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Stone Cold Steve Austin is arguably one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. The impact that he left on the wrestling industry during the Attitude Era is beyond one's imagination. He was one of the primary reasons behind WWE's triumph over WCW in the Monday Night Wars.
Austin was destined for success from the very beginning. He was the complete package and rightfully became the face of WWE. Austin had the personality, in-ring talent, and promo ability required to become a top star in the company. Everything about the Texas Rattlesnake seemed larger than life.
One of the most discussed topics about Steve Austin is how he got 'Stone Cold' added to his name. The nickname made him stand out among the rest of the roster. Well, there's a very interesting story behind it.
Steve Austin's ex-wife, Jennie Clarke, was the person behind the 'Stone Cold' nickname
Before his WWE debut in 1996, Stone Cold used to wrestle in WCW as "Stunning" Steve Austin. After leaving Ted Turner's company, Austin started performing in ECW as "Superstar" Steve Austin. These were some great names as they suited his character well at that time.
In 1996, Steve arrived in WWE with a new character called "The Ringmaster." He was aligned with The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase.
However, after wrestling a few months as The Ringmaster, Austin grew tired of his ring name. He found it weak and wanted it to be replaced quickly.
He also had a brief meeting with Vince McMahon, where he expressed his intention of having a new ring name. After this meeting, Stone Cold went home and started watching an HBO special documentary about an infamous serial killer, Richard Kuklinski.
Richard's character was also known as the Ice Man due to his sadistic nature. Austin liked the concept behind Richard's nickname, as he also wanted his character to look and feel cold-blooded.
Hence, he told the WWE creative team to come up with a sadistic name for his character. Unfortunately, the Texas Rattlesnake was greeted with some ridiculous character names. Ice Dagger, Otto von Ruthless, and Fang Mcfrost were some of the names suggested to Steve Austin for his new gimmick.
They faxed me three pages of the worst names I’d seen in the history of my life. Otto von Ruthless…Ice Dagger…Fang McFrost… Man, it doesn’t get more s**k-a** than that
WWE Legend Mick Foley, who himself once received such suggestions from the creative team, called these names 'terrible'.
Austin was unhappy with the names suggested to him. He questioned the credibility of the creative team and how they created top stars with such a thought process.
While the Rattlesnake was sitting on his couch searching for a new nickname, his then-wife Jennie Clarke came to him with a hot cup of tea. Jennie told him to calm himself so that he can think of a perfect name for him. As she began to leave, Jennie asked Austin to drink the tea before it got 'stone cold.'
As she turns to leave, ‘Go ahead and drink your tea,’ she says, ‘before it goes stone cold…'
And this is how the wrestling world got one of the greatest character names of all time.
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