6. Paul Heyman Helped Give Steve Austin Confidence To Be Stone Cold
Bitter and full of anger over the way he'd been released by Eric Bischoff's WCW in 1995, Steve Austin badly needed a platform on which he could vent his frustrations, and Paul Heyman was only too happy to give him the keys to the promo kingdom. During his short stay in ECW, Austin found himself on the microphone, and his 'shoot'-style interviews have become infamous on YouTube in more recent years. New generations of wrestling fans keep discovering these promos, enjoying the natural charisma and bubbling anger that Austin shows during them. Going in, the future 'Stone Cold' didn't really know what he was going to be talking about, but Heyman instructed him simply to speak from the heart, something Austin did with aplomb, getting seriously into it the longer each promo went on. Known as 'Superstar' Steve Austin in ECW, the man carved a new persona for himself, one that would later stand him in good stead as he morphed into 'Stone Cold'. Suddenly, the more outspoken Steve Austin became somewhat of a niche for the guy, and he never really looked back. No doubt about it, the key elements of what made 'Stone Cold' such a success can be found in those ECW promos.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
