12 Stone Cold Steve Austin Moments That Were Genuinely Savage

As a heel, Stone Cold, was a nasty dysfunctional bully that, by large, the fans did not take to. Still, you can't say it wasn't charismatic. The world of WWE was going through a shake-up and evil Steve was all over it.

After the initial post-Wrestlemania shock of his heel turn had worn off, Austin was making villainous antics a regular occurrence. But few were more unpleasant and unnecessary than his attack on Michael Cole during an episode of Smackdown. The reason was a mere a commentary slur, and Cole's apparent comparison of Vince McMahon being the devil. For those who know what's coming, watching Austin walk towards that ring evokes a genuine sense of cringe.

Not content with physically and verbally intimidating Cole, Steve applied all the fists and stomps until the commentator was a shivering wreck, at which point came the shirt ripping and nut kicks. There was nothing really entertaining about this. It was just plain mean, which was probably the intention. Plus, as Cole retained his tie mic during the beating, the contact of those hits sounded remarkably real on screen.