"Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time" Review

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

I suppose it would have been more fitting if I watched this DVD and wrote the review for it on March 16th, but the next day isn't too far, right? Nonetheless, about a week ago, I was texted out of the blue by a good wrestling fan friend of mine who wanted to know who I thought were the top Superstars (not wrestlers) in WWE history. Undoubtedly, Hulk Hogan led the charge, but the rankings of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock differed. He insisted that The Rock was better for a number of reasons, and I half-halfheartedly agreed, but he said the only reason his opinions of both altered was because he watched both of their documentaries back-to-back on the WWE Network (what a lifesaver that thing is). He encouraged me to watch both of them as well, and so I did.

I'll probably write a review on Rock's documentary another time, but I found Stone Cold's to be far better and more interesting. Granted, that might be because I watched it after The Rock's (whereas my friend watched them in the reverse order), but I enjoyed it much more than Rocky's for some reason. Now, keep in mind that I wasn't around for the Attitude Era (I started watching in April 2008), and while I already knew quite a bit about Stone Cold, this documentary definitely opened my eyes. I had no idea that he spent as much time on the independent scene as he did. I knew that Dutch Mantell (aka Zeb Colter) played a critical role in helping shape the career of Austin early on, but I thought it was interesting how the name Steve Austin came about. The in-ring name Steve Williams was already taken by Dr. Death, and although there was already a Steve Austin in the form of the Six Million Dollar Man, Stone Cold went along with it anyway. As for the Stone Cold part, it was funny that part of his in-ring also came about in a quick and unexpected way when his wife said the words "stone cold" at the table on morning while making coffee and that immediately stuck with Austin.

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