20 Most Iconic WWE Wrestlers Of All Time

2. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

Steve Austin was the hottest star of the hottest period the wrestling business has ever seen. That's a simple fact. Austin was the focal point of the Attitude Era when it really started to get going. His feud with Vince McMahon brought in record television ratings and made all involved a whole bucket-load of money. Austin was the first real anti-authority star that the WWF had ever seen, which lent itself to making the Stone Cold character one that many in the audience could connect to. After all, who didn't want to lay a beating on their boss at some point in time? The popularity of Austin drove the WWF in their ratings war with rivals WCW, and his no-nonsense, bird-flipping, obscenity-spewing, beer-drinking ways gave Vince's organisation an edginess that made for must-see TV and turned him into a wrestling icon. At the centre of it all, Steve Austin himself was absolutely perfect in everything he did, be it his promo delivery, his explosiveness or simply being able to go in the ring. Austin was the face of the most popular time in wrestling history, and it's likely that the wrestling business will never get close to being that hot ever again. Much like we will likely never see another Steve Austin again.
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.