History Wrestling / StoneColdSteveAustin

* CommutingOnABus: While his days as a full-timer are long over, Austin has never truly left the WWE. He's returned as a special guest on ''Raw'' and pay per views on numerous occasions to drink beer and deliver Stunners, and hosted ''The Broken Skull Sessions'' on the WWE network from 2019-2022.

* TheArtifact: The Stunner is clearly in reference to his "Stunning" Steve Austin persona, in spite of the fact that he didn't start using it until he became Stone Cold.

* DirtyCoward: Austin's 2001 heel turn would turn him into this, desperate to do anything and everything to avoid risking losing the World Championship. The apex of this was when Angle kidnapped him and threatened to throw him off a bridge if Austin didn't give him a title shot, resulting in Austin devolving into a crying, begging wreck.

* TheDragon: To his ArchEnemy Vince [=McMahon=] following his FaceHeelTurn at ''[=WrestleMania=] 17''. Probably one of the most shocking examples.

* IconicItem: He's the wrestler probably most associated with the Attitude Era Championship belt, having been the first to hold it, replacing the Winged Eagle belt the night after his first title win and the last to hold it before it was unified with the Big Gold Belt. Ironically, Austin found it uncomfortable to carry on his shoulder, hence why he had his custom Smoking Skull Championship belt made.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Austin, the foul-mouthed, beer-drinking S.O.B. who will gladly attack anyone he sees; his motto is "Don't trust anyone" after all. And yet, not even Austin himself can open up a can of whoopass in front of old nuns, something Wrestling/BookerT took advantage of when escaping from him.

* ThirdPersonPerson: Although The Rock is more known for this, Stone Cold fell into this quite often as well.

* OneSteveLimit: Austin first began competing under his real name, Steve Williams. However when Mid-South merged with Austin's employer, World Class Championship Wrestling, Dutch Mantell forced Austin to change his name to avoid confusion with Wrestling/DrDeathSteveWilliams who was, at that time, more famous.

** Wrestling/BretHart was also a large rival to Austin. They had a barnburner of a match at [=WrestleMania=] 13 where a FaceHeelDoubleTurn shaped the course of both men's careers. Both Wrestling/TripleH and The Undertaker have also tried to ''kill'' Austin at certain points.
*** A special note for Bret in that, in all the matches Austin had with him, he never beat Bret. The closest he got was eliminating Bret from the 1997 Royal Rumble (after himself getting thrown over the top rope but saved by none of the referees seeing it) and officially winning the Royal Rumble that year.

* AntiHero: One of the first extremely popular ones in wrestling. He was a SociopathicHero when he first turned as he still kept all his Heelish aspects and acted like a complete jerk to the fans, although he lightened into an UnscrupulousHero during his nicer periods.

** At the start of his career, it was his trainer, [[Wrestling/ChrisAdams "Gentleman" Chris Adams]][[note]][[RealitySubtext Austin's valet Lady Blossom was Adams' former wife.]][[/note]]. In [=WCW=], Wrestling/RickySteamboat.

* AscendedFanboy: Any of his interviews with wrestlers from eras before his will show just how much he loves wrestling. You can clearly see the utter glee he has in watching Wrestling/RicFlair in the famous '92 ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' bout with the man himself, down to ancipating Ric's famous Flair Flops within the match. It's no wonder the man became the highest selling draw in the business with the sheer love he has for it.

* BaldHeadOfToughness: A completely bald beer drinking and ass-whopping tough guy who has won ''three'' Wrestling/{{Royal Rumble}}s (the most out of any wrestler), once chose to pass out from blood loss rather than lose to Wrestling/BretHart, has weaponized large vehicles in certain feuds and was such a threat that his ArchEnemy Vince [=McMahon=] had to assemble [[Wrestling/TheCorporation two]] [[Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness different]] stables in an attempt to take Austin down.

* BeginWithAFinisher: He had this fame especially in battles with many enemies (like a ring full of wrestlers hitting each other) as well in chats with other wrestlers in the ring and ''specifically'' with [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon Mr. McMahon]], in which his first move is noneless than his [[FinishingMove Stone Cold Stunner]].

** At the time, he was kayfabe-working on building his gut that time for the ''Royal Rumble''... [[GenreSavvy because a low center of gravity makes it harder for him to get thrown over the top rope]]. Legendary woman wrestler The Fabulous Moolah noted once Austin had what wrestlers from her generation referred to as "a natural body"; being someone who worked out in the gym and worked hard in the ring, but spent most of their time on the road eating at diners.

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: During his famous match at ''Wrestlmania X-7'', at one point he put Rock in the Million Dollar Dream, a submission move more associated with his Ringmaster days than as Stone Cold. This was a bit of ForeShadowing that not only was Austin ''really'' desperate to get the title back but that he was about to turn heel again to do it.
* {{Bookends}}: His first match and his last match were both in Dallas, Texas. In the former, he was under the tutelage of "Gentleman" Chris Adams before officially wrestling at WCWA while in the latter was at the end of Night 1 of [=WrestleMania 38=], in which Austin defeated Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match.

** In 2002, Austin was scheduled to face rising star Wrestling/BrockLesnar on ''Raw'' in a match during the King of the Ring tournament; Austin would have jobbed to Lesnar (who, in fact, eventually went on to win the tournament). However, Austin - who had been shafted out of a match with Wrestling/HulkHogan at ''[=WrestleMania=] X8'', facing Wrestling/ScottHall instead - thus making it his first WM appearance since WMXIII where he wasn't in the main event- felt that losing to Lesnar on ''Raw'' would do neither man any favors.[[note]]According to Austin, he didn't mind putting over Lesnar, but thought that losing in an early KOTR round on ''Raw'' with no build-up would make Austin look weak while throwing away money. He felt that building up to Lesnar facing Austin in the KOTR finals on PPV would've not just made money, but also would've given Lesnar an incredible rub with a big-stage win over Stone Cold, instead of a random win on ''Raw'' with no bigger star in the tournament for Lesnar to face afterwards. The fact that around the same time Lesnar defeated Hulk Hogan himself after making him pass out and ''bleed'' from a bearhug... on a random episode of ''[=SmackDown=]'' seems to reinforce Austin's point. It also just didn’t make any sense why Austin would even be in the tournament when he’s already the most famous winner of the tournament.[[/note]] After disagreements with the creative staff over the issue, Austin took his ball and went home, no-showing ''Raw'' and not appearing on WWE programming until 2003.

* {{Determinator}}: Austin’s defining trait as a face was an absolute refusal to give up no matter how battered he was. This extends to his real life persona where it took a medical emergency for him to realize his body was telling him to stop wrestling. Even then, he still wrestled the Rock the next night (and lost) because he felt he owned to the Rock to put him over after Rock put him over the previous two encounters.

* DisproportionateRetribution: During one episode of ''Monday Night Raw'', Austin shared a beer in the ring with fellow [[{{Face}} babyface]] Stacy Kiebler. When she took a sip but refused to finish it, Austin responded by ''[[WouldHitAGirl giving her a Stunner]]''.

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Monster trucks over The Rock's Lincoln. Cement trucks into Vince's Corvette. A zamboni over lighting equipment and used as a ramp to attack [=McMahon.=] A beer truck that was too big for the [=TitanTron=] and nearly caused it to be pulled down.

* {{Drunk Driv|er}}ing: He'd often jump on his all terrain vehicle and ride around the arena after doing his beer bash. Once Johnathan Coachman assembled the team of Wrestling/{{Goldust}} and Wrestling/BigVanVader to fight Stone Cold, but Stone Cold no showed, Vince [=McMahon=] revealing Austin had been in a motor vehicle accident.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Austin's reason why he turned on the WWF and defected to The Alliance during the Invasion storyline; he claimed that he was feeling underappreciated by Mr. [=McMahon=], and that [=McMahon=] is grooming Kurt Angle to succeed him as WWF Champion.

** In voice, demeanor, not to mention the long blond hair, "Stunning" Steve Austin (1989-1995) is like a whole other person. In fact, if you look at pictures of him from that era and try covering up the hair, he ''still'' doesn't look anything like he did as Stone Cold.
** Even during his first year in WWE he was "The Ringmaster." (WWE put up a clip of his debut match on their Website/YouTube channel: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6TQtjsfp-k Take a look here.]]) He was managed by [[Wrestling/TedDiBiase "The Million-Dollar Man" Ted [=DiBiase=]]]) (to compensate for a perceived lack of interview skills), still had hair (albeit in a buzz cut by that point), and wrestled a very hold/submission-based style.

* EasilyDistractedReferee: Averted. Stone Cold takes his duties as a special guest referee ''very'' seriously and keeps a watchful eye on the wrestlers during a match, thus making sure the {{Heel}} can't rely on using weapons or having their allies interfere.

** Stone Cold and the Rock were never friends even as mutual faces, though a common ''Raw'' main event was to team the two together against their respective opponents at the upcoming PPV. Usually, the other team was part of the same stable (and thus more unified), so a reoccurring theme was whether Austin and the Rock could get along enough to beat them.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Austin's coronation as the 1996 King of the Ring, where he bad-mouthed Jake "the Snake" Roberts trying to recover from his alcoholism, became the basis of the Stone Cold character.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Austin, the foul-mouthed, beer-drinking S.O.B. who will gladly attack anyone he sees; his motto is "Don't trust anyone" after all. And yet, not even Austin himself can open up a can of whoop ass in front of old nuns, something Booker T took advantage of when escaping from him.

** It was also foreshadowed at the end of his Three Stages of Hell match to end his feud with Triple H. Austin lost the match 2-1, winning the first round which was a normal rules match but losing the street fight round and cage match to Triple H. While Triple H’s win in the cage was mostly a fluke (both men hit each other with objects simultaneously and Triple H simply landed on top of Austin and got a three count despite being as unconscious as Austin was), Austin was visibly despondent after the match that he had seemingly lost his edge as the most vicious SOB in the company, paving the way for him to get his status as top dog back via winning the world title by any means necessary to include selling his soul to Vince to do it.
* FunetikAksent: PlayedForLaughs, as Austin would refer to the [=McMahon=]s' hometown of Greenwich, CT (which is pronounced "Greh-niche") as if it were pronounced "Green-witch."

* GuileHero: Besides ass whoopings, butt kickings and liberal application of the Stunner, Stone Cold was actually an extremely devious and conniving adversary. Most of his feud with Vince and other opponents consisted of the heels putting all kinds of restraints or obstacles in his path, or going to extreme lengths to avoid him, only for Austin outmaneuver everyone by using disguises or resorting to psychological warfare.

* HeelFaceTurn: At ''[=WrestleMania=] 13'' he fought a brutal submission match with Bret Hart, but refused to submit and endured the pain until he passed out. This heralded Austin properly being recognized as a {{Face}} by the WWF while Bret Hart made a FaceHeelTurn by attacking Austin after the bell. A year later, Austin would be the biggest star wrasslin' has ever seen.

** HHH had him run over by a truck at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 99''. HHH got hoist as well: By taking out Austin, this left the third spot in the main event against The Rock open, and it was filled by... THE BIG SHOW, who proceeded to beat HHH for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Title]] that night.

* HollywoodApocrypha: "Austin 3:16 says 'I just whooped your ass!'". He had been working on a variation on [[Film/PulpFiction "Ezekiel 25:17"]] but he didn't quite have it until ''King of the Ring''.

** AsHimself, on ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' regular character in the series during several seasons, as the main color commentator. Also the GadgeteerGenius and science and weapons advisor. Often seen performing PercussiveMaintenance on his TimeMachine.
** Austin also had a recurring role on ''Nash Bridges'', basically playing Stone Cold with a badge.
* IronicEcho: Austin was very upset that Wrestling/OwenHart never called him to find out his condition after Hart broke his neck with a botched Tombstone piledriver. This only becomes Ironic because Austin never bothered to check up on Wrestling/MasahiroChono after breaking ''his'' neck in an almost identical fashion, during an Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA World Heavyweight Championship match, in September 1992. Only avoids crossing over into hypocrisy because Austin, at the time, had no idea that Chono was actually injured.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While Austin was injured, Bischoff wanted him to come in and cut promos. He had Tony Schiavone call Austin, only to reach Austin's at-the-time wife while Austin audibly yelled, "Tell that sumbitch I ain't home," in the background. Austin said when interviewing Wrestling/EricBischoff years later on his podcast that he probably would have fired him, too. Austin has also admitted that while he was a great worker in WCW, he was weak at cutting promos. His time in ECW under Wrestling/PaulHeyman made him a better promo and gave rise to the Stone Cold character. He may have never found that skill and character if he hadn't been fired from WCW. Furthermore, WCW Standards and Practices would have never allowed the Stone Cold character to go in the direction it did. Austin has ultimately concluded that getting fired from WCW was the best thing that happened to his career.

** If Austin tosses someone a beer. Expect them to get stunned, always. Whether they be fellow wrestlers, authority figures, or even commentators. DTA! But if Austin hands a defenseless referee like Earl Hebner a beer, they're safe. After all, sharing a beer with the working man, is one of Austin's defining characteristics.
** During his infamous "[[UnstoppableRage stunner barrage]]" night on HEAT where gave ''everybody'' he could get his hands on a [[FinishingMove Stunner]], the only person he doesn't stun is a bloodied and barely conscious Wrestling/KenShamrock fresh from an attack by Jeff Jarrett. The most he gives him is a DeathGlare.

Austin was seriously injured following a botched piledriver from Wrestling/OwenHart at ''[=SummerSlam=]'' 1997. While he was able to return to work within a matter of months, the lingering neck injuries would plague the rest of his career, as he was no longer able to work the same high-flying technical style he had previously, becoming a full-time brawler. He took late 1999 and the majority of 2000 to recover from neck surgery, during which time The Rock became the WWF's top Face.

Austin was seriously injured following a botched piledriver from Wrestling/OwenHart at ''[=SummerSlam=]'' 1997. While he was able to return to work within a matter of months, the lingering neck injuries would plague the rest of his career, as he was no longer able to work the same high-flying technical style he had previously, becoming a full-time brawler. He took late 1999 and the majority of 2000 to recover from neck surgery, during which time The Rock became the WWF's top Face. Austin returned in late 2000, defeating The Rock at ''[=WrestleMania X7=]'' in an ill-advised FaceHeelTurn (WCW died the week before, ECW died shortly after, and the Austin/[=McMahon=] feud ended the night of - crazy how much the industry changed in a short amount of time). Austin would spend most of 2001 as the WWF champion, before a series of booking decisions in early 2002 led to him walking out of the company. He was able to return in early 2003, but his accumulated neck injuries caught up with him, and he quietly bowed out of wrestling after his match with Rock at ''[=WrestleMania XIX=]'' (though he would remain as an onscreen authority figure for another year). WWE almost immediately went back to Rock as its main attraction, with Rock leaving shortly afterwards, and the product gradually returned to its PG roots.

He was voted the third greatest ''[[InsistentTerminology superstar]]'' of all time by the WWE roster for WWE's ''50 Greatest Superstars of All Time'' DVD set (behind Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Wrestling/TheUndertaker). He has since hosted a wildly successful podcast, ''The Steve Austin Show,'' and been a guest on RAW over three dozen times, acted as a referee at pay-per-view matches, and hosted WWE's talk show ''The Broken Skull Sessions'' (named after his ranch and beer label). He made his induction in the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame 2009. His most shocking appearance was in the main event of the first night of ''[=WrestleMania=] 38'', where at the age of 57, he came out of retirement for one more actual proper honest-to-God match against Wrestling/KevinOwens.

* VerbalTic: During his tenure as The Ringmaster, he would say "man" after every third word in his promos.

He was voted the third greatest ''[[InsistentTerminology superstar]]'' of all time by the WWE roster for WWE's ''50 Greatest Superstars of All Time'' DVD set (behind Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Wrestling/TheUndertaker). He has since been a guest on RAW over three dozen times, acted as a guest referee at pay-per-view matches, and hosted WWE's talk show 'The 'Broken Skull Sessions'' (named after his ranch and beer label). He made his induction in the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame 2009. His most shocking appearance was in the main event of the first night of ''[=WrestleMania=] 38'', where at the age of 57, he came out of retirement for one more actual proper honest-to-God match against Wrestling/KevinOwens.

Unfortunately, Steve's accumulated neck injuries caught up with him, and he quietly bowed out of wrestling once the Wrestling/MondayNightWars were over, after his match with Rock at [=WrestleMania 19=]. (WCW died the week before ''[=WrestleMania X7=]'', ECW died shortly after, and the Austin/[=McMahon=] feud ended the night of. Crazy how much the industry changed in a short amount of time.) WWE almost immediately went back to Rock as its main attraction, with Rock leaving shortly afterwards, and the product gradually returned to its PG roots.

He was voted the third greatest ''[[InsistentTerminology superstar]]'' of all time by the WWE roster for WWE's ''50 Greatest Superstars of All Time'' DVD set (behind Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Wrestling/TheUndertaker). He has since made a few more appearances from time to time, including his induction into the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame 2009. However, his most shocking appearance was in the main event of the first night of ''[=WrestleMania=] 38'', where at the age of 57, he came out of retirement for one more actual proper honest-to-God match against Wrestling/KevinOwens.

* CommutingOnABus: While his days as a full-timer are long over, Austin has never truly left the WWE. He's returned as a special guest on ''Raw'' and pay per views on countless occasions to drink beer and deliver Stunners.

* DemotedToExtra
** Following his match with The Rock at ''[=WrestleMania=] XIX'', Austin appeared on WWE programming in a non-wrestling capacity (mainly as an authority figure) until 2004, when he left the company due to contract disputes and a budding acting career.
** Austin had also retired due to injuries at that time: he's only wrestled one match since.

* BigEater

** At the time, he was kayfabe working on building his gut that time for the ''Royal Rumble''... [[GenreSavvy because a low center of gravity makes it harder for him to get thrown over the top rope.]] Legendary woman wrestler The Fabulous Moolah noted once Austin had what wrestlers from her generation referred to as "a natural body"; being someone who worked out in the gym and worked hard in the ring, but spent most of their time on the road eating at diners.

** Also, FlatWhat and various other varieties of "what". Basically, if there was a way to say "what", Austin managed to do it at some point in his career.
** He's also featured in the current trope page image.

->...and that's the bottom line, '''''’cause Stone Cold said so!''' *glass shatters*''

As the [[SeriesMascot poster boy]] for WWF's Wrestling/AttitudeEra, SCSA drew more money in two consecutive years than the previous three ''combined'', and more than ''all'' of the Hogan years. This translated to some of the highest ratings that wrestling would ever see on cable television. Wrestling/VinceMcMahon decided to put the heat generated from [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob Montreal]] to good use by becoming the BigBad of the Attitude Era -- a juiced-up corporate bigwig. Later, Wrestling/TheRock also became Austin's biggest [[TheRival rival]]; the heir apparent to Wrestling/HulkHogan who constantly feuded with "Stone Cold" (which [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap boosted his popularity]]). He would also feud with Triple H, as he allied himself with Vince, becoming TheDragon. Austin, The Rock, Vince and Triple H were the big feuds of the Attitude Era.

Unfortunately, Steve's accumulated neck injuries caught up with him, and he bowed out of wrestling once the Wrestling/MondayNightWars were over. (WCW died the week before ''[=WrestleMania X7=]'', ECW died shortly after, and the Austin/[=McMahon=] feud ended the night of. Crazy how much the industry changed in a short amount of time.) After his match with Rock at [=WrestleMania 19=], he quietly bowed out. WWE almost immediately went back to Rock as its main attraction, with Rock leaving shortly afterwards; and the product gradually returned to its PG roots.

He was voted the third greatest ''[[InsistentTerminology superstar]]'' of all time by the WWE roster for WWE's ''50 Greatest Superstars of All Time'' DVD set (behind Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Wrestling/TheUndertaker). He has made a few more appearances from time to time, including his induction into the Wrestling/WWEHallOfFame 2009. However, his most shocking appearance was in the main event of ''[=WrestleMania=] 38'' Night 1 where at the age of 57 he came out of retirement for one more actual proper honest-to-God match against Wrestling/KevinOwens.

!! "If you want to read Stone Cold's tropes, gimme a hell yeah!":

-->...and that's the bottom line, '''''’cause Stone Cold said so!''' *glass shatters*''

* BadassDriver: With all the random vehicles he has driven into the arena to terrorize his enemies, he qualifies. It's practically a running gagf

* HeroicComedicSociopath: Austin's character since his retirement has been built on this. If he offers you a beer, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder DO NOT TAKE IT]].
** Actually, probably smarter to take it. If you do, you'll probably only be on the receiving end of a stunner. If you don't, [[BerserkButton he might take it personally.]]
** Take the beer and toast with him, but run the hell out of the ring IMMEDIATELY after. He ''usually'' won't chase after you.

* ImprobableWeaponUser: During his brawl with Wrestling/BookerT in the supermarket, he uses everything from flour to eggs to milk to frozen pizzas to kick Booker's ass.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As a face. While his motto was "don't trust anyone" and was known for Stunning heels and faces alike, he also didn't shy from helping people out once in a while:

* OneManArmy: Stone Cold Steve Austin's "trust no one" maxim meant he often had to rely on himself while feuding with entire stables. The whole fusion of the Corporation and Ministry of Darkness was apparently just to mess with Stone Cold.

* PowerStable: Wrestling/TheDangerousAlliance and [[Managers/{{WCW}} The Stud Stable]] in WCW. The WCW/ECW Alliance in [=WWE=] (interesting as Austin had been in WWE, WCW, ''and'' ECW). His tag team with HHH (known as the Power Trip) kind of qualifies, as they were just as dominant as a PowerStable even though they were only a tag team, winning multiple titles.

* StunnedSilence: The only time he's had this reaction in his entire career was the aforementioned R-Truth dressed as a Confederate soldier skit. Keep in mind this is a career that's had him Kayfabe arrested, ran over and had an undead cult leader hang him from a gothic cross, try to kill him at least once, as well as trying to both bury him alive and '''''embalm''''' him while still alive. This shows just how bad he considered the R-Truth skit when ''that'' was the first and only time he's ever been struck completely dumb by anything WWE has ever done. While certainly someone who never aspired to political correctness, Austin clearly recognized the perversity of a black man dressed as a [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate Soldier]].

* VitriolicBestBuds: Austin and The Rock in real life.