Opinion: Stone Cold Steve Austin is the biggest draw in the history of Professional Wrestling
Last week's Monday Night RAW saw Stone Cold Steve Austin returning to the World's Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, for the first time in almost two decades. The Texas Rattlesnake was a part of the opening as well as the closing segment of the show. Every time the glass shattered and Austin's music hit, the fans in MSG went wild.
Austin moderated the contract signing for the Universal Championship between Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins, just as AJ Styles and The OC once again interrupted the contract signing with Styles mocking Austin. The segment ended with Austin hitting The Phenomenal One with a stunner to a huge pop from the New York Crowd.
Sure, Austin giving Styles a Stunner wasn't exactly him putting The Phenomenal One over but given the verbal tirade that Styles was on, they more than earned a Stunner, to be honest. Styles' selling of the stunner was a thing of beauty and it was as close as one could've got to The Rock's sell of the iconic move.
There is always this fear of a legends segment going haywire with the said Superstar fumbling his/her lines or their delivery being generic. Yet, that hasn't been the case with Austin. Despite being out of the business for over a decade and a half, The Rattlesnake seems to have never missed a step when it comes to delivering an entertaining promo.
His control over the crowd in attendance is something which boggles our mind. Whether it be starting a "What" or delivering a stunner, the former WWE Champion always knocks it out of the park every time he steps inside the squared circle.
There has always been a lot of debate about who the biggest draw in the history of professional wrestling and the two names that most fans come up with is that of Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Hulkster was the one who brought wrestling into the mainstream and for the major part of his career remained at the top of the heap.
Hogan's turn to the dark side and him joining the nWo is one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history. What makes the argument in favor of The Hulkster stronger is the fact that he was able to stay at the top longer than anybody else in the business.
Austin, on the other hand, had a shorter run as the top dog but boy did he make everyone take notice off him while he was at the top. Austin's rise to stardom was one of the biggest reasons why WWE ended up winning the Monday Night War. The Texas Rattlesnake was the forefront of the most successful period in WWE history, ie, the Attitude Era.
Unlike Hogan, Austin wasn't always destined for superstardom inside the squared circle. Austin had a fairly notable career in WCW before he arrived in WWE (WWF at that time) in 1995. It is common knowledge today that former WCW head honcho, Eric Bishoff didn't see Austin as a marketable star and unceremoniously fired the Rattlesnake from the company in 1995.
Austin's early days in WWE saw him become 'The Ringmaster', a gimmick which had mid-carder written all over it. It was until he defeated Jake 'The Snake ' Roberts to win the 1996 King of the Ring tournament and cut the infamous Austin 3:16 promo that he had come out of his own. There was no looking back following that as Austin had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had what it takes to be top dog in the company.
Hulk Hogan becoming Hollywood Hogan and ditching the red and yellow for the nWo black and white was without a doubt one of the biggest moments in wrestling history but it wasn't like we hadn't see top babyfaces turn heel before.
With Austin, however, it was very different. He was the same beer-guzzling, foul-mouthed Superstar as he used to be when he was a heel but the fan had brought into this guy who always did he what he wanted and never gave two hoots about the people above him.
Austin's run-ins with Vince McMahon, the heel authority figure, is what made him stand out from the rest of the pack. Austin was the first anti-hero in wrestling who was able to capture the imagination of the fans in a big way. In a way, a lot of people found solace in the fact that The Rattlesnake was able to punch his boss in the face, something which they wanted to do, but sadly couldn't.
As years have passed by, the gap between Austin and Hogan (in terms of popularity and drawing power) have only widened in favor of The Rattlesnake. Whether be it for recent legal issues or his racist comments, The Hulkster isn't the most liked wrestler in the world as he once was. It has been glaringly evident over the past few years whenever the Hulkster has made an appearance on WWE TV.
Take the RAW Reunion for example where Hogan was one of the marquee names advertised for the show. While the Hulkster got a lot of promo time, fans were dead cold while he was speaking but as soon as Austin's music hit, the crowd came alive and was on its feet for the entire time that Austin was inside the ring. The very fact that The Rattlesnake was able to steal the show that had The Immortal one present is enough to speak about who the bigger the star is.
Austin's presence was one of the highlights of last week's show and one of the best things about it was that never for a moment did the WWE Hall of Famer try to over-shadow the current crop of Superstars. This is precisely what makes The Rattlesnake great and why we will never get tired of seeing him on our TV screen.
Note: The views of the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sportskeeda.