WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.819 Today, the undisputed king of WWE merchandise 00:00:03.819 --> 00:00:07.900 sales pulls in an estimated $3 .6 million a year. 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:10.800 Which is just a massive number. Right. I mean, 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.859 he easily outsells the modern squeaky clean superstars. 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:16.640 He's beating guys like John Cena by nearly a 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:18.260 million bucks annually. And that's happening 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.280 right now. Exactly. But here is the crazy catch. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:24.780 He hasn't been an active full -time wrestler 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:28.679 in over two decades. Wow. Yeah. His entire billion 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:30.839 -dollar brand was built on a shattered spine, 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.020 humiliating firings and, you know, chugging cheap 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:36.679 beer on live television. So welcome back to the 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:38.880 Deep Dive. Glad to be here. Today we are looking 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.859 at a really comprehensive biographical source 00:00:41.859 --> 00:00:45.700 detailing the life, the career, and the absolute 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:48.500 sheer force of nature that is Stephen James Anderson. 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:50.659 Better known to the world, of course, as Stone 00:00:50.659 --> 00:00:52.579 Cold Steve Austin. That's the one. It's just 00:00:52.579 --> 00:00:55.439 a fascinating case study because it completely 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:57.780 upends how we think about creating a global icon. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.899 I mean, you don't build a cultural phenomenon 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:02.640 of this magnitude in some corporate boardroom. 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.609 Right, definitely not. It was forged in a really 00:01:05.609 --> 00:01:08.670 messy combination of career ending injuries, 00:01:09.209 --> 00:01:11.829 authentic frustration, and just this absolute 00:01:11.829 --> 00:01:14.750 refusal to play the political game. OK, let's 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:17.189 unpack this. Because the mission for our deep 00:01:17.189 --> 00:01:20.709 dive today is to decode the alchemy of how a 00:01:20.709 --> 00:01:24.510 fired, frustrated college football dropout completely 00:01:24.510 --> 00:01:28.109 transformed himself. Into the ultimate anti -establishment 00:01:28.109 --> 00:01:31.650 cultural icon of the 1990s. Exactly. We're going 00:01:31.650 --> 00:01:34.150 to explore the bizarre sort of serendipitous 00:01:34.150 --> 00:01:37.170 moments that created his persona, and we'll unpack 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:40.769 the very real physical and personal costs of 00:01:40.769 --> 00:01:42.930 carrying a billion dollar industry on a broken 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:45.299 neck. Which is a heavy toll for anyone to pay. 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:47.579 So long before the black boots and the black 00:01:47.579 --> 00:01:49.920 trunks and that iconic shattered glass entrance 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.260 music, he was just a Texas kid. He was playing 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:54.140 linebacker in defensive end at the University 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:56.680 of North Texas. Right. But he didn't quite make 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:59.019 it to graduation, did he? No, he drops out just 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:01.739 a few credits shy of graduating. Just a few credits. 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:04.879 That's so close. I know. But his reasoning, as 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.579 detailed in our source material, is so refreshingly 00:02:07.579 --> 00:02:10.080 blunt. He admitted he simply didn't have the 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:12.030 talent for the professional level. Yeah, he looked 00:02:12.030 --> 00:02:14.409 at the guys moving up and realized he was just 00:02:14.409 --> 00:02:17.710 outmatched. You know, that requires a remarkable 00:02:17.710 --> 00:02:20.710 level of self -awareness early in life. He understood 00:02:20.710 --> 00:02:22.889 his physical ceiling in traditional athletics. 00:02:23.169 --> 00:02:27.389 Yeah, he really did. So in 1986, he pivots to 00:02:27.389 --> 00:02:29.590 professional wrestling, training under Chris 00:02:29.590 --> 00:02:33.229 Adams down in Dallas. And what's Crucial to understand 00:02:33.229 --> 00:02:35.969 about this early phase is that he was a real 00:02:35.969 --> 00:02:38.229 student of the mechanics. He learned the technical 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:41.210 art of grappling perfectly, like he was fundamentally 00:02:41.210 --> 00:02:44.930 sound. Absolutely. So he heads to World Championship 00:02:44.930 --> 00:02:49.789 Wrestling, WCW, in 1991, and he adopts this persona, 00:02:50.409 --> 00:02:52.969 stunning Steve Austin. Right. Stunning moniker. 00:02:53.050 --> 00:02:54.849 Yeah, he's got this long blonde hair, he wears 00:02:54.849 --> 00:02:57.370 flashy robes, and he's playing a villainous technical 00:02:57.370 --> 00:03:00.860 wrestler. And he actually finds decent mid -level 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:03.020 success. He had a pretty good run there. He wins 00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:05.159 the television championship, the US championship, 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:07.780 and puts together this fantastic tag team run 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:10.379 with Brian Pillman. They were the Hollywood Blondes. 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:12.219 Oh, right. The Hollywood Blondes were great. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:14.360 So he is basically doing everything by the book, 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:16.620 you know. But playing by the book in the wrestling 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:19.719 industry in the early 1990s meant you were entirely 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.860 at the mercy of the executives. Right. The executives 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:27.099 decided what a star looked like. And, well, they 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:29.020 didn't think he looked like a star. Which brings 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:31.379 us to the heartbreak and, honestly, the firing. 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:36.280 In 1995, Austin is sidelined. A pretty bad injury 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.360 risk. Very bad. He's rehabilitating a legitimately 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.180 torn triceps that he suffered while wrestling 00:03:42.180 --> 00:03:45.360 on a tour in Japan. Oh, wow. So while he is sitting 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.360 at home injured and completely unable to work, 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:52.379 WCW president Eric Bischoff fires him. Over the 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:54.830 phone, no less. Over the phone. Bischoff simply 00:03:54.830 --> 00:03:57.009 didn't see him as marketable and thought he was 00:03:57.009 --> 00:03:59.050 difficult to manage. What's fascinating here 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:01.270 is that the psychological mechanism of that rejection 00:04:01.270 --> 00:04:04.009 is the true catalyst for the entire stone -cold 00:04:04.009 --> 00:04:05.870 phenomenon. What do you mean? Well, think about 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:09.009 it. If Austin had stayed in WCW, making a comfortable 00:04:09.009 --> 00:04:11.050 living as a mid -card technical wrestler, he 00:04:11.050 --> 00:04:13.210 might have stayed complacent for his entire career. 00:04:13.289 --> 00:04:16.370 Just cruising along. Exactly. Getting fired while 00:04:16.370 --> 00:04:19.029 severely injured and being told point blank that 00:04:19.029 --> 00:04:21.910 you lack market value, it just stripped away 00:04:21.910 --> 00:04:24.209 that complacency overnight. It really makes me 00:04:24.209 --> 00:04:28.629 think of like an incredibly skilled corporate 00:04:28.629 --> 00:04:30.509 employee. You know the type. Oh, sure. They play 00:04:30.509 --> 00:04:32.250 by all the rules. They learn the mechanics of 00:04:32.250 --> 00:04:34.329 their job perfectly, hit all their metrics, wear 00:04:34.329 --> 00:04:36.430 the right suits, and then management lays them 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:38.370 off anyway because they just don't see their 00:04:38.370 --> 00:04:40.910 quote unquote brand value. Right. And the employee 00:04:40.910 --> 00:04:43.750 realizes the rules were basically a lie. Exactly. 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:45.759 And when you realize the rules don't protect 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:48.379 you, you stop following them. The firing proved 00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:51.459 that being a fundamentally sound, reliable worker 00:04:51.459 --> 00:04:54.240 just wasn't enough. He had to become something 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:57.399 completely undeniable. So the sting of that WCW 00:04:57.399 --> 00:05:00.819 firing leads into a very strange, low paying 00:05:00.819 --> 00:05:03.600 pit stop. One that honestly changes the trajectory 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.839 of pop culture. The ECW days. Yeah. Paul Heyman, 00:05:06.939 --> 00:05:10.199 who knew Austin from WCW, brings him into extreme 00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:14.600 championship wrestling ECW in late 1995. And 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.180 he wasn't making much money there. No, Hyman 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:21.279 pays him just $500 a night. But Austin is still 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:23.660 too injured from the torn triceps to actually 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:25.819 wrestle. So what does he do? Hyman just hands 00:05:25.819 --> 00:05:27.939 him a microphone and tells him to cut promos. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:30.860 Literally, to sit in a dark room and talk. It 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:33.660 is a master class in limitation breeding innovation. 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:36.420 Because he couldn't use his body to get a reaction 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:38.579 from the crowd, he was forced to find his voice. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.740 Those ECW promos were essentially raw therapy. 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:43.959 Yeah, you can feel the real anger. He wasn't 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:46.339 playing a character anymore. He was a legitimately 00:05:46.339 --> 00:05:50.000 angry man venting his authentic frustration about 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.180 WCW, about Eric Bischoff, and about an industry 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:55.500 that had basically discarded him. So here is 00:05:55.500 --> 00:05:58.060 my working theory, though. He moves to the World 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:00.569 Wrestling Federation, the WWF. at the end of 00:06:00.569 --> 00:06:04.689 1995. Right. And you would think the WWF saw 00:06:04.689 --> 00:06:08.170 those fiery ECW promos and immediately hired 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:10.629 a team of writers to carefully craft the stone 00:06:10.629 --> 00:06:13.670 -cold anti -hero persona, right, like to capitalize 00:06:13.670 --> 00:06:16.589 on the 90s grunge movement. That is a very logical 00:06:16.589 --> 00:06:19.370 assumption, but the reality is entirely the opposite. 00:06:19.569 --> 00:06:21.629 The WWF completely missed the point at first. 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:24.899 Oh, completely. When he arrived, they saddled 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:28.160 him with a terrible gimmick called the Ringmaster. 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:31.759 The Ringmas. Yeah. They paired him with Ted Dibbius, 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:34.500 handed him the million dollar championship, and 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:36.699 he was completely underwhelming. He was just 00:06:36.699 --> 00:06:39.399 another guy in green trunks doing arm bars. Wow. 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:42.339 That is a huge disconnect, which I guess forces 00:06:42.339 --> 00:06:44.779 Austin to take matters into his own hands. He 00:06:44.779 --> 00:06:47.480 had no choice. Right. He realizes the Ringmaster 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:50.819 gimmick is a total dead end. And this is where 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:54.339 a bizarre Our series of seemingly unrelated aha 00:06:54.339 --> 00:06:57.620 moments birthed Stone Cold. The aesthetic changes 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:00.500 first. Yes. First, his blonde hair is starting 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:02.639 to thin. So he's sitting around watching Bruce 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.939 Willis in the movie Pulp Fiction. Great movie. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.459 He looks at Willis' severe buzz cut and just 00:07:08.459 --> 00:07:11.129 decides to shave his head completely bald. The 00:07:11.129 --> 00:07:14.089 visual shift there is profound. I mean, by stripping 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:16.370 away the flashy blonde hair and the shiny robes, 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:19.910 he erased the aesthetic of a traditional performer. 00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:21.750 Right, he stopped looking like a showman. He 00:07:21.750 --> 00:07:23.389 suddenly looked like a guy you would cross the 00:07:23.389 --> 00:07:25.129 street to avoid. He looked like a legitimate 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:30.009 bar fighter. Then he needs a new name. The WWF 00:07:30.009 --> 00:07:33.889 pitched absolute garbage names. Our source mentions 00:07:33.889 --> 00:07:37.860 they pitch things like Sang McFrost and... Otto 00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:40.639 von Ruthless. Otto von Ruthless. That's terrible. 00:07:40.819 --> 00:07:43.420 Hilariously bad. But he's sitting at home, and 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:45.819 his English wife at the time, Jeannie, makes 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:47.980 him a cup of tea. She tells him he better drink 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.199 it before it gets stone cold. And that phrase 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:52.620 just clicks. It totally clicks. Next comes the 00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:55.620 psychological heir. He watches an HBO documentary 00:07:55.620 --> 00:07:58.519 on a real -life mafia hitman, Richard the Iceman 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:00.720 Kuklinski. Oh, I've heard of him. Terrifying 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.139 guy. Exactly. Kuklinski spoke about horrifying 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:07.860 acts of violence with this chilling, emotionless, 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.019 deadpan delivery. And Austin started channeling 00:08:11.019 --> 00:08:13.120 that exact chilling demeanor. So less shouting, 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:15.540 more menacing. Right. He stopped yelling in his 00:08:15.540 --> 00:08:17.879 promos and started speaking in a cold, measured, 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:20.160 terrifying cadence. But you know, all of these 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.879 pieces, the bald head, the name, the cold demeanor, 00:08:23.379 --> 00:08:25.600 they still needed a spark to catch fire. And 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:28.279 that spark comes at the 1996 King of the Ring 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.139 tournament. Exactly. And the crazy thing is, 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:33.019 Austin wasn't even supposed to win that tournament. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:36.360 Backstage politics at play. Yep. The original 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:39.440 corporate plan was for Triple H to win. But Triple 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:41.580 H was being punished by management for breaking 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:44.340 character during a notorious backstage incident 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:47.159 at Madison Square Garden. So the WWF calls an 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.899 audible. Right. They pivot, and Austin wins the 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:52.559 tournament instead. A completely accidental opportunity. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.679 Born entirely out of backstage politics. So he 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:57.759 defeats Jake the Snake Roberts in the finals. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:00.379 Now, Jake Roberts was portraying a born -again 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:02.539 Christian character at the time. Right. Austin 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:04.539 grabs the microphone for his coronation speech. 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:07.340 It isn't scripted by a team of writers. He looks 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:10.100 at Roberts and ad -libs this legendary line. 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:12.539 You sit there and you thump your Bible and you 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:14.299 say your prayers and it didn't get you anywhere. 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:17.139 Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3 .16, 00:09:17.419 --> 00:09:20.159 Austin 3 .16 says, I just whipped your ass. And 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:23.379 with that unscripted profane mockery of moral 00:09:23.379 --> 00:09:26.279 superiority, the modern anti -hero was born. 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:28.379 Here's where it gets really interesting though. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:31.919 How much of pop culture history is just a series 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:34.779 of happy accidents combined with a performer 00:09:34.779 --> 00:09:36.700 finally being allowed to speak from the gut? 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:39.539 So much of it. You really have to place this 00:09:39.539 --> 00:09:42.480 in the cultural context of the mid 1990s. Right. 00:09:42.899 --> 00:09:45.379 The audience was exhausted. They were tired of 00:09:45.379 --> 00:09:48.320 the colorful, squeaky clean, say your prayers 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:51.120 and eat your vitamins heroes of the 1980s. The 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:54.120 Hulk Hogan era type stuff. Exactly. When Austin 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:57.460 spoke, he articulated a raw, cynical frustration 00:09:57.460 --> 00:09:59.940 that deeply resonated with the blue collar audience. 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:02.919 He didn't care about being a role model. He just 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:05.610 cared about survival. defiance, and doing whatever 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:08.350 it took to win. Exactly. So he has the anti -hero 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:11.509 voice, but an anti -hero is completely useless 00:10:11.509 --> 00:10:14.070 without an establishment to rebel against. Right, 00:10:14.090 --> 00:10:16.950 true. And ironically, his ascent to the absolute 00:10:16.950 --> 00:10:20.509 peak of the industry was simultaneously derailed 00:10:20.509 --> 00:10:24.049 and defined by physical trauma. Let's look at 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:26.409 WrestleMania 13, the submission match against 00:10:26.409 --> 00:10:29.470 Bret Hart. Oh, man. It's an absolute masterpiece 00:10:29.470 --> 00:10:31.909 of in -ring storytelling. It really is. Austin 00:10:31.909 --> 00:10:33.769 goes into the match as the villain. and Hart 00:10:33.769 --> 00:10:36.649 is the squeaky clean hero. But during the climax, 00:10:37.009 --> 00:10:38.990 Austin is trapped in Hart's signature submission 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:41.330 hold, the sharpshooter. And Austin has been cut 00:10:41.330 --> 00:10:44.669 open earlier in the match. Yes. Blood is literally 00:10:44.669 --> 00:10:47.350 straining down his face, pooling on the canvas. 00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:51.860 But he refuses to tap out. He refuses to submit. 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:54.440 He just screams in agony, pushing up off the 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:56.779 mat. Until he literally passes out from blood 00:10:56.779 --> 00:10:59.620 loss, and the referee stops the match. And in 00:10:59.620 --> 00:11:03.159 that moment, the crowd watches this horrifying 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:06.600 display of defiance, and they execute a flawless 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:08.960 double turn. Meaning they flip their loyalties. 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:11.940 Organically, they decide to cheer for the bloody, 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:14.639 defiant villain, and turn against the hero who 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:16.950 wouldn't let go of the hold. That's incredible. 00:11:17.110 --> 00:11:19.450 They realize that resilience is universally respected. 00:11:19.590 --> 00:11:22.009 Passing out rather than giving up cemented his 00:11:22.009 --> 00:11:24.610 authenticity. He wasn't just talking tough. He 00:11:24.610 --> 00:11:27.309 was willing to suffer. But the real trauma, the 00:11:27.309 --> 00:11:29.570 injury that alters the course of his entire life, 00:11:29.909 --> 00:11:32.629 comes just a few months later at SummerSlam 1997. 00:11:32.789 --> 00:11:35.090 The pile driver? Yeah. He's wrestling Owen Hart. 00:11:35.549 --> 00:11:37.850 Owen goes for a sit -out pile driver, dropping 00:11:37.850 --> 00:11:41.110 Austin on his head. But the execution is botched. 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:43.570 Austin's head is too low. And the immense impact 00:11:43.570 --> 00:11:46.899 legitimately bruises his spinal cord. He is temporarily 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:50.120 paralyzed in the middle of the ring. He somehow 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.240 manages to regain just enough feeling in his 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.820 fingers to roll Owen up for a really weak pinfall 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:58.960 to end the match. But the damage is catastrophic. 00:11:59.179 --> 00:12:01.919 It is a turning point that simply cannot be overstated. 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:04.899 His career was effectively over as he was becoming 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:07.159 the biggest draw in the business. Right. He had 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:09.340 to relinquish his championship titles and undergo 00:12:09.340 --> 00:12:13.059 intense physical rehabilitation. But the WWF 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:14.960 realizes they can't take him off television. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.759 He's too hot. So they keep him on screen while 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:21.120 he's injured, which sparks his legendary generation 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.879 defining feud with the company's owner, Vince 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:26.519 McMahon. McMahon plays the perfect corporate 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:29.159 villain. McMahon tells Austin he isn't medically 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:32.179 cleared to compete. So Austin hits his billionaire 00:12:32.179 --> 00:12:34.919 boss with his finishing move, the Stone Cold 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.460 Stunner. It was the ultimate proxy war for the 00:12:37.460 --> 00:12:40.519 American worker. Exactly. I mean, who hasn't 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.120 had a terrible soul -crushing day at work and 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.299 fantasized about driving a beer truck into the 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:47.460 corporate office, spraying down the management 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:50.019 team and stunning your boss? Most people, probably. 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:52.899 Austin drove a Zamboni to the ring. He pulled 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:55.240 a toy gun on McMahon and made him wet his pants. 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:58.500 It was absolute appointment television. But if 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:00.679 we examine the mechanics of his wrestling during 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:04.320 this massive boom period, there is a brilliant 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.409 irony at play. What's that? The broken neck forced 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:09.730 Austin to completely change his wrestling style. 00:13:10.250 --> 00:13:13.129 He could no longer be the slick, technical grappler 00:13:13.129 --> 00:13:16.110 he was in WCW. He couldn't take big falls on 00:13:16.110 --> 00:13:19.090 his upper back. It's like a virtuoso guitar player 00:13:19.090 --> 00:13:21.509 who severely injures their fretting hand. Oh, 00:13:21.509 --> 00:13:23.529 I like that comparison. Right. Like they can't 00:13:23.529 --> 00:13:26.509 play the complex lightning fast arpeggios anymore. 00:13:26.769 --> 00:13:29.570 So they are forced to invent a gritty, simpler, 00:13:29.750 --> 00:13:32.330 but ultimately more emotionally resonant chord 00:13:32.330 --> 00:13:35.190 style like a Django Reinhardt. That is a perfect 00:13:35.190 --> 00:13:37.629 analogy. The physical limitation perfected the 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:39.409 character. He had to become a brawler. A guy 00:13:39.409 --> 00:13:42.049 who just stomped mud holes in the corner through 00:13:42.049 --> 00:13:44.789 wild looping right hands. Relying on sheer kinetic 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:47.750 aggression. That brawling style fit the stone 00:13:47.750 --> 00:13:49.870 -cold persona infinitely better than technical 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.169 wrestling ever would have. It looked chaotic, 00:13:52.649 --> 00:13:55.049 violent and unpolished. It's staggering to think 00:13:55.049 --> 00:13:57.750 about the numbers he generated while physically 00:13:57.750 --> 00:14:01.200 compromised. I mean the highest rated segment 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.539 in the history of Monday Night Raw, a 9 .5 rating 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:07.080 in 1999 when he wrestled The Undertaker. Massive 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:09.600 numbers. And the first WrestleMania to ever hit 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.159 1 million pay -per -view buys, WrestleMania X7. 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.720 All that was built on the back of a man wrestling 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.399 on borrowed time, literally carrying a billion 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.639 dollar company on a fused neck. And carrying 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:22.879 that kind of load, living at that frequency, 00:14:23.460 --> 00:14:25.620 it eventually causes the pressure cooker to explode. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:28.220 It's inevitable. The line between the rebellious, 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:30.600 beer drinking, fiercely independent character 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:34.059 and the exhausted man struggling behind the scenes 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:36.940 begins to blur entirely. We really see this culminate 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:40.539 in 2002. Yes. Let's talk about the walkout. Austin 00:14:40.539 --> 00:14:43.139 is physically exhausted and creatively frustrated. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.259 The WWE wants him to wrestle a rookie named Brock 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:49.299 Lesnar on free television with zero storyline 00:14:49.299 --> 00:14:51.759 buildup. And they want Austin to lose. Exactly. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.559 And Austin flat out refuses. He felt giving away 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:56.899 a massive match without proper promotion was 00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.399 terrible for business and devalued his brand. 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.080 So he walks out. He boards a plane and flies 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:06.399 home. Vince McMahon publicly buries him on television, 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.360 claiming he took his ball and went home and finds 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:12.809 him $250 ,000. If we connect this to the bigger 00:15:12.809 --> 00:15:15.809 picture, the corporate burnout was total. When 00:15:15.809 --> 00:15:17.909 you train a performer to be fiercely independent, 00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:20.490 paranoid, and defiant for the cameras, you shouldn't 00:15:20.490 --> 00:15:22.769 be surprised when they exhibit those exact same 00:15:22.769 --> 00:15:25.110 traits behind the curtain. Right. Especially 00:15:25.110 --> 00:15:27.629 when they feel backed into a corner. And, you 00:15:27.629 --> 00:15:30.360 know, we have to look at... 2002 objectively 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.100 here, because the pressure cooker boiled over 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:35.200 into his personal life as well. Yes, it did. 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:37.559 And just a quick note to you listening, we must 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:40.759 explicitly state that we are strictly relaying 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:43.100 the historical facts documented in our source 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:45.779 material here. We aren't taking sides or endorsing 00:15:45.779 --> 00:15:48.259 any behavior, just objectively looking at the 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:50.200 record. Exactly. Just sticking to the documented 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:52.940 facts. Right. So the source material documents 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:55.659 a very serious incident that occurred during 00:15:55.659 --> 00:15:59.539 this time of intense absence from the ring. In 00:15:59.539 --> 00:16:02.220 June of 2002, police were called to Austin's 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:04.960 home by his then -wife, wrestling manager Dibra 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:07.659 Marshall. And she told officers that Austin had 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:10.399 hit her and stormed out before the police arrived. 00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:13.259 An arrest warrant was issued by the Bexar County 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:16.379 District Attorney's Office in August. Austin 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:18.440 turned himself in, where he was charged with 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:21.240 domestic abuse. In November of that year, the 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:23.820 legal proceedings concluded when Austin pleaded 00:16:23.820 --> 00:16:26.580 no contest to the charge. Right. He was given 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:30.399 a year's probation, a $1 ,000 fine, and was ordered 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:33.259 to carry out 80 hours of community service. And 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:35.299 the source also notes his response later on. 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:39.039 Yes. In a 2003 interview with WWE Raw Magazine, 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:42.440 Austin responded to the incident. According to 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:44.440 the source, he expressed his regret over the 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:46.360 relationship breaking down and stated his love 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.940 for Marshall. But he ridiculed allegations that 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:51.080 the incident was alcohol related, firmly denying 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.139 that he was an alcoholic. The couple filed for 00:16:53.139 --> 00:16:56.220 divorce, which was finalized in early 2003. It 00:16:56.220 --> 00:16:58.679 was a profoundly turbulent year that highlighted 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:01.200 the real world unraveling of his intense burnout 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.980 and physical strain. The man who lived at 100 00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:06.180 miles per hour, constantly blurring the lines 00:17:06.180 --> 00:17:08.519 of reality and entertainment, had really hit 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:11.140 a wall. And the physical bill finally came due. 00:17:11.289 --> 00:17:14.549 He does return to the WWE briefly to resolve 00:17:14.549 --> 00:17:17.930 his backstage issues with McMahon, but his body 00:17:17.930 --> 00:17:21.130 forces him to stop. At WrestleMania 19 in 2003, 00:17:21.490 --> 00:17:24.259 he wrestles the Rock. And that is the end. He 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:27.220 retires from full -time competition. The terrifying 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:29.180 reality is that the night before that match, 00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:31.980 he was rushed to the hospital with a racing heart 00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:34.559 and severe twitchiness. His nervous system was 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:37.000 just completely overloaded. Transitioning out 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:39.440 of that adrenaline -fueled life is incredibly 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:41.799 difficult for most performers. But the post -ring 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:44.440 renaissance of Steve Austin is just as compelling 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:47.720 as his rise to stardom. He managed to successfully 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:50.740 pivot his specific attitude into entirely new 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:53.299 industries. He builds an incredibly eclectic 00:17:53.349 --> 00:17:56.670 and act. He gets into acting, starring in action 00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:58.630 movies like The Condemned and The Expendables. 00:17:58.910 --> 00:18:01.190 He hosts reality television, bringing his tough 00:18:01.190 --> 00:18:03.329 love persona to shows like Redneck Island and 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:05.170 Steve Austin's Brook and Skull Challenge. He 00:18:05.170 --> 00:18:07.650 becomes a pioneer in the podcasting space, launching 00:18:07.650 --> 00:18:10.410 highly successful audio shows long before every 00:18:10.410 --> 00:18:12.470 celebrity had a microphone. And he even pivots 00:18:12.470 --> 00:18:15.599 into the craft beer industry. Yeah. Collaborating 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:17.759 with El Segundo Brewing to create the Broken 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:21.160 Skull IPA and American Lager, which sells over 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:24.039 5 ,000 barrels annually. He's even racing UTVs 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:26.339 in the desert now in his 60s, winning championships 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.859 in off -road racing. He refuses to slow down. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:32.220 He just changes the vehicle. He even made a triumphant 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:35.200 one -off return to the ring in 2022 at WrestleMania 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:37.940 38 in his home state of Texas. He fought Kevin 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:40.480 Owens in a no -holds -barred match, looked absolutely 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.160 fantastic, and hit a stunner on Vince McMahon. 00:18:43.369 --> 00:18:46.049 last time for old times sake. But this brings 00:18:46.049 --> 00:18:48.690 us back to that staggering statistic from the 00:18:48.690 --> 00:18:50.869 beginning of our deep dive. The merchandise number. 00:18:51.049 --> 00:18:54.230 Yes. So what does this all mean after officially 00:18:54.230 --> 00:18:57.920 retiring in 2003? Stone Cold Steve Austin remains 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:01.299 WWE's best merchandise seller today. How does 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:04.480 a guy who hung up his boots two decades ago still 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.220 outsell the modern active heroes? Because the 00:19:07.220 --> 00:19:09.460 appeal of Stone Cold transcends the mechanics 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:11.559 of professional wrestling. He didn't just play 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.079 a character, he bottled an enduring attitude. 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:17.359 The desire to take back control when you feel 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.960 powerless, the urge to stand up to a corrupt 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:23.640 boss, the raw catharsis of unapologetic defiance. 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:27.380 Those are universal human fantasies. He represents 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:30.240 the id of the American worker. And he also left 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.599 behind a deeply embedded, highly interactive 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.839 legacy that keeps his ghost present at every 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:39.519 single live event across the globe to this day. 00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:43.779 Ah, the what chant. Yes. In August 2001, Austin 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:45.900 started interrupting other wrestlers' promos 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:49.970 by just deadpan asking what. after every single 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:52.069 sentence they spoke. Our sources note he started 00:19:52.069 --> 00:19:54.390 it as an offhand joke. Does the vocal tick to 00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:56.549 annoy people during segments? But it accidentally 00:19:56.549 --> 00:19:58.529 changed the interactive nature of live wrestling 00:19:58.529 --> 00:20:01.329 forever. Audiences immediately adopted it to 00:20:01.329 --> 00:20:03.549 hijack boring interviews. And 25 years later, 00:20:03.549 --> 00:20:06.109 they have never stopped. It is permanently woven 00:20:06.109 --> 00:20:08.210 into the fabric of the industry. Wrapping this 00:20:08.210 --> 00:20:10.849 up, we set out to understand the alchemy of this 00:20:10.849 --> 00:20:13.150 anti -establishment icon. And it's quite the 00:20:13.150 --> 00:20:16.329 journey. It really is. The journey from a rejected, 00:20:16.829 --> 00:20:19.940 technically sound foot— ball dropout to a bald 00:20:19.940 --> 00:20:22.700 foul -mouthed cultural phenomenon proves something 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:25.859 vital. What's that? Sometimes our biggest setbacks, 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:28.940 the humiliating firings, the catastrophic injuries, 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:32.019 the forced physical limitations, they're the 00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:34.640 exact crucible needed to forge our true identity. 00:20:34.819 --> 00:20:37.700 You throw out the meticulously engineered corporate 00:20:37.700 --> 00:20:40.240 blueprint and you just mix the broken pieces 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.779 together. When you strip away the polish you 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:45.680 find the core. Very well said. Which brings me 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.779 to a final thought for you to mull over today, 00:20:48.339 --> 00:20:50.799 taking inspiration from that famous what chant. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:54.000 Austin started that as a throwaway joke to entertain 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.660 himself, and now it will likely outlive him in 00:20:57.660 --> 00:20:59.779 arenas around the world. It really makes you 00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:02.859 wonder. It does. What offhand remark, what small 00:21:02.859 --> 00:21:05.720 daily habit, or what accidental joke are you 00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:08.240 doing today that might completely outlive you 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.690 and become your most persistent legacy? It raises 00:21:10.690 --> 00:21:12.829 a fascinating question about the unpredictable 00:21:12.829 --> 00:21:15.250 nature of the ripples we leave behind. It really 00:21:15.250 --> 00:21:17.789 does. Thank you for joining us on this deep dive 00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:19.549 into the source material. It's been a pleasure. 00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:22.890 Until next time, keep exploring and stay curious.