10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin
"Michael "PS" Hayes showed Austin the "Ace Crusher", the weapon of choice for Johnny Ace (aka John Laurinaitis), and suggested a sitdown version of the move - and thus the Stone Cold Stunner was born..."
2. A Galaxy Filled With Stars
Austin's performances inside the ring oftentimes get overshadowed by the mayhem he created as the grand marshal of the Attitude Era, but make no mistake, Austin was a "ring master" in a positive sense. His timing, psychology, technique, and instincts were flawless, and an Austin 20 years younger would've been able to hang with any of your favourite indy darlings.
Dave Meltzer can attest to Austin's greatness as a gifted worker, rating many of Austin's top matches quite highly. In fact, using Meltzer's subjective ratings, Austin is the only man to have had a five-star match in both WWE *and* WCW. The WWE half of the equation was his transcendent submission match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13, the bloodbath that launched Stone Cold into the stratosphere for good. On the WCW side, Austin shares the distinction with nine other wrestlers (plus Madusa and Paul Heyman) as the War Games match from WrestleWar 1992 may have been the best battle of its type. But hey, you don't need Dave Meltzer's permission to declare an Austin match perfect.Â
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.