5 Times WWE tried to create the next Stone Cold Steve Austin

#1 Dean Ambrose

I know that it's hard to remember a time before Dean Ambrose pulled his pants down in the doctor's office, to receive shots on live television, but there was a point in time when he was Stone Cold lite. He carried himself with a swagger that was reminiscent of the Texas Rattlesnake and cleared out heels without breaking a sweat, as you can see in the clip linked above.

The only issue that Ambrose faced is that he was burdened with the whole 'Lunatic Fringe' gimmick that completely underwhelmed his character and took away what made it special and what made it cool for fans. One could go so far as to say that his AEW persona is a look at what Dean Ambrose could have been.

But there were certain points during his WWE run where Dean Ambrose had some kind of an edge, and one could almost see a latent Stone Cold Steve Austin within him, wanting to emerge and showcase to the world that he was much better than booking essentially allowed him to be.