“It Sounded Like Sh*t”: Stone Cold Steve Austin Reveals How Vince McMahon Nearly Doomed His Career Six Months Before Rescuing Himself
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In WWE, Steve Austin is famous for his ‘drinking beer and delivering impromptu stunners to anyone’ persona. The WWE Universe widely appreciated his ‘Stone Cold’ gimmick. Plus, this character landed him the fame and stardom he possesses today. However, prior to adopting this character, WWE booked him into a completely different persona. When he joined WWF (now WWE), he went by the moniker ‘The Ring Master.’ Speaking on this subject, he recently revealed how the gimmick nearly doomed his career.
Steve Austin was skeptical about ‘The Ringmaster’ gimmick
‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ recently appeared as the special guest in the To Be The Man podcast. During the interview, Ric Flair asked him about who came up with the idea of his ‘Ringmaster’ gimmick. Austin revealed the whole idea was the brainchild of Vince McMahon.
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He confessed he was skeptical about the gimmick when ‘The Genetic Jackhammer’ pitched it to him. “And I was thinking, What the f**k is the master of the ring, The Ringmaster?! It sounded like sh*t,” he said. But since he was transitioning from ECW, he needed a job, so he accepted to adopt the character.
“But I got bills to pay. So I was like, sounds like a good idea. What time do you want me to start?” he added. When he arrived at the promotion, WWE assigned him a manager in the legendary Ted DiBiase. They also awarded him The Million Dollar Championship on his arrival.
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‘The Ringmaster’ gimmick couldn’t be as successful as McMahon wanted. Thus, the ‘Stone Cold’ gimmick took birth in its place.
Austin didn’t like ‘The Ringmaster’ gimmick
For six months after his arrival at the company, Austin went by ‘The Ringmaster’ moniker. However, he was not happy with it and felt that his character was weak. He took this matter to Mr. McMahon, who agreed to a character change.
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He added, “Six months later, I come up with a different gimmick. The ‘Stone Cold’ thing, but that gimmick was originally pitched to me. It was from that creative. That was my foot in the door.” It was actually his wife who accidentally helped him come up with his iconic moniker.
For a while, he got stuck on deciding on a new character name for himself. One day his then-wife Jennie Clarke brought her a cup of tea and asked him to drink it before it got ‘Stone Cold.’ That’s how the name struck him and the rest is history.
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What do you think about The Ringmaster gimmick? Did you like it? Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you.
Written by:
Edited by:
Sherjeel Malik