Michael McAvennie - Austin 3: 16: 316 Facts and Stories about Stone Cold Steve Austin

I want everybody out there in TV Land to touch your screens and feel what its like to be destined for success. Feel what its like to be born a champion, man!

I didnt come out here just to run my mouth, Brother Love. Im here to prove every single thing I say. Me and The Million Dollar Man talked. Im in the Royal Rumble, man. Im gonna prove how good The Ringmaster is. After I toss every single one of the [WWE] Superstars over that rope right there, man, Ill be the one gettin the shot at the [WWE] Championship. It doesnt mean anything compared to the Million Dollar belt, of course. But in WrestleMania, man, Im gonna do it all, and youre gonna see what The Million Dollar Man and the Million Dollar Champ are gonna accomplish!

Introduced by Ted DiBiase as his Million Dollar Champion, Steve Austin makes his WWE debut as The Ringmaster on The Brother Love Show (Raw, January 8, 1996)

After multiple failed attempts to find a suitable ring name for his new, edgy, cold-blooded persona, Steve Austin vented his frustrations to then-wife Jeanie Clarke while she made him some tea in their kitchen. Clarke, a Brentwood, England, native who drank tea all the time, tried reassuring Austin, telling him, Dont worry about it. Just go ahead and drink your tea before it gets stone cold.

Clarke and Austin instantly realized they had the perfect ring name. After running it past WWE for executive approval and legal clearance, Stone Cold Steve Austin was born.

To this day, Steve Austin is the only WWE Superstar to win the Royal Rumble Match three times. Stone Cold was the last remaining entrant in the 30-man, over-the-top-rope contest in 1997, 1998, and 2001. In 1999, he nearly won his third consecutive Rumble Match.

The magnitude of Austins accomplishment is significant when you consider the fact that only six Superstars have won two Royal Rumble Matches: Hulk Hogan (199091), Shawn Michaels (199596), Triple H (2002, 2016), Batista (2005, 2014), John Cena (2008, 2013), and Randy Orton (2009, 2017).

Steve Williams grew up a fan of sports entertainment, but his fascination with the industry magnified after transferring from Wharton County Junior College to the University of North Texas in Denton. Since it was only a 35-mile drive to Dallas, he and his college buddies would drive to the famed Dallas Sportatorium, home of World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). There, theyd watch the ring action Friday nights and Saturday mornings, the latter being the day for WCCW TV tapings.

It was also during his days at UNT that Williams became more familiar with other televised promotions, including Power Pro Wrestling and Mid-South Wrestling, which featured an announcer with whom Stone Cold would later develop a lifelong friendship Jim Ross.

Though the age of Austin 3:16 was really picking up steam in 1997, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon once asked if Stone Cold could do a different gesture instead of flipping people off with his middle fingers, to alleviate complaints made by WWE business partners.

I said, No, theres not, Austin recollected at a media junket in 2016. I told Vince I was not going to change sh*t.

The Texas Rattlesnake explained that years of struggling to make a mark in sports entertainment, plus being unceremoniously dismissed by WCW management, had made him frustrated and angry. Id be damned if anybody was going to take anything from me, he said. Im going to run over you and were going to the top. Or