5 WWE superstars who helped define in-ring psychology

#4 Stone Cold Steve Austin

Steve Austin flourished once he settled on the “Stone Cold” character leading into the Attitude Era.

Steve Austin embodied the WWE’s Attitude Era when he developed his “Stone Cold” character in the mid-1990s. While his antics certainly entertained the crowd, that never felt like the point of what he was doing. Stone Cold was angry: He talked angry, walked angry and fought angry.

Austin was also opportunistic, and even when he was technically a babyface, he wasn’t scared to fight dirty.

All of those elements can be found in the arsenals of stars like Randy Orton, Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio, but Dean Ambrose is perhaps the best modern equivalent to the “Texas Rattlesnake.”