called Vincent K McMahon, or maybe the Attitude Era was just that damn good at sucking any sense of mortality from us viewers.
Take a step back and look at this segment with fresh eyes to know one clear fact: Austin probably could have found better way to get his point of view across.