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..."
1. A Golden Sequel
Three WrestleManias have concluded with Stone Cold capturing the WWE Championship, accounting for three of his five overall WrestleMania victories. The first two matches, victories over Shawn Michaels and The Rock, were, respectively, Austin's first visit to wrestling's Everest, and his reaffirmation as the top guy at the end of a big money 'Mania.
It is through those two victories that Austin made a unique bit of history: with the win over Rock at WrestleMania 15, Stone Cold became the first man to challenge for, and win, World Championships at consecutive WrestleManias. Not even Hogan, who won the belt at Manias 5, 7, and 9, can make that claim. Since then, the feat has only happened twice - The Undertaker won the World Heavyweight belt at WrestleManias 23 and 24, while John Cena won two different World titles at 25 and 26. But Austin always was a trend-setter, one that others have had a difficult time following, even 15 years after his last match.
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.