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Steve Austin (born Steven Anderson on December 18, 1964, later Steven Williams), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler. Austin wrestled for several well-known wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and most famously, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which later became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002. In the late 1990s, Austin gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a disrespectful, beer-drinking antihero who routinely defied his boss, Vince McMahon. This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping McMahon off and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, his finishing move.

Austin had his first starring film role as Jack Conrad in the 2007 thriller The Condemned. He will next star as "Dan Paine" in "The Expendables" for director/star Sylvester Stallone. The film also stars Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and Jet Li. Austin recently wrapped production on "Damage," a hard-edged, bare-knuckles fight film that focuses on the tough choices people make in times of recession. The film is the first in a multi-picture deal between Austin, Nasser Entertainment, and Caliber Media. Austin also recently signed a television development deal with Original Media and Caliber Media.

Austin is a six-time WWF Champion, the 1996 King of the Ring, and winner of the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles, and is the only man in WWE history to win the Royal Rumble three times. He is widely regarded as one of the biggest stars in the history of professional wrestling, and has been described as such by prominent industry figures such as Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman and Ric Flair.

Professional wrestling career

USWA Dallas

Steve Williams began wrestling in 1989, after working as a dockworker in Dallas, Texas. He saw an advertisement for "Gentleman" Chris Adams' wrestling school and after training, debuted as Steve Austin (to avoid confusion with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, although Austin initially hated the name due to sharing it with the main character from the 1970's TV series The Six Million Dollar Man) in USWA Dallas where he feuded with Jeff Jarrett, Chris Von Erich, and his own teacher Chris Adams as a member of Skandor Akbar's "Devastation, Inc." stable.

World Championship Wrestling (1991-1995)

Main article: Hollywood Blonds

Austin debuted in World Championship Wrestling in 1991 as "Stunning" Steve Austin, initially managed by Vivacious Veronica. Almost immediately after Austin's debut, Lady Blossom (who previously valeted for him in Dallas as Jeannie Clark) became his valet. Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for the WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991, just weeks after his debut. In late 1991, Austin joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. Austin lost the WCW Television Championship to Barry Windham in a two out of three falls match on April 27, 1992. He regained the title from Windham on May 23, 1992. He enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter. At Halloween Havoc, he replaced Terry Gordy, teaming with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team titles. The teams wrestled to a thirty minute time limit draw.

In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team with Brian Pillman known as the Hollywood Blonds. The Blonds won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, 1993, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds held the titles for five months. At Clash of the Champions XXIII the Blonds faced Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a two out of three falls tag team title match. Flair and Anderson defeated the Blonds, but were not awarded the titles as one fall had been determined by a disqualification. At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend the titles against Arn Anderson and his new partner, Paul Roma. An injured Pillman, however, was replaced by Steven Regal. Austin and Regal lost to Anderson and Roma. With Pillman still injured, Austin then joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable. After Pillman returned, Austin betrayed and defeated him in a singles bout at Clash of the Champions XXV.

At Starrcade, in a two out of three falls match, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls to win the United States Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Ricky Steamboat on August 24, 1994. Austin was scheduled to face Steamboat in a rematch for the title at Fall Brawl, but Steamboat was unable to wrestle due to a back injury, and Austin was awarded the title by forfeit. His second reign ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan in a match that lasted thirty-five seconds. Austin then challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX. On both occasions, Austin lost to Duggan by disqualification.. After returning from his knee injury in early 1995, he took part in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight title, where he defeated Duggan in the first round, but lost to Randy Savage in the quarterfinals.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)

In 1995, Steve Austin was fired by WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff, after suffering a triceps injury, while wrestling on a Japanese tour. Bischoff and WCW did not see Austin as a 'marketable' wrestler. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman, who had managed him in WCW. Heyman told Austin that since he had a TV show and Austin had a grievance, it would be a good opportunity to go on Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) television to air it. While in ECW, Austin used the platform to develop his future "Stone Cold" persona as well as a series of vignettes running down WCW in general and Bischoff in particular, referring to WCW's flagship program as "Monday NyQuil, where the big boys play with each other."

While with ECW, "Superstar" Steve Austin feuded with The Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck, who was the World Heavyweight Champion at the time, scored a win over Austin at November to Remember. The Sandman defeated Steve Austin and Whipwreck in a Triple Threat match at December to Dismember in 1995 for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1995–2009)

The Ringmaster (1995–1996)

In late 1995, Austin joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Initially, Austin used the moniker "The Ringmaster" and was managed by Ted DiBiase, who awarded him with The Million Dollar Championship. The Ringmaster defeated Savio Vega at WrestleMania XII. Also during this time, Austin shaved his head bald, a look he has maintained since. At In Your House: Beware of Dog, Austin lost a "Caribbean Strap Match" to Savio Vega. In accordance to the pre-match stipulations, DiBiase was forced to leave the WWF, giving Austin the opportunity to forge his own path. He later told announcer Dok Hendrix that he had purposely lost the match in order to rid himself of his manager.

Austin 3:16 and rise to superstardom (1996–1997)

Austin's genuine rise to superstardom began on June 23, 1996 in Milwaukee, where the 1996 King of the Ring pay-per-view took place. Austin began using his trademark finishing maneuver, the Stone Cold Stunner, and with this new technique he won the King of the Ring tournament, receiving the push originally intended for Triple H. After toppling Marc Mero in the semi-finals, Austin defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the final. At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian, so after the match, Austin cut a promo during his coronation, telling Roberts, "You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!". "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the most popular catch phrases in wrestling history.

Austin spoke about Bret Hart constantly and taunted him relentlessly on TV (one quote had Austin saying "If you put the letter 'S' in front of 'Hitman,' you have my exact opinion of Bret Hart"). Hart finally accepted Austin's challenge and returned to the WWF in October 1996. At Survivor Series, Hart pinned Austin in a match which helped create the foundations for the eventual intense year-long feud between the two. The match came hot on the heels of a highly controversial incident broadcast live on Raw, which saw Austin "break into" Brian Pillman's house, with Pillman holding a gun. During the 1997 Royal Rumble match, Austin was originally eliminated by Bret Hart, but the officials did not see it, and he sneaked back into the ring and eliminated Hart by throwing him over the ropes. This led to the first-ever pay-per-view main event of Austin's WWF career at In Your House 13: Final Four, which due to real-life events largely revolving around Shawn Michaels, the match was for the suddenly vacant WWF Championship. Austin was eliminated from the four-way match early after injuring his knee, but was involved in the finish which saw Hart win his fourth WWF Championship, which he lost the next night on Raw to Sycho Sid due to

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