I didn’t realize that today was going to be number 316 until just now and there is no turning back. I thought I was going to struggle, once again, for a topic, but not today. The bald, beer-chugging king of wrestling just handed me a subject on a silver platter with a side of ass-whoopin’!
Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the most iconic wrestlers of the WWF. (And yes, it is still the WWF in my mind.) The reason he is one of the greatest is not because of his actual fake wrestling prowess but because of his bad-ass charisma. Sure everyone has their favorite wrestler that may not be The Rattlesnake, but I don’t remember anyone ever saying that they didn’t like Stone Cold.
Starting from his famous catch phrase, “Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass,” there was no stopping him from doing exactly what he said he was going to do, and that was to run through every WWF superstar and become the champion. Overall, he held the WWF Championship belt six times in his career.
He drank beer. He gave everyone the finger. He called Vince McMahon, his boss, almost every name in the book, along with humiliating him whenever possible. He told everyone he didn’t give a damn and he meant it. He was the anti-establishment hero of the WWF and of our American culture. He drove a Coors Light semi into the arena and completely doused Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and The Rock with beer using a firehose. That is legendary.
I could go on and on about his tributes, but I got too busy watching old WWF videos.
Stone Cold was an inspiration to me and many others as someone who always stood up for himself and never backed down from The Man. He was hilarious, unpredictable, and a little crazy at times. There is no comparing the adrenaline rush I got hearing that glass breaking intro music every Monday night in my basement growing up. I think I hit my head on the ceiling a couple of times. There was never a dull moment with Austin (excluding that late-era when he was McMahon’s lapdog. That was weird). There was never anyone like him and I doubt there will ever be another that tops his raw ability to inspire millions by just being his beer-chugging, finger-flipping self. “And that’s the bottom line...because Stone Cold said so.”
