10 rare photos of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin you might not have seen

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is best known for being multi-time Champion in the WWE and kick-starting the no-nonsense Attitude Era. He is easily one of the most recognisable superstars there ever has been in the company, and his face would easily get a spot on WWE’s Mount Rushmore.

There are many legendary pictures of "The Rattlesnake" that we’ve seen before. One of the best is him being arrested on an episode of Raw as per the title picture, as it looks so legit. If you showed it to a non-wrestling fan, they would think it was a normal arrest!

However, the aim of this article is to introduce you to many pictures of Austin that you may not have actually seen before. Get ready to see the "Rattlesnake" at different stages in his career and a glimpse into his life outside of wrestling.

Since having his last match in the company in 2003 at WrestleMania XIX, Stone Cold has featured in part-time appearances at special events. He also has his own podcast, TV Show and has featured in many films, including The Expendables.

This has given plenty of opportunity to capture photos of the man outside of the squared circle. Without further ado, let’s get to the first photo of Stone Cold you might not have seen!

#10 NWA television champion

teve Austin tasted title success before he shaved his hair, donned the black tights and adopted the attitude that made him famous. This picture shows him as the NWA Champion with long blond hair and being accompanied by Jeannie Adams.

Not many people realise that at this time, Austin was being managed by Percy Pringle, the man that would become Paul Bearer and go on to manage Undertaker and Kane in possibly the greatest story WWE have ever told. Rubbing shoulders with people of such talent gave Austin the experience needed to propel himself to the next level.

He then went on to be managed by Paul Heyman during his time in WCW. At this point, both men refused to accept the inevitable baldness, as evident by Austin’s surviving blond locks in this photo.

Austin already suits a belt over his shoulder but I’m not sure you’d have said that he would have become one of the most successful superstars in WWE history at this point. He still had a lot of work to do, but the youthful exuberance and determination that would get him there is easy to see in the picture.

#9 Career changing injury

Owen Hart almost halted the progress of the fastest rising star in the WWE when a botched piledriver led to Austin breaking his neck in the ring. It was during a match for the Intercontinental Championship at Sumerslam 1997 where the incident occurred.

I didn’t actually see it when it happened as I didn’t start watching wrestling until the start of 2000, but in watching it on home video, it was quite scary to see the effect it had on Austin. His head was way too low for the move and this resulted in him ‘spiking’ which essentially left him paralysed in the ring for a few minutes.

It’s a testament to Austin’s heart and his love for the business that he managed to get to his feet and roll up an Owen Hart who was distracting the crowd by winding them up at the ropes. Realising the severity of the situation, he took the 1,2,3 off the lazy roll up and Austin was helped to the back by several referees.

Here you see the neck brace in the background and Austin almost praying that his career would not be ruined by the injury. This was two years before he got a neck surgery to correct the break.

#8 Bash at the beach

No longer sporting the long locks from a couple of pictures ago, you would be forgiven for thinking that this was just a random picture of five jocks on the beach if you were not a wrestling fan. However, it includes wrestlers who were in the rival company of WWE, WCW at the time.

There is quite a strange thing about this photo. It’s not Arn Anderson who is strangling someone in the background as he tries to counter with a Natalya/Zack Ryder move (if you know what I mean). And it’s not the fact that William Regal is firing up the peace sign. No, ladies and gentlemen, Austin…is smiling.

It’s not very often that you get a picture of the Rattlesnake with such a natural grin on his face. Mind you, the picture was taken well before he had the weight of a whole company on his shoulders.

#7 Dude tames the Snake

In doing my research for this article, I came across quite a fun photo I had not seen before. In 1997, as the programming was changing for the WWF and transitioning into a more edgy product, Austin was developing his character and was in some pretty high profile feuds, despite not being in the WWF Championship picture.

He feuded with the Hart Family during this period and Dude Love came out to offer his assistance in a tag team match, after Austin decided to face British Bulldog and Owen Hart alone to try and capture the belts that had had to be vacated by Austin and Michaels originally.

Funnily enough, Austin and Dude beat the Hart Foundation and became the tag team champions, much to Austin’s chagrin as you can see in this photo. Mick Foley was the sort of wrestler that could pull off pretty much any character and it’s quite amazing to see the charisma that the two had on screen even when he was portraying Dude Love.

This picture is quite rare as there was obviously a little more of a normal promotional picture for the tag champs.

#6 The Hunter

Austin as a floating head (bad camo joke)

Like Lesnar and Michaels, Austin is a keen hunter and though you don’t see many pictures of the man in camo and with a gun, I did come across Austin standing over a deer that he had obviously managed to take down.

This fits into his Rattlesnake character if anything and the persona he has built following his move away from the squared circle. It’s clear that Austin enjoys this kind of lifestyle of hunting, drinking beer and being out in the wild generally.

He has his own ranch, known as Broken Skull Ranch which is doing really well for him. He has produced his own beer, Broken Skull IPA and even sells his own knives on the site!

This photo is a glimpse into what Steve Austin gets up to in his spare time when he not living, breathing and talking wrestling on his podcast or on other forms of media. He is enjoying the fruits of his labour and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!

#5 Role Reversal

This picture comes from a House Show where it’s a well-known fact that wrestlers have a lot more freedom to make the crowd happy and you can get some pretty special moments from these events. Luckily, nowadays, people have phones that can record all these moments. If something major happens at a House Show, you can pretty much guarantee that there will be a video of it online.

It was a little harder to capture this back in the late nineties and early noughties. If you’ve ever seen the ‘Curtain Call’ you realise how lucky we are to have that grainy footage. It was a guy in the right place at the right time and the same goes for this picture here.

Jericho, ever the brilliant heel, is shown giving Austin the double bird as Austin outstretches his hand for a handshake. Wind up a Rattlesnake though and you’ll get bitten. It’s odd to see Austin on the receiving end of his own taunt and it’s like the two men had a role reversal as Jericho would often use a handshake to gain heat by not going through with it.

#4 Photobombing the future WWE Champion

If you're going to be photobombed, make sure it's by 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin

CM Punk is one of the greatest superstars of the modern era whether you like him or not. He had a passion for the wrestling business that was unrivalled but he, unfortunately, fell out of love with the business after he had tasted the success of being the longest reigning champion in 25 years.

Punk held the title for 434 days which puts him only two places behind Austin on the reign leaderboard, but Austin had six reigns where Punk only had two. Punk does not look too happy in this picture but it’s awesome to see him with the Rattlesnake as he would meet him much later in life on screen where they would tease a match that just wouldn’t happen.

It’s certainly a match I would have liked to have seen, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. With striking red hair, Punk does not look too impressed and my guess is that there were two cameras as his eyes drift over to the left.

Even still, he does not look overjoyed to be in a picture with the Rattlesnake and it does look a bit like the beer-swiller is photobombing a family photo.

#3 Rattlesnake meets Socko

Not quite as epic as Santino's Cobra vs. Socko.

This picture shows Austin in a bit more of a casual setting than when he was with Dude Love a couple of slides ago. With the same guy but a different character, Austin is goofing around with Mr. Socko in a candid photo from the late nineties.

At this point, Mankind had started to become a bit more of a fun-loving character, far from the deranged persona he adopted when he debuted. This allowed him to be a bit of comedic relief on WWE television but also kept him as a main player as he traded the WWE Championship with The Rock.

Austin was a no-nonsense figure against authority as he feuded with Vince McMahon which is what makes this picture so special as it shows two friends having fun away from the bright lights of the squared circle.

Mick Foley and Austin are known to be very good friends and struck up a great relationship backstage. This is also evident in the documentary “Beyond the Mat” as Austin shows great rapport with Foley’s kids.

I guess some Rattlesnakes do have a soft side.

#2 Hershey

Further to my point on the previous slide about Austin having a softer side, this is never more evident than in the pictures of him and his dog Hershey. I’ve picked this one as it shows Austin driving around with his best pal after what looks like a day of mooching around the ranch.

Even though he has sunglasses on, you can just tell that Austin is completely content with his dog by his side. He has even been known to take him along to the podcasts he does. The dog looks happy as well as the wind blows through his fur and he takes in the awesome scenery around him.

The dog’s full name was Hershey, the Wonder Dog, but unfortunately, he passed away earlier this year. Austin had had the dog for over 10 years and he was extremely close to him.

It’s certainly very sad that Austin has lost such a great friend.

#1 Reminiscing

Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels had a great rivalry in 1997/1998 that led to Austin capturing the WWE Championship for the first time at WrestleMania XIV.

The two Hall of Famers in this picture appear to be talking about times gone by and probably thinking how they could tear the house down if they were still active wrestlers. This was just before WrestleMania XXVII in the Georgia Dome where Austin actually made an appearance on his ATV.

We didn’t see too much more of Austin vs. Michaels as Michaels retired after dropping the title to the Rattlesnake and by the time he came back in 2002, Austin was winding down his career and having creative difficulties with the WWE.

As they look on in the venue that would host one of the worst WrestleMania’s there has ever been, there seems to be something in Austin’s eyes that suggests he can’t believe he wasn’t main eventing it, and that his own wrestling career was over.

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is an absolute legend as we have seen and I hope you have allowed these photos to open doors to those moments when you saw this legend in the ring, tearing the roof single-handedly!

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