'Stone Cold' Steve Austin

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[MoS]

Stone Cold is the reason I am a wrestling fan today. I would argue no WWE ace evoked more passionate reactions than Austin at his peak. He is the greatest "TV worker" inWWE history. He did the little things so well, selling, evoking sympathy, showing fire against all odds. He was brilliant at making his in-ring work seem like an extension of his character, and playing his character all the time. Definitely top ten for me.

[BigBadMick]

How did Austin get left out in the cold for the last week?!!

 

Top 10 for me, despite my reservations about 1998-99.

[Lust Hogan]

Great worker. My favorite Austin moments were when he was feuding with Bret. What would be the timeframe to examine for him?

[Jmare007]

This is gonna be an interesting one to rank. Just like with Dusy, I don't think I'll be able to separate his character work in promos and segments from the stuff he did in the ring. Even though I'm a big fan of his matches in wCw and WWE, I don't think he has enough to make a top 25-30. It's gonna be fun revisiting him and see were he really ends up.

[Shining Wiz]

He's particularly hard to separate from his character work because he was so good at making his character part of his matches. Thinking about it, that's a trait that not every nominee has, and even fewer are good at making it as organic as Austin.

 

Might actually end up a huge plus in Austin's favour.

[W2BTD]

Liked the Texas stuff, loved the WCW stuff, REALLY loved the stuff riiiiight before the big push as he was rising, and i'm very, very tepid on everything during the hot run (brawl, brawl some more, stunner, pin, yawn). Crowds ate up those boring brawls, so what do I know? I just don't like brawls all that much, I think.

 

Made my list five years ago, would probably make it again. If nothing else, those brawls I didn't like were worked precisely how he should have worked them. He has to get credit for that.

[Matt D]

I hated those brawls when I was 17-18 and just wanted to see cruiserweights and Danny Doring/Roadkill vs Nova/Chetti Movez matches. I can't wait to revisit them now.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I hated those brawls when I was 17-18 and just wanted to see cruiserweights and Danny Doring/Roadkill vs Nova/Chetti Movez matches. I can't wait to revisit them now.

Yeah, those Austin brawls are fucking awesome.

[Loss]

The biggest knock on Austin is that he and Undertaker never could figure out how to have a good match despite what seemed like a million chances to do so. It's the problem with matches when two asskickers collide - someone has to be the underdog and sell.

[Alan4L]

The biggest knock on Austin is that he and Undertaker never could figure out how to have a good match despite what seemed like a million chances to do so. It's the problem with matches when two asskickers collide - someone has to be the underdog and sell.

I thought the Summerslam match was really good and I only recently learned that Austin was knocked loopy during the match which in a weird way might have helped based on what you're saying here Charles. He was so out of it that at times in the match he did seem very vulnerable and out on his feet as Taker blasted him with big haymakers.

 

The key Austin stuff I want to re-evaluate is his 2001 stuff with the likes of Benoit and Angle. I'm fairly happy in knowing how I feel about his early career, and the 98/99 stuff, but if the more "workratey" matches that he was doing post surgery hold up to what I thought of them at the time then he's going to be a high finisher. Like you guys have said, he worked his character into his matches as well as anyone.

[BillThompson]

His brawling period is a big hurdle, because I found Austin's 98-2000 brawling to be pretty darn horrible.

[W2BTD]

His brawling period is a big hurdle, because I found Austin's 98-2000 brawling to be pretty darn horrible.

common ground

 

*high five*

[BillThompson]

 

His brawling period is a big hurdle, because I found Austin's 98-2000 brawling to be pretty darn horrible.

common ground

 

*high five*

 

I live to surprise

[TRMD]

Every Austin brawl is awesome because Austin is awesome. His unbelievable fire. His perfect timing. His ability to be make hatred towards his opponent feel as real as it could possibly feel is literally bar none. He could sell his ass off. His comebacks were amazing. You can watch an Austin match with non wrestling fans and they are going to think it's awesome. I do it regularly. He doesn't do high spots. He doesn't do any flips. Yet, he has anyone who watches him wrestle in the palm of his hands. He's the GOAT.

 

You could put him in front of a crowd in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, or 80's and he's going to get an ass whooping over. He could bring in someones grandma from the crowd and stomp a mudhole in her, and her granddaughter is going to cheer it. He's just that damn good. He isn't fluid. He doesn't beautifully manipulate a body part. He may not "work well from underneath", but he's the most entertaining wrestler ever. And that's what the fuck it's all about.

 

He might not have an unbelievable amount of 5 and 4 star matches, but he could get an entertaining match out of anyone. Someone on the other Austin thread said it best "He could have a 10 minute minute match where he just stalks McMahon and make it a 3 star match." and goddamnit is that true.

[fxnj]

I can't get into his brawls at all, 2001 included. A lot is stylistic misgivings (ie "out of control" brawls always following the damn shine/heat/comeback formula, reliance on cheesy interference/crowd brawling shit), but there's also things like the loose punches that are pretty hard for me to get past. I don't see how he's even close to as good a brawler as Shibata, let alone the GOAT.

[Matt D]

A lot is stylistic misgivings (ie "out of control" brawls always following the damn shine/heat/comeback formula,),

 

Are you only into post modern wrestling structures or something?

 

EDIT: I don't mean that in a hostile way, either. I'm honestly curious.

[MoS]

I am mighty biased here, because Austin and his brawls got me into wrestling, but for all the supposed formulaic nature of his brawling, he managed to keep the pace strong and never let the energy sag during his brawls, which is a huge factor in judging the quality of his brawls. Definitely not the GOAT for brawling in my eyes, (that would be Hansen) but he is very, very good in my opinion at brawling. The fire in his eyes, his defiance and his movements, his energy, his ability to get people involved in his comebacks are all incredible. He was incredible at getting the character work shine through during his matches.

 

I remember Unforgiven, when all he did was come out, stun Steve Blackman, and stun Shane McMahon 3 times. If anyone else had done that, it would have been a waste of 10 minutes. But, Austin made it extremely entertaining. And the crowd heat throughout was out of the world. It was amazing to watch.

[TRMD]

I am mighty biased here, because Austin and his brawls got me into wrestling, but for all the supposed formulaic nature of his brawling, he managed to keep the pace strong and never let the energy sag during his brawls, which is a huge factor in judging the quality of his brawls. Definitely not the GOAT for brawling in my eyes, (that would be Hansen) but he is very, very good in my opinion at brawling. The fire in his eyes, his defiance and his movements, his energy, his ability to get people involved in his comebacks are all incredible. He was incredible at getting the character work shine through during his matches.

 

I remember Unforgiven, when all he did was come out, stun Steve Blackman, and stun Shane McMahon 3 times. If anyone else had done that, it would have been a waste of 10 minutes. But, Austin made it extremely entertaining. And the crowd heat throughout was out of the world. It was amazing to watch.

 

An argument that I frequently make is that Austin rarely if ever does the the wrong thing in a match or segment. Whether it's knowing the exact time to make his comeback, or the exact time to give someone the finger. Doesn't matter how small it is, he usually does it perfectly.

 

I know this might not carry a lot of weight to a lot of you, but it is seriously awesome how non-fans react to Austin. I just recently put on his match with McMahon at St Valentines Day Massacre, they were reacting like it was it live. Laughing their asses off, getting into the match. Popping for everything Austin does. Nobody else has that effect on them. Nobody.

[Matt D]

 

I know this might not carry a lot of weight to a lot of you, but it is seriously awesome how non-fans react to Austin. I just recently put on his match with McMahon at St Valentines Day Massacre, they were reacting like it was it live. Laughing their asses off, getting into the match. Popping for everything Austin does. Nobody else has that effect on them. Nobody.

 

 

Ok now show them Onita, Hogan, Cena, Satanico, and Flair/Steamboat vs Arn/Larry and report back with your findings.

[TRMD]

 

 

I know this might not carry a lot of weight to a lot of you, but it is seriously awesome how non-fans react to Austin. I just recently put on his match with McMahon at St Valentines Day Massacre, they were reacting like it was it live. Laughing their asses off, getting into the match. Popping for everything Austin does. Nobody else has that effect on them. Nobody.

 

 

Ok now show them Onita, Hogan, Cena, Satanico, and Flair/Steamboat vs Arn/Larry and report back with your findings.

 

 

I've watched Raw with them several times, they aren't high on Cena. But I honestly don't think any casual would be impressed with Cena. They all obviously know Hogan and Flair. They would probably pop for Hogan's comeback, but be bored shitless the rest of the match. I'd expect they would be thoroughly impressed with Flair.

 

Also, if I'm coming off as a pompous asshole I apologize. i don't like it when I read things that people say about wrestling and it comes out as fact, and I really don't mean to sound like that.

 

If you think Stan Hansen or Ric Flair or Jumbo are worlds better than Austin, you're not wrong. Do I think it's weird as shit that a bulk of the board loves Rey Mysterio and think he's a top 5 worker ever but don't think Austin is Top 50? Hell Yeah. But I don't think you're wrong. You just like different wrestling than me.

[Childs]

I'm finding this discussion odd, because I honestly don't think of Austin as a "brawler." I know that was his persona, but not many of his matches were out-and-out slugfests. His punches and kicks weren't anything special. He never created that feeling of just eating up his opponent's space, like a Hansen or Finlay. As Stone Cold, he was great at applying his charisma to matches, so great that what he actually did physically didn't matter much to the crowd. He was certainly a far greater total performer than pure in-ring guy. For that reason, he'll be tough to rank--probably middle of my list.

[TRMD]

I'm finding this discussion odd, because I honestly don't think of Austin as a "brawler." I know that was his persona, but not many of his matches were out-and-out slugfests. His punches and kicks weren't anything special. He never created that feeling of just eating up his opponent's space, like a Hansen or Finlay. As Stone Cold, he was great at applying his charisma to matches, so great that what he actually did physically didn't matter much to the crowd. He was certainly a far greater total performer than pure in-ring guy.

 

 

Well said.

[Shining Wiz]

After the neck injury, he's mostly a kick and punch special kind of guy. He made that work better than most could, but I think it's fair to call him a brawler at that point, if not before.

[NintendoLogic]

Yeah, post-neck injury Austin's matches were filled with punches and kicks with little or no mat wrestling and lots of blood and international objects. How is that not brawling? I think he's unquestionably more of a brawler than Finlay.

 

Also, put me down as a big fan of the SS98 Austin/Taker match. Austin spent the bulk of the match working from underneath, and I really liked his Misawa-esque drawn-out comeback.