LogFAQs > #943075795

Sorry, I somehow just completely forgot to post yesterday.

#8 - Stone Cold Steve Austin
Score: 226
Lists: 17
First Place Votes: 2, scarlet, Tennis

Writeup: scarletspeed7
Wrestling, to be sure, is an athletic spectacle. But there is a level of engagement in wrestling beyond the display of physical prowess. There's an emotional connection between a worker and his audience. Wrestling has always been one part technique and one part presentation. And, because of that, no worker has ever defined the entirety of the sport in the way that Steve Austin did.

I could spend time talking about the character of Stunning Steve and his work in WCW, but that was just the preface. That was training for the lead role; the body of work Austin accrued in WCW featured memorable bouts, undeniable chemistry in one of the greatest WCW tag teams of all time (the Hollywood Blondes) and a few of the best matches to come out of WCW in the mid-90s. But it was Austin's rise to prominence, a prelude to the coming Attitude Era, which redefined wrestling forever. Austin's down-home no-nonsense demeanor enraptured audiences searching for the sort of anti-establishment hero figure that was desperately wanted in the 90s. What Austin did was combine his own unique style of wrestling with a brand of personality, ultimately melding the two together to redefine the brand of WWF.

What is often glossed over with fans is that Austin was a phenomenal worker; one need only look at the epitome of storytelling told in his feud with Bret Hart. Hart played Superman from Kingdom Come, an aging hero that had grown disillusioned with the shifting goalposts of morality embodied in restless fans. Instead of altering his own attitude, he berated the fans, turned his back on them, and demanded they climb to his level, rather than letting himself sink to theirs. And in response, Austin became the Kingdom Come Magog, a more violent, more aggressive hero. One that didn't rest on platitudes but pragmatism. Together, the two created sparks both on the mic and in the ring, resulting in some of the greatest work WWF had ever seen.
From here, Austin was a top draw, and within a short period of time, he had main evented Wrestlemania, tapped into the cultural mainstream, and turned the entire roster on its head. Gone were the cartoonish notions of yesterday. Here to stay was the male soap opera, a world of car crash insanity anchored in one central notion - the greatest characters were you, dialed to 11.

When you look at the Hogan era, you can see that the workrate is defined by its top star. Slower, simpler matches, plodding with a deliberate cadence designed to adhere to a strict power-up formula. There was little variety in the Hogan Era. But in the Austin Era, you could visually watch the evolution of the roster around Steve as he set a new style of workrate. Austin matches so rarely had long dead spots between every move. Instead, pauses in a match had dramatic connotations. The general workrate had increased significantly. Filling time for the sake of selling wasn't something Austin enjoyed - instead, Austin (likely taking some direction from Hart) wanted to make sure every moment had a reason in a match. A display of frustration after a kick-out. Cockiness in success. Focus in tense moments of tactical give-and-take. Austin retrained the roster during his time there to have fast-paced, action-heavy matches on television and more methodical matches on PPV.

At the same time, Austin retrained audiences. The bubblegum pop babyface was out, and the anti-hero was in. Austin's weaknesses as a character were his strengths with the audience. He was relatable. He had an undeniable realism about himself. In fact, his unscripted promos ensorcelled any audience in any arena. He made simple sentences musical in his rhythmic and sometimes repetitive delivery. Many tried to copy him; few succeeded.

Austin's influence led to the greatest period of growth in WWE history. A publicly traded company, WWE's stock as a valuable commodity would not exist without Austin. His ability to help shape the Rock, give him credibility and get out of the Rock's way helped push both of them further together over time. And even though he was one of the most winningest workers of his era, very rarely did it feel as if he was burying talent. He enhanced every worker he spent time with.

On top of this, consider how little time he spent in the ring. For the years he was active, only one franchise in the WORLD was a bigger merchandise mover: South Park. #2 was Steve Austin, a man who spent only about 5 total active years in the ring with WWE, and yet in that time period turned an antiquated brand into a trendsetter. Austin redefined the pace of a WWE match; he redefined a promo, and for a period of time, he made the case that he was a man never duplicated. Lightning in a bottle. The greatest wrestler of all time.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz7btc; Arn Anderson, Beautiful Bobby, Larry Zbyszko, Rick Rude & Steve Austin vs. Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat & Sting (May 17, 1992)
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=335832377161447; Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (March 23, 1997)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4uktbt; Steve Austin vs. Triple H (February 25, 2001)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5s3zgi; Steve Austin vs. The Rock (March 30, 2003)

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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris