Stone Cold Steve Austin

Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Austin began his professional wrestling career in 1989, after playing college football at the University of North Texas. He signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 and adopted the persona of "Stunning" Steve Austin, a villainous in-ring technician, and he won the WCW World Television Championship and the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship twice each, alongside the WCW World Tag Team Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship once each with Brian Pillman (as the Hollywood Blondes). After a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Austin signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1995. In the WWF, Austin was repackaged as a short-tempered, brash, anti-establishment antihero named "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, becoming the most popular wrestler of the Attitude Era off the back of his feud with company chairman Mr. McMahon. He won the WWF Championship six times, the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice, the Million Dollar Championship once, and the WWF Tag Team Championship four times, making him the fifth WWF Triple Crown Champion. He is also a record three-time Royal Rumble winner, won the 1996 King of the Ring, and headlined multiple WWF pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania (its flagship event) four times. He was forced to retire from in-ring competition in 2003 after multiple knee injuries and a serious neck injury at the 1997 SummerSlam event, making sporadic appearances ever since. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, and returned for a one-off match against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022.