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He eventually signed on with World Championship Wrestling, making a major name for himself as a member (with Brian Pillman) of the Hollywood Blonds, a heel tag team that became one of the most famous teams of the early 1990s. However, WCW management, especially Eric Bischoff, did not think highly of his potential. First, the Hollywood Blonds were broken up at the height of their career as a team; later, Austin was arguably held back from a place in WCW's upper level of singles wrestlers. Eventually, Bischoff fired Austin over the phone while Austin was recovering from an injury. Austin felt offended that Bischoff did not notify him in person, since WCW's Atlanta headquarters were a short drive from where he was staying.

After leaving WCW, he briefly went to Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he began to develop the Stone Cold gimmick that would make him famous. In late 1995, Austin joined the then-WWF, but was given a gimmick that made it difficult for him to catch on with fans. Not liking his ring name of "The Ringmaster", Austin asked WWF writers to come up with a new name for his character that would suggest a cold-hearted persona; according to legend, the writers suggested "Chilly McFreeze". Austin then came up with the name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, reportedly after his then-wife Jeannie advised him to drink his tea before it became "stone cold".

His rise to superstardom began in 1996, when he was booked to win the WWF's King of the Ring "tournament". In the final match, he defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who was then incorporating a Christian message in his gimmick. After the match, he cut a promo (made a promotional interview) which he finished by saying, "Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!" Austin 3:16 instantly became one of the most popular catchphrasesA catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. They are especially common among TV and cartoon characters. Today, catch phrases are frequently seen as an important part in wrestling history.

Interestingly, he was not originally intended to win the tournament; the WWF originally booked Hunter Hearst HelmsleyJean-Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969 in Nashua, New Hampshire) is an American professional wrestler, best known for performing under the name Hunter Hearst Helmsley or Triple H . He is a nine-time World Champion and the current World Heavyweight (now Triple H) to win. However, the WWF changed its plans a few weeks before the pay-per-view because of the MSG Incident (for more details, see Clique).

The following year, he began an in-ring feud with WWF owner Vince McMahonVincent Kennedy McMahon (born August 24, 1945) is a professional wrestling promoter. He was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina and attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia, where he became the first cadet in the school's history to be cou that helped lead to the WWF's final victory over WCW in their war for the pro wrestling marketplace and catapulted Austin to mainstream recognition arguably matched only by Hulk HoganHulk Hogan (born August 11 1953) is an American professional wrestler. Born Terry Gene Bollea in Augusta, Georgia, he began wrestling professionally for the first time in 1978, using various names. Around 1980 he joined the World Wrestling Federation call in the mid-1980s. In fact, at the peak of Austin's popularity, the WWF's sales of Hogan-branded merchandise during Hogan's mid-1980s prime were dwarfed by its sales of Austin merchandise. Austin was even cast in recurring roles on two TV series: MTVMTV is a cable television network, originally devoted to music videos, especially popular rock music. MTV later became an outlet for a variety of different material aimed at adolescents and young adults. Since 1985, MTV has been owned by Viacom. Its name's animated Celebrity DeathmatchCelebrity Deathmatch was a claymation parody television show spoofing professional wrestling that pitted celebrities against each other in the ring, always ending of the death of the celebrity who lost the match. It aired on MTV from May 14, 1998 to Octob, and CBSCBS Columbia Broadcasting System is a major radio and television network in the United States. CBS was one of the three commercial television networks that dominated broadcasting in the United States before the rise of cable television. In the days of rad' Nash Bridges. However, his body began to wear out in the late 1990s. In 1997 he suffered a near-paralyzing neck injury as a result of a botched piledriver by Owen Hart; the lingering effects of that incident, plus years of wear and tear, forced him to undergo spinal fusion surgery in 1999. Austin would not wrestle for a year after the surgery.

He came back to wrestle successfully in 2000, coining another popular catchphrase, "What?" However, Austin walked out on WWE in 2002. He later admitted that he has never fully recovered from his injuries, especially the neck injury, and that he was frustrated with the booking of his character. Several months later, he returned to the WWE, mainly in a non-wrestling role.

In recent WWE storylines, he was a co-general manager for WWE RAW, alongside his old WCW nemesis Eric Bischoff. (Outside the ring, the two have largely settled their differences.) In earlier angles, Austin also had a stint as CEO of WWE. On November 16, 2003, Austin was "fired" as co-GM of RAW as the result of a stipulation in a match at WWE's Survivor Series pay-per-view. He sat out for several weeks to "sell" the angle, but returned to WWE television before the end of 2003, when he was part of a WWE Christmas special taped in front of U.S. troops in Iraq. On December 29, 2003, he returned to regular WWE television as the "RAW Sheriff".

On April 17, 2004, the WWE put out a press release on their website claiming that Steve Austin and the WWE were unable to settle contract disputes and parted ways. It is unclear where Austin's career will go from here. Reportedly, the contract dispute was about WWE's control of Austin's non-WWE projects. Another issue that may have influenced WWE in its decision is Austin's recent history of domestic violence incidents. In November 2002, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge [1] after striking his then-wife during an argument. [2] Police in San Antonio, Texas are currently investigating charges that he threw his current girlfriend to the ground during a domestic dispute on March 24, 2004.

Austin can no longer use "Stone Cold" to promote himself as that name is trademarked by the WWE and has had to correct many in interviews to ensure they do not refer to him by that moniker.

Ironically, three of the WWE's biggest stars, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg, who were all in the same match at Wrestlemania XX (Austin being Special Referee) left the company shortly thereafter. Their depature was a major blow to the WWE.

1. The title was later recognized as the WCW World Tag Team Title.
2. The title was awarded to Austin when injured Steamboat was unable to defend it.
3. Austin vacates the title due to a neck injury.
4. The title was declared vacant when WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter suspends Steve Austin.
5. Austin forfeits the title and gives it to Rocky Maivia.
6. In a three way match against The Undertaker and Kane, both pinned him simultaneously, so the title was declared vacant.
7. In a triangle match against Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hunter Hearst Helmsley.