“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is helmed as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time, if not the greatest. Even after so many years of his retirement, Austin 3:16 t-shirts are still major merchandise movers, giving tough competition to this generation’s superstars. His feud with Mr. McMahon is considered to be the very best in the professional wrestling industry.
That badass character would never be a thing if Vince McMahon’s assumption about him would have been correct. Initially, his reaction to The Texas Rattlesnake was very much different. He thought that Stone Cold Steve Austin didn’t have the quality in him to become a main-eventer draw in the card. So he wasn’t will to give him the needed push.
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Jake Roberts, the WWE veteran recently spoke to Premier Live TV, and he revealed an interesting conversation he once had with Vince McMahon. While writing television scripts with McMahon, Roberts opined that Stone Cold Steve Austin would be a main-eventer. The Chairman of the board then revealed his real feelings about The Rattlesnake.
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McMahon Didn’t Consider Stone Cold Steve Austin As Main-Eventer
“When Steve Austin came to WWF, I was helping write television, and I watched him, and I said, ‘This motherf*cker got it, man. He’s got that ‘it’ factor and he don’t even know he’s got it.’”
“I’m starting to scoot him into places. Sort of as an afterthought so nobody was watching. Well then one day I told Vince [McMahon], I said, ‘That guy right there is gonna be your next super, superstar.’ ‘You kidding me Jake?’ He said, ‘That guy, he’ll never make it past fifth, sixth match. He’s not a main-eventer.’ I said, ‘The f*ck he ain’t.’ He said, ‘Do you think so?’ I said, ‘Yeah I think so,’ and we tried the thing and I guess it might’ve worked huh?” (Quotes courtesy POST Wrestling)
Vince McMahon then gave Stone Cold Steve Austin that huge push, and he went on to create history. Triple H was slated to win King of the Ring that year which Austin won. He was pulled from the winning slot as a punishment for breaking kayfabe at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. The promo on that night gave birth to the Austin 316 character.
Stone Cold Steve Austin went on to hold 19 championships throughout his wrestling career. He is a six-time World Heavyweight Champion, a two-time Intercontinental Champion, and a four-time WWF Tag Team Champion. He is the fifth Triple Crown Champion in WWE history as he captured the WCW United States Heavyweight Champion on two occasions and WCW World Television Championships two times.
Additionally, he is a one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, a one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion, and a one-time Million Dollar Champion. Stone Cold Steve Austin has also been the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament and 1997, 1998, and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He is the only three-time Rumble winner in the WWE.