The Hell Raisin Rattlesnake in the WWE Hall of Fame
As I watched WWE Monday Night Raw last night I got chills when the ran the promo video for the first inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame this year. The headliner this year is Stone Cold Steve Austin. It’s appropriate because he is from Texas and Wrestlemania 25 is in Houston. Stone Cold Steve Austin was a hot commodity at a time when WWE needed something and someone to spark the interest of the public. WWE was losing the ratings war to WCW but as soon as Stone Cold became a beer drinking, finger gesturing, hell raising son of gun, off to the races they went. I credit Steve Austin in large part for WWE beating WCW in the ratings war and putting them out of business. He was wrestling’s strongest personality in that time frame. I have a lot of Stone Cold moments I would like to talk about maybe my top 10.
The first moment that sticks in my mind is Wrestlemania 13 when he had his submission match with Bret Hart. It was probably the greatest match of Austins career and the match that got him over with fans. It was bloody, brutal and it showed the toughness of Stone Cold Steve Austin.
My second moment is Wrestlemania 17 in Houston Texas when he fought the Rock. The match went close to forty minutes and then the unthinkable happened. Austin and McMahon joined forces and took out the Rock. The match was great, the ending was even better. One of the best WWE title matches in the history of the company.
The third moment is when he made Vince McMahon pee is his pants on TV with a fake gun. He had a gun and a flag came out and it read “Bang 3:16” Austin did a lot humiliate the McMahon’s over the years, but to me that might have been the funniest thing that he did to them.
At number four, was days before Wrestlemania 15, Austin brought in a beer truck and sprayed the McMahon’s and the Rock as Raw went off the air. That was classic. I always enjoyed that moment.
Number five is a moment most people don’t know about unless you have the Austin 3-Disc DVD. It was when Shotgun Saturday Night was in Texas and Terry Funk was in the crowd. He challenged Austin and he accepted. They got into a brawl in a bar and the fans went rowdy. It was just an overall cool moment that saw two icons from Texas going at it.
Coming in at number six was Wrestlemania 21 when Austin was a guest on Piper’s Pit. You talk about two explosive personalities. I would love to seen Piper and Austin go at it in their primes. It was just a funny overall segment that ended in Stone Cold fashion.
At number seven was when Austin won the title at Wrestlemania 14 against Shawn Michaels. It was Shawn’s last match for four years and a lot ways the passing of the torch. Austin won the title, won the fans, and won the respect he never gotten in WCW.
You can’t talk about Stone Cold’s career without talking about the Hollywood Blonds, the tag team he and Brian Pillman had. It was one of the best put together tag teams of all time. No one ever saw them doing anything and the actually won the WCW Tag Titles. It didn’t matter if he was with Pillman or feuding against him, Austin and Pillman always tore the house down. They had such good chemistry in the ring as partners and opponents. I wish they could have gotten a better shot at things.
Number nine is a personal favorite of mine. It came at ECW One Night Stand in 2005 when the show was over. Stone Cold came out and acknowledged that ECW is where he first got to be himself and was grateful for what Paul Heymen allowed him to do on the mic and in the ring. It was classic stuff that made Stunning Steve into Stone Cold.
And number 10, is at Wrestlemania 20 and the only reason I am mentioning this is because it is personally the best thing that happened in the match between Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg. They really had a horrible match and at the end Stone Cold gave them both a Stone Cold Stunner that stunned them right out of the WWE because neither one of them was ever on WWE TV again. It was a great way for those two to go out.
So as you can see, Stone Cold Steve Austin has been apart of many great moments. This isn’t even one percent of what he’s done. There are so many things he has brought to the wrestling business and there so many moments he left us with as well. If you’re happy the Stone Cold is in the Hall of Fame, Give me a Hell Yeah!!!…Oh Hell Yeah
