Stone Cold Steve Austin was the original WWE rebel. The first superstar who raged against the machine within the company and finally found stardom when he fully expressed the character that was within him.

The great thing about Steve Austin is the fact that a lot of his character was based on himself, which means that he rarely had to act when he was wrestling. He had many headline feuds during his WWE career that are still watched and fondly remembered by the WWE Universe to this day.

Steven Austin and The Rock changed the face of WWE during The Attitude Era and their feud lifted both men to the heights of stardom within the company and around the world.

Both men were talented wrestlers, but their true excellence shone most when they were on the mic, as the back and forth promos they had were some of the best that WWE have ever created and many believe they will never be topped.

Austin retired from wrestling due to injury issues, but has still managed to remain a significant part of WWE by hosting a podcast that WWE promotes and airs on their Network every month, as well as making various returns whenever WWE call upon him.

Steve Austin’s last WWE appearance was at WrestleMania 32 when he, along with Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley, destroyed The League of Nations before he then shocked the crowd by hitting the Stone Cold Stunner on Xavier Woods.

14 12. He Has A Great Sense of Humor

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Via cdn.inquisitr.com

Stone Cold has been retired from WWE for more than a decade, but one comment on his podcast with Paul Heyman managed to send WWE fans into meltdown on Social Media.

The subject of Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania opponent came up, along with the fact that WM32 was in Austin’s home state of Texas. So Heyman asked about it and Austin revealed that he would only return if it was a Texas Death Match. This then led to many fans calling for the match to be made immediately, before Austin then clarified that he wouldn’t be wrestling at the event and was joking around. He does have an incredible sense of humor.

13 11. He’s Been Drinking Beer Since He Was 14

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via assets.rollingstone.com

Austin has become well known as the beer drinking, stunner hitting WWE rebel and it comes as no surprise that Austin was drinking beer a long time before it became his character’s main attraction.

Austin was drinking beer before it was even legal for him to do so, after it was revealed that he first tasted it when he was 14 years old and fell in love. This love led to one of the greatest character transformations of The Attitude Era, so it’s become pretty clear that the wrestling world is thankful for his beer drinking habits.

12 10. He’s Always Swearing

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When Steve Austin was at the height of his popularity during the infamous Attitude Era, it was cool to swear at the audience, make obscene gestures and even swear at your opponents. Steve Austin made all of this cool, as he was the ultimate badass and was so good at being bad.

Austin would often be seen raising the middle finger to his opponent or shouting obscenities in their face as a way of proving that he was the bad guy, but it was so hard for fans to hate him because most of the time they agreed with everything he was doing.

11 9. He Once Made Vince Wet Himself

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via ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com

Steve Austin vs Vince McMahon has become a legendary feud, as the WWE booked it exceptionally well. Even though Vince had all the power, Austin was often thought to be the one who was on top.

A great example of this is the time when Austin brought a gun to the ring and threatened the WWE Chairman by holding it to his head. He then pulled the trigger and Vince was so afraid that he urinated himself, only for Austin to reveal that the gun was fake and further humiliate his boss.

10 8. He Still Returns to WWE When Needed

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WWE have many legends that they call upon whenever needed and they make returns to the ring to help new talent find their feet. Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho are recent examples of Superstars who have come back to compete and help younger talent.

Steve Austin can no longer wrestle due to the many injuries he suffered while wrestling, but he still returns when WWE need him and plays a part in various feuds, Recently, he returned at WrestleMania XXX to celebrate with The Rock and Hulk Hogan and again at WrestleMania 32 when he attacked The League of Nation with Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley.

9 7. He Came Up With An Amazing Catchphrase

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via wwe.fr

It’s hard to believe that WWE often allow many Superstars to pitch their own characters and even their own gimmicks. With that in mind, Austin actually came up with one of his most famous catchphrases in WWE History on the spot as a way to mock Jake “The Snake” Roberts during their feud. He was talking about Bible passages and mocking Roberts' religious beliefs, and after talking about John 3:16, he then stated that “Austin 3:16 says, I just whipped your ass!” It's a phrase that became extremely popular and sold a boatload of t-shirts..

8 6. He Is Also An Actor

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It’s not a big shock when wrestlers make the switch over to Hollywood, as The Rock had plenty of success with it and many other stars have followed suit, including Steve Austin.

Austin made his move debut in the remake of The Longest Yard back in 2005, a film that also starred many other WWE wrestlers, before he went on to play his part in many other movies, including the main role in The Condemned and the blockbuster film The Expendables..

7 5. The Money Difference

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Steve Austin went from earning just $40 from his wrestling debut in 1989 to being one of the biggest wrestling superstars in the world.

At the time, Austin was still learning to wrestle and wasn’t fully prepared, but he still managed to catch the eye of top executives in WWE who went on to sign him to a contract. The money difference between what he was earning when he first came into wrestling and what he then managed to earn at the peak of his career, making him an underdog story that we absolutely adore.

6 4. He Was Relatable

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One of the main reasons that the “Stone Cold” Character managed to force such a quick reaction out of the WWE Universe was that he was incredibly relatable. Many fans were able to vicariously live through the character because they probably wanted to give a Stunner to their own boss.

How many other people would love to have been able to treat their boss the way Austin did? Plenty did and they felt that Austin was doing it for them. He was the working class character that WWE needed at that time and he was always the one that the fans believed in the most.

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4 3. He Failed in WCW and Kept Fighting

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via wwe.fr

Before heading to WWE, Austin had a lot of wrestling experience under his belt, which included a brief stint with WWE’s rivals WCW.

He joined the company in 1991 and remained with them until late 1995 when he suffered a triceps injury while he was a part of their tour in Japan. He was then forced out of action and following this, Eric Bischoff decided against having him back on his roster and instead fired him. Austin didn't give up and fans love hearing an amazing tale of perservance like this one.

3 2. Career Defining Feud With Vince

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Every wrestler has a feud that they feel defined their career and while The Rock and Steve Austin had many great matches, it seems his feud with Vince is the one that he is most loved for.

Austin and Vince had the perfect boss/employee rivalry. Their feud had many landmark moments like the time where Austin attacked Vince in a hospital or the time he managed to commander a milk float, all of which added to a well rounded feud that many WWE fans remember to this day.

2 1. He has An Incredible Podcast

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Via wrestlingnews.co

When WWE debuted the WWE Network in February of 2014, they knew there was something major missing. They have since added many spin off shows to the network, but one of the biggest hits is the monthly Stone Cold Podcast.

The podcast takes an in-depth look at each Superstar's career and Austin asks all the questions that others are too afraid to ask. Because of that, many revelations have been made thanks to his method of questioning and WWE know that fans love the show because of it.

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