‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin is widely considered the greatest wrestling Superstar of all time. His meteoric rise to superstardom was the catalyst in WWE defeating WCW in the Monday Night Wars and in creating one of the most financially-lucrative periods in the company’s history in the form of the Attitude Era. Indeed, WWE wouldn’t have been as popular or successful without Austin.
‘Stone Cold’ became so popular for a multitude of reasons. His anti-hero antics and perpetual war with Mr McMahon resonated with audiences more than ever before. Many wrestling fans saw Austin as their hero because he did what many of them wished they could do: fight against an overbearing and abusive boss and enjoy a fleeting moment of joy in an otherwise difficult life.
A big part of Austin’s appeal was his promos and catchphrases. He entertained audiences through his badass persona and his menacing attitude. This was a guy that wasn’t afraid to say what was on his mind and push the envelope with aggressive and realistic promos.
Even though some other wrestlers have been better than Austin on the microphone (The Rock, for example), Austin is still one of WWE’s most recognizable wordsmiths. Here are the ten greatest Stone Cold Steve Austin quotes of all time.
#10 “You put an ‘S’ in front of the ‘H’ in ‘Hitman’ and you’ll have my exact opinion of Bret Hart”
This was one of the first times WWE really pushed the envelope with curse words and suggestive languages. While WWE still didn’t use curse words as liberally as they did by 1999 and as much as they do now, they still made suggestions and used creative loopholes to get such aggressive languages on the air.
Austin spoke this line in the build-up to an eventual match with Bret Hart and used Hart’s own nickname and catchphrases against him. These lines made Austin sound like a more daring fighter that wasn’t afraid to blur the lines and speak his mind when discussing his opponents.
Although he had many promos that were better than this one, this was still one of those times when an Austin promo sounded natural, realistic, and exciting.
“#9 And that’s all I got to say about that!”
This is one of those great lines that Austin used to end any conversation he had with anyone he was feuding with. Austin was known for packing a lot into his speeches, so when he ended them with this quote, it gave a decisive finality to whatever he was saying.
If anyone was brave (or stupid, depending on your point of view) to keep talking after Austin said these words, they were likely to end up on the receiving end of a Stunner or another serious verbal thrashing. Or both, if Austin was in a particularly giving mood on that night.
#8 An epic reply to the Rock’s catchphrase
During the peak of their rivalry, Steve Austin and The Rock were both masters on the microphone. Each one had witty comebacks for the other’s catchphrases and knew how to get under each other’s skin. The Rock was especially skilled with catchphrases and coming up with creative ways to describe his own way of beating someone, including his famous ‘SmackDown hotel’ catchphrase.
So, as Austin and the Rock built up their epic WrestleMania confrontation, Rocky made the usual comment of his opponent (Austin) checking himself into the SmackDown hotel. Austin, meanwhile, had his own reply, which made Rocky very angry. Luckily (unluckily?) for Rock, Austin had the perfect cure for said anger in the form of an epic beer bath.
#7 Stone Cold Steve Austin is an alcohol connoisseur
A big part of the Steve Austin character was that he liked to drink alcohol...a lot. This is one of the things that made him popular, because in most cultures, being able to drink a lot of alcohol is a sign of badassery and toughness. This was also true if you were bold enough to mix different kinds of drinks at once.
Stone Cold proved that he was this type of badass when he mentioned the different kinds of alcoholic drinks he drank at once: he allegedly drank vodka, whiskey, beer, and then tequila, in that order, before repeating the same set of drinks again.
People love hearing about a guy that can push his limits, and that extends to people that can drink a lot and still keep going. Even if this promo wasn’t 100% real, it’s still hilarious that Austin would drink all of this and keep going.
#6 “You want mercy? Take you a** to church!”
As mentioned earlier, Steve Austin was a take-no-prisoners anti-hero badass with his own moral compass. He didn’t care if you were the most evil of antagonists or the purest of babyfaces; if you were in his crosshairs, you were a target.
One element of his feuds during the Attitude Era was that he attacked both clear-cut babyfaces and heels with the same enthusiasm. Over the years, many of these ‘good guys’ have tried to appeal to Austin’s supposed good side in the hopes that he wouldn’t kick their asses too badly.
Austin, however, has little understanding of mercy, if any, and has used this reply to anyone that tried to use the argument of moral high ground against him.
Simply put, Austin was the greatest anti-hero in WWE history, and being an anti-hero meant one was neutral in their alignment, attacking anyone and everyone with equal disdain.
#5 “I’ll open up a can of whoop ass”
This video shows what a can of whoop ass looks like: Austin acting as a one-man army running through enemies like a hot knife through butter.
Stone Cold deserves a ton of credit for coming up with very creative ways of saying he’s going to kick your ass. This is one of the funniest ways that Austin went about doing that. Try and imagine Austin opening up a can, and inside that can is enough ‘whoop ass’ to send Austin’s enemies running away in fear or doubled over in pain.
It was as funny a line as it was intimidating for Austin’s opponents.
#4 “And that’s the bottom line, ‘cause Stone Cold said so!”
These legendary words were so simple and so catchy, that you cannot help but chant them along with Austin whenever he spoke them. Stone Cold didn’t care what you had to say or what you were capable of doing; in his mind, his words were the law, and if you had a problem with that, you’d get a Stunner for your troubles.
Austin did things on his own time and danced to the beat of his own drum. Why? Because Stone Cold said so, and nobody was going to tell him otherwise, not even Vince McMahon.
#3 “Gimme a HELL YEAH!”
This is another one of those classic catchphrases that Austin used to bring the audience into his promos and to help the audience feel like they were part of the story he was telling. Austin used this phrase many times, often to ask fans if they wanted Austin to do something.
More often than not, the audience would scream ‘HELL YEAH’ for whatever Austin did, which usually signalled that Austin was about to stomp a mudhole in someone’s rear-end and walk it dry.
To this day, no wrestler has managed to engage the audience to the same degree as Austin did during his peak (except maybe The Rock). This quote was one way in which Austin brought audiences to their feet and created some of the loudest fan reactions ever. It was simple, effective, and to the point.
#2 “WHAT?”
What started off as an inside joke involving a voicemail message and Christian became both one of the most iconic and most irritating catchphrases in WWE history.
At first, Austin used this one-word catchphrase to irritate his opponents and to bring the audience into his promos. Fans always love to feel like part of the show, so they got involved very quickly and with great enthusiasm. It wasn’t long before fans would chant ‘WHAT’ during Austin’s promos and they’d be louder during those segments than during any other part of the show.
However, things took a turn for the worse after Austin left and later retired. Nowadays, fans start chanting ‘WHAT’ during any promo that they find boring, which can and does throw off the wrestlers in the ring. It has gone beyond the fans simply wanting to be part of the show; now some fans will start this chant whenever they’re bored and want to entertain themselves, even if that means that it’s at the expense of whoever’s cutting a promo.
Many wrestlers have been the victims of the now-dreaded ‘WHAT’ chant (including the Undertaker, for crying out loud). It has even reached a point where Austin himself has disavowed the chant and thinks that it has long surpassed its usefulness.
#1 “Austin 3:16”
This promo was completely ad-libbed, all the way down to the now-iconic Austin 3:16 bit. That one line is Steve Austin’s single-greatest quote of all time because it became synonymous both with the Attitude Era and with Austin himself. ‘Austin 3:16’ became an overnight sensation, and soon those words/numbers were plastered on several pieces of WWE merchandise.
Before anyone knew it, fans everywhere were buying any piece of WWE merchandise with ‘Austin 3:16’ plastered onto it, and thousands upon thousands of fan signs bearing that catchphrase started appearing in arena after arena.
Austin became the true anti-hero badass that didn’t care who you were and kicked your ass anyway because he could. That’s what Austin 3:16 meant, and it served as a catalyst in Austin’s meteoric rise to the top of WWE and pro wrestling in general.
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