Steve (IV) Austin filmography and biography
Date of birth: 18 December 1964, Austin, Texas, USA
Steve (IV) Austin biography
Born in Austin, Texas in 1964. Worked in Texas on a loading dock until
he became a pro wrestler in the late-80s. First became recognized in
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Stunning" Steve Austin, where he
conquered the singles ranks by becoming the WCW Television Champion on
a few occasions and the WCW United States Title, he also conquered the
WCW Tag-Team ranks along with the late Brian Pillman, collectively
known as "The Hollywood Blondes" (Austin, at the time, had long blonde
hair). Had a falling out with WCW head Eric Bischoff in Mid-1995 when
Bischoff fired him over-the phone. Went to Extreme Championship
Wrestling (ECW) in late 1995 mostly as a commentator (He did wrestle a
few matches, though.) Established himself as a no-nonsense,
garbage-mouthed punk. Left ECW and emerged in the World Wrestling
Federation (WWF) as "The Ringmaster", along with manager "Million
Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase. That gimmick was weak and Austin was silenced
by WWF Brass because of his reputation. Finally dumped DiBiase and
changed his name to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, shaved his head, and had
a gimmick as a Natural-Born Killer (He does strike a close resemblance
to Woody Harrelson fron the movie). Started his trash-talking asd
ass-kicking when he defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the final
round of the 1996 WWF King of The Ring Tournament, which was where he
coined the famous "AUSTIN 3:16" while mocking Roberts for his religeous
beliefs. Austin 3:16 was a phenomenon. He is the only person to do that
other than the great Hulk Hogan who did it did in the 80's with the
"Hulkamania" phenomenon. Austin 3:16 is about as bigas Hulkamania was
in the 80's to the mid-90s. Austin conquered the WWF in 1997 when he
captured the WWF Intercontinental Title on 2 occasions, the Tag-Team
Titles on 2 occasions (with Shawn Michaels and "Dude Love" Mick Foley,
respectively). And in 1998 when he achieved the ultimate career goal,
the WWF World Title on 3 occasions and another Tag-Team Title reign
with The Undertaker.
'Stone Cold' Steve Austin was born in Victoria, Texas, as Steve Anderson
(he later changed his name to Steve Williams), on December 18, 1964, as
the youngest of five children. He played football at the North Texas
State University. He was worthy of achieving a free education because
of his football skills in school. Williams then began training at Chris
Adams's wrestling school as a rookie near the end of 1988, and made his
professional wrestling debut at the end of 1989. He then moved over to
minor wrestling companies to wrestle for money, and later entered WCW
under the name of 'Stunning Steve Austin'. He didn't make a large name
for himself in the company, as he only held an embarrassing two TV
titles.
Austin was fired by WCW and joined the WWF (now known as WWE) in
December 1995. Austin left after a while to go to ECW but only stayed
for a couple of weeks before he came back to the WWF as 'Stone Cold
Steve Austin'. Austin then disposed of his old finishing move the
'Million Dollar Dream', which was the trademark of 'Million Dollar Man'
Ted Dibiase, and began racking up the victories with his Stone Cold
Stunner (kick to the gut followed by a jawbreaker). Austin then had a
good winning streak going by 1996 and wrestled to become the 1996 King
Of The Ring. Austin cut his lip open during one match, and had to get
it stitched up in between matches. In the grand final of the KOTR he
defeated Jake 'The Snake' Roberts with a Stone Cold Stunner, and
invented his famous motto as 'Austin 3:16'.
As 1997 rolled around Austin's career soared to new heights. WCW
realized Austin's popularity, and tried to make a 'clone' when they
invited 'Bill Goldberg' to compete for them. During that year, Austin
won the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and the Tag Team
Championships. When Austin successfully defended the IC title against
Rocky Maivia (now known as The Rock, real name
Dwayne Johnson (I)) on a taping of RAW, he was ordered to defend
it again because he drove his pickup truck to the ring and delivered a
Stunner to D'Lo Brown ('A.C. Conner') on the roof, which
Vince McMahon saw as weapon usage. Austin refused to defend the
title again and dumped the old belt in a river, and therefore McMahon
crowned Rocky Maivia as the new champion. However, Austin said he
didn't care about that title, and set his sights on the Heavyweight
Championship.
Although Austin had won the 1997 Royal Rumble to qualify as the Number 1
Contender for the championship at WrestleMania XIII, he didn't get the
place because he was eliminated but referees didn't notice, so instead,
Austin fought Bret Hart in an Iron Man match which Hart won when
Austin passed out from blood loss when he was trapped in a
Sharpshooter. However, Austin successfully won the 1998 Royal Rumble
when he eliminated Rocky Maivia. A stipulation was made for the main
event at WrestleMania XIV (Austin vs. Shawn Michaels (V)): the
special guest referee would be Iron Mike Tyson (I)! Austin had
made a friendship with Tyson, but all though Tyson betrayed him when he
joined DX! However, Tyson shocked the world when Austin hit Michaels
with a Stone Cold Stunner and covered him while Tyson made the count,
to win his first heavyweight title! Austin then went on to enjoy three
months as champion when he lost the title to Kane
(Glenn Jacobs)in a First Blood match on June 28, 1998, at King
Of The Ring. However, Austin regained the title a day later, and was
forced to compete for it in a tournament at the 1998 Survivor Series.
He was defeated by Mankind ('Mick Foley'), and later that night, The
Rock won the championship and joined the Corporation. As 1999 came
around, Austin became embroiled in a feud with The Rock when Vince
McMahon eliminated him from the Royal Rumble while The Rock had him
distracted. However, Austin still got the place in the main event at
WrestleMania XV, and he won his third championship from The Rock with a
Stone Cold Stunner. He retained the title against The Rock in a Boiler
Room Brawl at Backlash 1999. Austin lost the title to The Undertaker
('Mark Callaway'), but regained it in July 1999.
Later that year, at the 1999 Survivor Series Austin was ran over by a
car and had to have spinal surgery, and was out of action for the next
11 months. However, Austin returned to the wrestling scene at Backlash
2000 when he helped The Rock win his fourth WWF Championship from
Triple H ('Michael Paul LeVesque'). Austin was then welcomed back to
wrestle in October 2000 at No Mercy, when he fought Rikishi ('Solofa
Fatu') in a No Holds Barred match which had to be stopped when Austin
was about to run Rikishi over but was arrested by the police. The
mystery was revealed that it was Triple H who had Rikishi run Austin
over, and Austin battled Triple H at Survivor Series 2000, and won the
match. Steve had a chance to win the WWF title from Kurt Angle,
who was reigning at the time, at Armaggedon 2000, in a Six-Man Hell In
A Cell Match, which also had Kurt Angle, The Rock, Triple H, Rikishi,
and The Undertaker. Austin had the title in his grasp when he hit The
Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner, but Angle snuck up and covered The Rock
to retain the title. Austin's hopes raised yet again when he eliminated
Kane from the 2001 Royal Rumble, therefore becoming the first and only
ever three-time Royal Rumble winner, and the Number One Contender for
the WWF Championship.
At No Way Out 2001, Austin lost a 2-Out-Of-3 Falls match to Triple H,
when they both knocked each other out, but Triple H fell on top of
Austin. Later that night, The Rock defeated Kurt Angle to become the
first-ever six-time WWF World Champion, therefore deciding that the
main event at WrestleMania X7 would be The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve
Austin. Austin defeated The Rock on April 1, 2001, for his fifth WWF
title, but turned heel when he joined forces with Vince McMahon. The
Rock was suspended from the WWF for almost four months. Austin's reign
as Champion lasted for 5 months and 22 days, which was the longest
championship reign in several years. Austin won the Tag Team
Championship with Triple H at Backlash 2001, but they lost them again
on May 21, on a taping of RAW to Chris Jericho (I) and
Chris Benoit (I). In that same match, Triple H tore his
quadricep muscle and had to go to hospital for eight months of surgery.
At King Of The Ring 2001 on June 24 Austin retained the title
successfully from both Jericho and Benoit in a Triple Threat match.
Austin shocked the world by turning heel again on July 22, 2001 when he
joined the WCW/ECW Alliance, helping them win the Inaugural Brawl
against the WWF, and also invented the catchphrase of 2001, which was
"What?". However, Vince McMahon reinstated The Rock on July 30.
In August, Kurt Angle started feuding with Austin and was determined to
take the championship back from him at Summerslam. Austin disqualified
himself to remain the champion, however, Angle won the title back from
him at Unforgiven on September 23, 2001. Austin then regained the title
from Angle on RAW in October, when William Regal came to his aid. In
November, Austin narrowly escaped losing the title to The Rock at
Rebellion, with a little help from Kurt Angle. Later that month, The
Rock put the WCW/ECW Alliance out of business in the Winner Take All
match, which was also Austin's first loss to The Rock.
However, Austin returned to the federation, still as the heavyweight
champion the night after, but lost it to Chris Jericho on December 9,
2001, when Jericho became the first-ever Undisputed Champion when
Austin was defeated in the grand finals. Austin then challenged Jericho
for the Undisputed title at No Way Out 2002 in February, and would have
won the match, but the nWo interfered and attacked Austin, helping
Jericho retain the title. Austin then feuded with the nWo's
Scott Hall (I) and faced him in a match at WrestleMania X8,
which Austin won, even putting away the difficulty that was made by the
constant interfering of Kevin Nash (I).
At Backlash 2002 Austin faced the Undertaker in a Number 1 Contender
match for the Undisputed Championship, but Austin was screwed out of
the decision when The Undertaker booted a steel chair into his face and
covered him for the pinfall. Austin had his foot on the rope, but
special referee Ric Flair didn't notice. Austin began feuding
with Flair and faced him in a 2-On-1 Handicap match at Judgment Day
2002 - Flair's partner was Big Show Paul Wight (I). That would
be Austin's last PPV match, as early in June, he did not show up for a
taping of RAW. Austin has not been seen since. He is 6'2", and when he
first entered the federation he weighed 241 pounds, but boosted up to
252 later on in his career. He says that his weight "depends on how
much beer I drink".
Steve (IV) Austin trivia
- Was the first wrestler to ever kick out of the Rock's finisher "The Rock
Bottom" at Wrestlemania XV.
- One of the 100 greatest wrestlers of the 20th century. (as determined by
Inside Wresting)
- The 1996 WWF King of the Ring.
- Ranked number 4 in a poll for the best 10 nicknames in wrestling with
the nickname "Stone Cold".
- Six-time World Wrestling Federation Champion.
- Two-time World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Champion
- Three-time World Wrestling Federation Tag-team Champion
- Won first WWF title on March 29, 1998 by defeating "The Heartbreak Kid",
Shawn Michaels.
- Won his latest WWF championship by beating The Undertaker on June 28,
1999
- His ex-wife Jeannie, was married to British wrestler "Gentleman" Chris
Adams, who trained Austin in the sport. Jeannie served as Austin's
valet for several years. She was known as "Lady Blossom" and used to
wrestle Adams' second wife Toni, in mixed tag-team matches (Austin
would be her partner while Adams teamed with his wife).
- Attended the University of North Texas.
- Played defensive end for the University of North Texas.
- Has had several serious injuries including a neck injury that kept him
out of the ring for 8 months.
- Lost to Bret Hart - aka Bret The Hitman Hart - in all four of their
encounters. While Austin never pinned Bret Hart in a TV/PPV encounter,
he did not lose all of their matches. Austin lost Hart's Return match
at Survivor Series 1996 and passed out at the "I Quit" match at
Wrestlemania 13 (though he never said I quit). However at the April
1997 PPV, Austin won by DQ against Bret when the Hart Foundation
interferred while Austin had Bret trapped in Bret's own signature
submission move, the Sharpshooter. The following night on Raw, it took
several WWF officials to pull Austin off Bret in a "Street Fight" where
Austin again had Bret trapped in the Sharpshooter for several mintes.
Austin severely injured Bret's leg and allegedly attacked him in the
ambulance after the match was over. Since it was a no-DQ match, Austin
it is presumed Austin won the match due to Bret's injury.
- Met his former wife Debra when she was serving as the valet for Jeff
Jarrett in the WWF.
- Wrestled in a barbwire match while in the ECW.
- Stone Cold got his nickname from his ex wife. She was British and she
served Steve Austin some hot tea, and at the time he was thinking of a
new nickname because "Stunning" wasn't cool enough anymore. So when his
then wife noticed he wasn't drinking his tea she said, "You'd better
drink your tea before it gets Stone Cold.". And that is the story of
Stone Cold Steve Austin's nickname.
- When he won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, he was trying to get
over as a heel (a bad guy)
- On March 18, 2002, due to "creative problems", Steve walked out on the
WWF and did not show up for the scheduled Raw taping in Montreal. On
June 10, 2002, Steve did the exact same thing, walking out and left for
home in San Antonio, Texas. Both of these were done without notice and
without WWF company approval.
- There was another wrestler using Steve Austin's Real name (Steve
Williams). So a promoter from Texas Wrestling Foundation asked him
where he was born as to Steve Austin's Reply, he said "Austin, Texas".
The Promoter then said, "Your name will be Steve Austin".
- Steve Austin held the WCW tag title with Brian Pillman. Once beating
Steamboat/ Douglas then lost the tag titles when Brian Pillman broke
his ankle and was forced to team with Regal.
- Has had problems with his right knee since 1995 when he injured it.
- He has the claim of fame of being the first wrestler to be fired by
fedex. Steamboat and Waltman were soon to follow on that list.
- In a recent media interview in Miami, Vince McMahon owner of the WWE
admitted he looks forward to seeing Steve Austin back in the WWE in
2003. This is the first time since Austin walked out on the WWE that
Vince has spoken about his wish for Austin to return. At the time of
Austin's walkout Vince said that Austin would never work for the WWE
again, however a slump in ratings and a lack of main event talent has
lead Vince to make a U-turn about Steve Austin. When Steve Austin
returns it appears he will be on the Smackdown roster as he prefers
working with wrestlers like Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero
and Edge.
- One reason for his falling-out with WCW was his wanting to team with WCW
newcomer Hulk Hogan, which Eric Bischoff stated that he
couldn't see happening.
- After Wrestlemania XIX Austin was forced to realise that his already
injured and surgically repaired neck could no longer take the pounding
it takes from active wrestling. Steve Austin was forced to retire from
wrestling and instead took up an on air role as Co-General Manager of
RAW. However just recently (June 2003) after seeing how Kurt Angle has
made a quick return from a new kind of neck surgery, Austin has spoken
about possibly getting the same treatment or having some form of
surgery so that he could possibly have one last match or maybe work a
light wrestling schedule similar to the one Shawn Michaels wrestles.
Right now Austin says he is postponing treatment to concentrate on
establishing himself as a GM and when the time comes in the next few
months he will look at surgery.
- The gold chain "Stone Cold" wears was given to him by his tag team
partner at the time, the late "Flyin" Brian Pillman right before they
made their debut as "The Hollywood Blondes" in WCW.
- He has 2 children with his ex-wife Jeannie. He adopted the child Jeannie
had from her first marriage.
- Was the first person to enter the WWE arena when
WWF Raw Is War debuted on TNN.
- In his spare time, he enjoys game-hunting on his Texas ranch.
- Another of his hobbies is collecting antiques.
- While in WCW, he once traveled with Mick Foley (I) and
Dallas Page. Because Page was so easy to rile up on a trip, he
and Foley pulled a number of stunts trying to see how long it would
take Page to crack.
- Real life best friends are The Rock, Mick Foley and Bill Goldberg.
- As of April 17, 2004, Steve is considering doing a program (and possibly
a match) with Bill Goldberg in Japan.
- Notable Title Wins Include: WCW World Television Title (2); WCW World
Tag Team Title w/Brian Pillman; WCW United States Heavyweight Title
(2); WWF King of the Ring 1996; WWF Royal Rumble winner 1997, 1998,
2001; WWF Tag Team Title w/Shawn Michaels; WWF Tag Team Title w/Dude
Love; WWF Intercontinetial Title (2); WWF Federation Title (6); WWF Tag
Team Title w/Undertaker; WWF Tag Team Title w/Triple H
- When Steve joined ECW, he would mock older wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan,
Macho Man and cut contraversial promos on Eric Bischoff. He had a
intense rivalry with the Sandman before leaving for the WWF.
- Says his best match is the Submission match he had with Bret Hart at
WrestleMania 13 in 1997.
- Learned the Stone Cold Stunner from Michael PS Hayes (once a member of
the Fabulous Freebirds).
- The "What?" gimmick started on an August 2001 episode of RAW, during the
time he was the ring leader of the WCW faction. While asking Hugh
Morrus (Bill DeMott) why he lost his last match, he followed up each
question with "What?". It quickly became part of the wrestling crowd's
vocabulary, even though Austin himself doesn't say, "What?" anymore
while cutting promos. Surprisingly, the "What?" chants have also become
part of Kurt Angle's gimmick.
- Same birthday as Brad Pitt, Casper Van Dien and
Steven Spielberg.
- Shares the same birthday as fellow WWE Superstars Trish Stratus and Rob
Van Dam.
- Debuted in The WWE in 1996 as The Ringmaster.
- In 1999 was the Storyline CEO of The WWE.
- After leaving Raw in November 2003, returned in January as The Sheriff
of Raw.
- Former Co-General Manager of RAW.
- In his Wrestlemania debut, defeated Savio Vega.
- Austin formed a tag team with Brian Pillman. The team was dubbed the
Hollywood Blondes
- Austin debuted in ECW as "The Extreme Superstar"
- Former WCW Tag Team Champion.
- Former WCW United States Champion.
- When he was going to make his WWE debut against "good guy" Bret Hart,
Austin based his "don't give a damn" character from a movie called the
Ice Man, a movie about a cold-hearted killer. He believes that this
would give him an edge to become a villain. His ex-wife Jeanie gave him
the nickname "Stone Cold". But when facing Hart, he was shocked that
everyone was cheering for him. Since then, Stone Cold Steve Austin
became an "anti-hero" and would use his finishing move, the Stone Cold
Stunner, on anyone who gets in the ring with him; whether the person is
good or bad.
- Adam Sandler (I) ranks him as one of his all time favorite
co-stars
- Austin trained five months at Chris Adam's wrestling school.
- Former WCW Television champion.
- Favorite actors include John Wayne (I), Clint Eastwood and
Leigh Taylor-Young.
- In his professional debut, Austin, wrestling under his real name,
defeated Frogman Lablanc. He received $40 for the night.
- Former World Tag Team Champion.
- Former TWF Tag Team Champion.
- In his first appearance of Nash Bridges, his In-Ring
theme music from wrestling is playing in the background.
- Will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Houston, Texas, April 4th
2009 -the night before Wrestlemania 25 - the first inductee of the
"Class of 2009".
- Lives in Marina Del Rey, California.
- Good friends with Eric Roberts (I).
Steve (IV) Austin quotes
- Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!
- And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!
- You treat me like a dog and you expect me to smile? You remind me of a
jack ass.
- I'll drop you on that stack of dimes you call a neck!
- ...and that's all I gotta say about THAT!
- What?
- I'm goin' stomp a mudhole in ya and walk it dry!
- Know your role!
- [On his fight scene with Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables (2010)]
It was a very physical fight scene. One of the things I learn from Sly
from working with him was just intensity. We fought for two days, it
was always about intensity and bringing the level up, and he wanted to
make it look real. Now when the writer, the lead actor, and the
director tells you to kick the shit out of him.....you kick the shit
out of him. Sly is a filmmaker veteran and an icon, if he told me to do
the same thing tomorrow I would.