Today’s edition of ‘This day...’ celebrates the birthdays of three WWE legends - two of whom are already in the Hall of Fame and the other might follow suit soon enough.
It is on December 18 that Stone Cold Steve Austin, Trish Stratus and Rob Van Dam celebrate their birthdays and this article is dedicated to each of them.
While Stone Cold is considered to be one of the greatest performers of all time, Trish is widely acknowledged as the greatest female competitor in the WWE. RVD, meanwhile, was the face of the new ECW in the WWE and is the only man to have held the WWE and ECW Championships at the same time.
Let us take a look at the careers of the trio on their birthday:
#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin – Born December 18th, 1964
Born in Victoria, Texas – Austin had a run in WCW before he joined the WWE. Austin was part of Paul Heyman’s Dangerous Alliance in the Atlanta-based promotion and went by the ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin moniker.
He would capture the WCW United States title during his time there before getting fired by Eric Bischoff as the latter did not see Austin as a big star. Austin would move on to ECW where his promos would strike a chord with the audience before departing for the WWE in late 1995.
Upon joining the company, he would be renamed the Ringmaster and ran around with Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Championship. When Dibiase moved to WCW, Austin finally got the opportunity to display his real-life Texas redneck persona onscreen.
Austin would win the King of the Ring tournament and usher in the ‘3:16’ era, with his feud with Vince McMahon becoming the greatest feud in WWE history.
Austin would go on to win the WWE Championship as well as the Intercontinental and Tag team titles in the company and was the undisputed No. 1 guy up until his retirement in 2003 due to recurring neck injuries.
#2 Trish Stratus – Born December 18th, 1975
Trish Stratus is the perfect example of transformation in women’s wrestling. Initially brought in to the company for being nothing but a pretty face. Trish began her career managing the team of Test and Albert – named slyly as T&A – as well as Val Venis.
She would show her grittiness by agreeing to take multiple bumps during her early career. She took a top rope powerbomb onto a table from Bubba Ray Dudley and a Stink-face from Rikishi during the time.
Her first main event angle was during the buildup to Wrestlemania 17 when she would become Vince McMahon’s on-screen mistress. However, from 2002, Trish would make her bones by wrestling continuously in the women’s division and winning the Women’s title a record seven times.
She would have on-screen relationships with Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, Christian and Carlito during the time and would wrestle her final match in 2006, winning the Women’s title from her long-time friend Lita.
#3 Rob Van Dam – Born December 18th, 1970
Rob Van Dam is one of the few wrestlers to have completed the requirements for the WWE Grandslam Championship and the WWE Triple Crown Championship.
Having started his career with ECW in the late 90s, Van Dam did wrestle in the WWE during 1997 as part of a talent exchange with ECW. However, he signed his first contract with the WWE in 2001 after the demise of ECW.
Despite being portrayed as a heel during the Invasion angle, Van Dam’s charisma and ‘educated feet’ would strike a chord with the WWE fans and he was soon transformed into a fan favourite. He was voted as PWI’s ‘Most popular wrestler’ in 2001 & 2002 – a time when Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock were at their peaks.
WWE failed to put the World title on him during that time period, but RVD finally won the big one in 2005 by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on John Cena at ECW One Night Stand. He would be awarded the ECW Championship and would become the only man to hold those two world titles concurrently.
Van Dam would leave the WWE in 2007 and move on to TNA where he would capture the TNA World Championship as well. RVD has occasional return stints with the WWE, with his last appearance being in 2014.
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