Happy Birthday to the Rattlesnake, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. In my opinion, the best wrestler I’ve eve seen. Was he the best technical wrestler? Not by a long shot. But that guy could read a crowd and know exactly what to do for the big pops.
He was viscous, ruthless, funny, very stripped back, genuine, nasty, and a ton of others descriptions to create one of the biggest characters in WWE history.
I only had the chance to meet him once, and he couldn’t have been nicer. He was very unassuming. It’s almost as if he had no idea that people knew who he was. He was pleasant and accommodating with pictures and the whole thing. By the way, this was in 2006. He was a big star at the time. He even put on a Santa hat and took a picture for my Christmas card. He was that kind of guy.
Who could forget the Hair vs. Hair match with Donald Trump and Vince McMahon at WrestleMania at Ford Field? Steve would tell me later that the sound went straight up, so it was somewhat quiet in the ring. In his words he thought they “stunk the place up” before going and re-watching it later. Turns out it was another classic Austin match.
Unfortunately, I’ve never gotten the chance to meet him again. That being said, I’ve remained a fan of just about everything he’s done since. From TV shows, to podcasts and so on.
The dude is a legend, and his fame crossed over into ventures outside the wrestling ring. Below are some of my favorite moments of his, with some of them taking place right here in Detroit.
Enjoy!
