History YMMV / StoneColdSteveAustin

* While overshadowed by his later theme [[https://youtu.be/D4FAqqBFSYg the Hollywood Blondes theme]] from WCW was great. The guitar riffs just scream badassery and was perfect for a cocky heel tag team like the Hollywood Blonds. In fact, it was so good that WCW used it for a number of wrestlers, including Jake "The Snake" Roberts, after Austin was fired.

** While overshadowed by his later theme [[https://youtu.be/D4FAqqBFSYg the Hollywood Blondes theme]] from WCW was great. The guitar riffs just scream badassery and was perfect for a cocky heel tag team like the Hollywood Blonds. In fact, it was so good that WCW used it for a number of wrestlers, including Jake "The Snake" Roberts, after Austin was fired.

%% (ZCE) ** While overshadowed by his later theme [[https://youtu.be/D4FAqqBFSYg the Hollywood Blondes theme]] from WCW was great.

* AudienceAlienatingEra: His heel turn in 2001 had incredibly poor timing, as 1) he was so over with the fans that no one was ready to boo him, and 2) with Rock going to Hollywood it left viewers without a charismatic lead hero to root for. Ironically, the quality of his matches in 2001 improved as he had great bouts against a range of superstars, as opposed to 1998-1999 where he almost exclusively wrestled against Rock, HHH, Foley, Kane, and Taker.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: Austin being in the WWF main events despite not being able to do much after his neck injury was really no big deal because the man was still a great worker and the fans loved almost everything he did, sometimes even when he did not want them too. Unfortunately it taught the WWF that it was acceptable to use smoke and mirrors to try and hide the fact not much was actually happening in a match, even if it was a main event match, and that the illusion of competitive wrestling in of itself wasn't that important since post injury Austin was a lot less technical than he used to be. Jaded WWF/E fans reflexively look ''away'' from the ring when crowd noise picks up for a hero's potential comeback, expecting interference of some kind and look at the referee more than the wrestler about to take a finishing move, just waiting for the official to be knocked out.

* AudienceAlienatingEra: His heel turn in 2001 had incredibly poor timing, as 1) he was so over with the fans that no one was ready to boo him, and 2) with Rock going to Hollywood it left viewers without a charismatic lead hero to root for.

** The aftermath of his match with Kevin Owens at ''WM38''. Austin has shown nothing but respect and gratitude for his younger opponent, not only for making him look like a grade-A badass almost 20 years after his premature retirement, but also for how careful he was not to aggravate any of the existing injuries that forced his retirement in the first place.

** The aftermath of his match with Kevin Owens at ''WM39''. Austin has shown nothing but respect and gratitude for his younger opponent, not only for making him look like a grade-A badass almost 20 years after his premature retirement, but also for how careful he was not to aggravate any of the existing injuries that forced his retirement in the first place.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: During his time in WWE, Austin would spend a good 30-45 minutes after the show went off the air entertaining the crowd, sometimes joined by other stars such as the Rock or Chris Jericho. It really goes to show how much Austin loves his job and the fans.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Austin himself has stated that his theme is based on "Bulls on Parade" by Music/RageAgainstTheMachine.

* TooGoodToLast: Steve Austin was a living legend even as far back as the Attitude Era, being a major contributing factor to the WWF overtaking the WCW during the Monday Night Wars, and is to this day hailed as one of the most iconic wrestlers of all time. Which might make it all the more surprising to younger fans that his career with the WWF only lasted about six years before numerous neck injuries forced him into early retirement.

** "Wrestling/AlexaBliss is the best, say what?" Crowd bites. "Exactly." She too routinely makes a habit of reacting to the "What?" chants, either treating them like a legitimate conversation or making an example of the fans for doing it.

** His refusal to tap out of Bret Hart's Sharpshooter -- while bleeding no less -- at Wrestlemania 13 is the moment that made Austin a star.

* HeartwarmingMoment: During his time in WWE, Austin would spend a good 30-45 minutes after the show went off the air entertaining the crowd, sometimes joined by other stars such as the Rock or Chris Jericho. It really goes to show how much Austin loves his job and the fans.

* HeartwarmingMoments: During his time in WWE, Austin would spend a good 30-45 minutes after the show went off the air entertaining the crowd, sometimes joined by other stars such as the Rock or Chris Jericho. It really goes to show how much Austin loves his job and the fans.

* ShockingSwerve: Austin's FaceHeelTurn, accomplished when he sided with Vince [=McMahon=] to win the WWF Championship at ''[=WrestleMania=] X-Seven''. During the event, Vince [=McMahon=] even {{foreshadow|ing}}ed it:

* UnexpectedCharacter: On his ''Broken Skull Sessions'' podcast for the WWE Network, just about nobody expected that he would be able to land Wrestling/ChrisJericho as a guest. This marks the first time that a wrestler actively signed to Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling has appeared on a WWE product[[note]]barring that one time Britt Baker was spotted in the audience of [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]][[/note]]. Even WWE were fully aware of how crazy it felt; it was first teased on AprilFoolsDay, before being announced on April 2, 2021 as if to say "yes, it's real".

* UnexpectedCharacter: On his ''Broken Skull Sessions'' podcast for the WWE Network, just about nobody expected that he would be able to land Wrestling/ChrisJericho as a guest. This marks the first time that a wrestler actively signed to Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling has appeared on a WWE product[[note]]barring that one time Britt Baker was spotted in the audience of [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]][[/note]]. Even WWE were fully aware of how crazy it felt; it was first teased on AprilFoolsDay, before being announced on April 2nd as if to say "yes, it's real".

* UnexpectedCharacter: On his ''Broken Skull Sessions'' podcast for the WWE Network, just about nobody expected that he would be able to land Wrestling/ChrisJericho as a guest. This marks the first time that a wrestler actively signed to Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling has appeared on a WWE product[[note]]barring that one time Britt Baker was spotted in the audience of [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]][[/note]]. Even WWE were fully aware of how crazy it felt; it was fist teased on AprilFoolsDay, before being announced on April 2nd as if to say "yes, it's real".

* MagnificentBastard: Even at his most popular, Austin was still a shady son of a bitch. It was on his vest, for crying out loud!

* UnexpectedCharacter: On his ''Broken Skull Sessions'' podcast for the WWE Network, just about nobody expected that he would be able to land Wrestling/ChrisJericho as a guest. This marks the first time that a wrestler actively signed to Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling has appeared on a WWE product[[note]]barring that one time Britt Baker was spotted in the audience of [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]][[/note]].