Steve Austin gesture might have been banned in rival company, WWE legend thinks
Steve Austin is widely regarded as one of the greatest WWE Superstars ever. Eric Bischoff, Austin's former boss in WCW, recently explained why WCW television executives would have raised concerns about the legendary wrestler's WWE gimmick.
In 1996, Austin reinvented himself as Stone Cold after initially performing in WWE as a wrestling technician character called The Ringmaster. His anti-authority persona often drank beer and flipped his middle finger at then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and other wrestlers.
On his 83 Weeks podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Bischoff said the Stone Cold character's antics might not have been allowed had he stayed in WCW:
"The one issue he would have had, I think we could have gotten away with beer, I'm pretty sure of that, but flipping people off? That would have not flown at Turner [WCW television station]. I would have had an issue with that one. You could argue that I may have won, but I would have had to have many conversations about that." [1:25:58 – 1:26:20]
Before joining WWE, Austin wrestled for WCW for four years. Bischoff fired the former WCW World Television Champion in 1995 due to his injury record and attitude problems.
Eric Bischoff assesses whether WCW would have banned Steve Austin's catchphrase
In 1996, Steve Austin said "Austin 3:16" for the first time after beating Jake Roberts at King of the Ring. Current AEW star Jeff Jarrett famously accused The Texas Rattlesnake of "ripping off the Bible," as the phrase is a play on the John 3:16 Bible verse.
Eric Bischoff did not have an issue with "Austin 3:16" and thinks WCW higher-ups would have allowed Austin to use the phrase:
"We would have done it, they wouldn't have noticed it, they wouldn't have thought about it until they got a couple of phone calls from somebody who was complaining about it, and then it would work its way through the process, end up in HR, I'd have gotten an email or a phone call, and they would have addressed the situation with me and then going forward I would have had to have been more careful about that type of thing." [1:26:45 – 1:27:12]
In the same episode, Bischoff speculated that WWE is no longer interested in three top AEW stars.
How do you think Steve Austin would have fared in WCW as Stone Cold? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit 83 Weeks and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.