Is WWE Biggest Star Ever Returning?
That headline isn't meant as any kind of news story tease. By now, most of you know about WWE's plans for Steve Austin to return to television as part of Cyber Sunday. Of course, theoretically fans could vote for the two other choices - Shawn Michaels or Randy Orton - to referee the main event world title match between Chris Jericho and Batista. But it's quite obvious that they fully expect, and want, Austin to win by a landslide.
So the question isn't whether Steve Austin - WWE biggest star ever - is returning. The question is: Was Steve Austin WWE's biggest star ever?
The wrestling community - fans, writers and wrestlers alike - are constantly heaping superlatives on performers. Mick Foley or Bruiser Brody may be considered the best brawlers ever. Lou Thesz and Bret Hart are in the conversation for some of the best technical wrestlers ever. In a few rare cases, you hear somebody get the all-encompassing "best wrestler ever" praise, such as Ric Flair
But is it fair to say Steve Austin is WWE's biggest star of all time?
Obviously, there are at least two other main contenders for that distinction. One was Austin's contemporary - the Rock, who I nobody could dispute has become the biggest crossover wrestling star ever. The other, of course, is Hulk Hogan, who remains the face of pro wrestling to the masses. Some might even throw in Bruno Sammartino, who sold out Madison Square Garden month after month for years during a very different time in pro wrestling.
But perhaps no singular act has ever made as big an impact on WWE as Stone Cold, who nearly single-handedly led WWE's rise to unprecedented heights in the late 1990s. Yes, Austin had a good supporting cast in the likes of DX and the Rock, and the whole Attitude movement may owe a lot to the nWo and even ECW. But it was Austin's combination of star power, creativity, talking ability and wrestling skill that made him the absolute total package. He was the very definition of the term "draw," selling out arena and arena during his peak, propping WWE’s television ratings to record highs, generating monster buy rates for pay per views, selling more merchandise than probably any wrestler ever, and getting pops from crowds that to this day have not been equaled.
Everybody loved Austin - from kids, to women to grown men who would often attend shows sporting bald heads and "Austin 3:16" T-shirts. The guy was a phenomenon.
But this much is true: Unlike Hogan, and perhaps even the Rock, Austin's popularity has not survived the test of time all that well. He hasn't made that much of difference in terms of ratings or attendance when he's popped up for special appearances here and there. He doesn't get the ten-minute pops that Hogan and the Rock have received when they've made their returns after extended hiatuses. Austin's movie, "The Condemned" was a colossal flop.
There's a number of reasons why that might be. For one, Austin has never stayed away from the WWE television for more than a few months or maybe a year. The old adage about absence making the heart grow fonder doesn't really apply when you're never absent for very long. Second, I think there's something to be said for WWE and Austin himself having lost sight of what made Austin so special. In recent years he's become something of a predictable parody of himself - making jokes, drinking beer, and stunning everyone in sight. And lastly, Austin has not wrestled in more than five years. It’s tough to promote someone as a “bad a**” when they can’t deliver in the ring.
And so, if WWE thinks Austin's return to television will turn around their recent ratings woes, I think they're setting themselves up for disappointment. Austin will no doubt be welcomed back by fans with open arms, but, inevitably, his act will become familiar before long.
None of this as meant as a slight against Austin. Regardless of how little he might mean to WWE now, nothing can change how much he meant to it some ten years ago. And I, for one, would be thrilled to have him back in any capacity.
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Comments (52)
I would vote for Austin. I can't because I live in Canada but I hope neither Shawn Michaels nor Randy Orton win.
I guess we will have to order the PPV in three weeks and find out.
Would like to hear your thoughts on the Goldust/HTM/Piper vote....
I think the vote for the Santino match may reveal a lot about the legitimacy of the whole whole voting system. Obviously, everything would point toward Honky winning the voting, but Honky has been on the outs with WWE for some time and I'm not convinced he's about to make a return. Same goes for Goldust who most recently worked for TNA. The most likely person to return to WWE is Piper, but unless they really push Piper on TV in the next few weeks, I'd expect Honky to win. If Piper wins, it may be evidence that the voting is rigged.
it has been said that no matter who the americans vote for (no offense to the canadians, however i think its stupid they will only allow americans to vote), they will have austin as the special guest referee.
alfonso, i thought u knew that most of the voting was rigged for taboo tuesday/cyber sunday. the only time its not rigged is when it decides the type of match. and im pretty sure that back in 06, when the "fans" voted for booker's WHC to be on the line, they had the plan that whoever won the voting would win the match.
I don't think that's true. I've heard time and again that the voting has generally been on the up and up for CS.
"alfonso, i thought u knew that most of the voting was rigged for taboo tuesday/cyber sunday. the only time its not rigged is when it decides the type of match. and im pretty sure that back in 06, when the "fans" voted for booker's WHC to be on the line, they had the plan that whoever won the voting would win the match."
Sandman did a shoot interview in 2007 that said it was legit because at Cyber Sunday 2006, there was a vote between him, Chris Benoit, and Kane to see who would face Umaga. Just before they showed the three of them backstage to announce the winner, Benoit apparently looked over to Kane and asked him how Umaga is to work with inside the ring. Sandman said he then realized that he might have to wrestle just a few seconds later. Kane ended up winning the vote.
Also, that same year, WWE wanted Dusty Rhodes to win the vote to team up with Ric Flair, but Roddy Piper won instead.
The vote will at least be just as up-and-up as the wrestling.
Well Goldust is finished with TNA and the Black Reign character is no longer of any importance to any storylines. So he's free to go back to WWE.
And there have been plenty of people who have bad blood with Vince that have made returns. Hell, Stone Cold was one of them. So it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Vince to work something out. Plus Honky Tonk Man has a legends contract, I believe. So the door would probably open for a few appearances. (Personally, I think we're either seeing Hass-y Tonk Man, Charliedust or Rowdy Roddy Hasser)
A few things:
1) I personally prefer Austin to Hogan (although I'd take The Rock over both of them any day of the week), but I think Hogan is probably WWE's biggest star. It's hard to really argue against Austin, but I just think Hogan became more synonomous with WWE (largely because of headlining so many early WrestleManias).
2) Even though WWE probably wants Honky Tonk Man to win the vote, and Santino will probably focus mostly on him in upcoming promos, I think Piper is a lock to win. Piper is just overall more popular, and just like how HBK and Orton fit the World Title Match better than Austin, Piper will win the vote on popularity alone. I'm not entirely sure that Goldust might not even beat Honky since he is more familar to newer fans.
3) Even if the voting has been fixed in the past (which I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt), since they are charging people to vote this year I believe it is illegal not to go with what the fans select.
4) It's still a damn travesty that Mankind won out over Dude Love to face Carlito a few years back. Just saying.
A couple of things.
A. It may not be rigged in the sense that the votes actually count, but the selections are really kind of limiting the logical choices.
And B. Is it really "Cyber" Sunday is you can't vote on the internet? You know, Cyberspace?
Walt: Great call. I can totally see this as opportunity to show off Haas' latest impersonation.
In regards to the question proposed, Stone Cold Steve Austin is unquestionably WWE's biggest star of all-time in the same objective terms of money earned in a single year that "Titantic" is the highest grossing movie of all-time.
Bruno Sammartino or Hulk Hogan may be the analogy's equivalence to "Gone With the Wind," but like the old saying goes, records are made to be broken. As the value of the dollar increases over time, current stars have an advantage to gross higher dollar figures, so objective comparisons can be somewhat relative, if not fully subjective.
Just to further explain my box office analogy, "Titantic" grossed a domestic box office of $600-million in its original 1997-98 run. "Gone With the Wind" grossed under $200-million in 1939, but an inflation-adjustment tally would put GWTW on top.
P.S. - Andy Clark, I voted for Dude Love as well, and I'm not entirely over it either. =)
Walt, Honky Tonk Man has been very critical of the WWE Legends contract in past years, even criticizing the wrestlers that would sign one when they could still work independent shows (according to Honky, a portion of their pay from indy shows would go to WWE, albeit in exchange for advertising himself as a "WWE Legened"). I know HTM still works the indy circuit, so I have doubts that he has signed anything with WWE.
But it wouldn't take long for someone to change his mind, and I'll give that benefit to Honky as well, so there might have been something agreed upon by both parties.
I like the Charlie Haas theory, but I have my doubts especially since the event is in Phoenix, AZ, and Honky has resided in the area for many years.
I love Austin and would love to see him return, but it would make more sense storyline wise to have HBK as the special ref considering he's got a beef with both Batista and Jericho.
I saw the Condemned and it was pretty good. It might not have done well in theatres, but Austin and Co. were pretty entertaining.
I agree that Austin's act is old and he's kind of become a walking parody of himself, but he's still Stone Cold and, unfortunately, he sacrificed his mind and body for the entertainment of millions of fans across the globe.
I went to the Condemned premiere in Detroit over WrestleMania weekend, and was pretty impressed with what I saw. To me, it was one of the better movies starring a wrestler I had seen, and easily the best of the "WWE Films" releases. I was somewhat surprised it tanked as badly as it did, but I really think that's a reflection of movie audience's tastes. That kind of big-explosion action hero movie would have gone over huge in 1988.
If WWE does get the real Piper, Goldust, and Honky Tonk Man, I could see Charlie Haas doing impersonations of them throughout the next couple weeks. He already did a dark match against Dolph Ziggler as Roddy Piper.
Remember last year when The Miz was voted as CM Punk's opponent at Cyber Sunday for the ECW Title? The other choices were Morrison and Big Daddy V. Obviously The Miz was added as an afterthought for that.
I wouldn't be surprised if Shawn Michaels won or at least kept it close. He's very over, very popular, and he has the bad blood with Jericho.
When I heard them bring up the Honky Tonk Man as an option for Santino's opponent, my first thought was "He's still alive?" My second thought was "That would be positively awful. How old must Honky be at this point?"
These might not seem like a valid reason to some, but I think Austin's lack of impact in recent years has a lot to do with a couple reasons
-After Austin stopped wrestling in 2003, he became the Raw General Manager. I think that was when Austin started his creative decline. His role as Raw GM was corny because it always felt like he was in a storyline leading up to a big match because he was always feuding with the heels, but it never lead to a pay off because of Austin's neck and he couldn't wrestle. So I think fans lost interest, also like Alfonso said Austin has become a parody of sorts of himself. Who could forget his stupid Raw Sheriff gimmick? Where he was basically the same job as GM, only he had a toy badge as well.
He has become mostly a comedic act for WWE, he drops in and does a cameo, stuns someone, guzzles beer, swims in the beer and kind of just goof around. It's a far stretch away from the Stone Cold who jumped Bret Hart in his own ambulance, made Vince McMahon's life a living hell, and was a relentless ass kicker.
Also, its like Alfonso said. Austin is a vicitm of a the law of diminishing returns. He returns to WWE much more frequently than either the Rock or Hogan. Rock only shows up maybe once, via video tape, a year or so to cut a promo if that. Hogan usually shows up for maybe a one month feud and even then he doesnt appear on tv for the entire feud. Hogan always makes sure he looks stronger than he went in. Hogan knows to keep his appearences limited because 1.) his body cant handle it anymore and 2.) he tried to work show up regularly in 2002 in WWE and his act soon got tired and he was midcarding by the summer and went home soon after.
Austin on the other hand shows up several times a year and does the same thing, cuts a promo, stuns someone and drinks beer. I'm suprised he hasn't shown up in 2008 at all yet.
Personally I wouldnt be suprised if Shawn Michaels wins the polling, they might actually try and continue the feud between HBK and Y2J.
I think Austins promo with Santino last year kind of proved how old Austins gimmick is, especially when put with the fresh and original comedy of Santino
Austin's comeback wont make a difference in the ratings because the WWE creative team will book it in the same predictable stale fashion that the majority angles have been booked for the past several years. The fact that Austin's return was spoiled in such a meaningless way as a Cyber Sunday voting option is proof of this. If the WWE's contemporary creative strategy had been employed in 1997 Austin wouldn't have made a difference in the ratings then either.
There's also the small matter of being a serial wife beater, which I know diminished my own enthusiasm for his frequent returns.
i love stone cold and want him to come back in any way . he is the best ever
The voting is not rigged. WWE campaigns for certain people to win, but it's not rigged.
@Matthew
I think you hit the nail on the head right there.
Austin "lost it" for me when he became GM, started playin the guitar, wearing stupid hats etc If they had've kept him close to the original gimmick of being a don't give a crap badass(even if they had've turned him heel) it would've kept the character fresher than turning him into a parody.
I was never a big fan of Stone Cold. I hated the fact that he could never seem to be defeated, and apparently he wouldn't put other talent over while he was on top. It got tiring to see him win each and every week.
But I think the last straw came during the Invasion angle, when all of ECW and WCW guys were beating up the WWE wrestlers in the ring, and Austin just came down and stunned everyone in sight. If a gang of 20 to 30 wrestlers can't take down one man, what's the good of the angle?
Since then, his returns are all the same (someone mocks him, he stuns them). It makes wrestlers seem so stupid for believing he won't stun them.
stretchy stretchy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Should we also consider the Ultimate Warrior in the running as biggest star ever? sure he wasnot there long but The Rock and Stone Cold as well both had short WWE in ring stints.(Maybe five years as active Main Event level talent).
What about the Undertaker? maybe not outside of wrestling circles, but inside he's been a main eventer since he step foot in the WWF.
I guess my vote is for Hogan. The others are flashes in the pan compared to him. When he worked for WWE in the early 2000's I went to a show that ahd the like of the Taker, Brock, Angle, HHH and the like and Hogan still had the loudest pop that seem to last forever.
The Undertaker sounds like a reasonable choice if we were looking at which wrestler has made the most money for World Wrestling Entertainment (setting aside the subjective "star power," which transcends the wrestling industry, for the moment). Since his first main event in 1991, I could imagine all of the merchandise sales and tickets from events where he headlined in some fashion would be as high as anyone else based on his longevity and his popularity.
Even comparing him to someone like HHH, who has been headlining for almost 10 years now, Undertaker had 8 years to his credit before HHH won his first WWF World championship.
As far as cross-over fame is concerned, I would argue that the five biggest "stars" in wrestling history are... Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Jesse The Body Ventura. We could give honorable mentions to Gorgeous George, Classy Freddie Blassie, and Vince McMahon himself.
You said it yourself Alfonso. Austin comes in talks, does a few stunners pours beer over the guy/girl and then leaves. The only time I enjoyed Austin's character was when he turned bad and had a crush on Mr. MchMahon. He was hilarious.
Hogan is clearly #1 of all time but we'e seen him too much lately too. The problem with the WWE is the writers. If you want Austin to get a big pop, then make it a surprise. Then you can bring him in a few times and actually make a good storyline out of it.
But when we know what's going to happen, not all that exciting.
In regards to Honky Tonk Man's age, I'm MySpace friends with him and his profile says he's only 41. He's got a bit of a gut now, but he looks like he's in decent physical shape. He could definitely get in the ring and have a comedy match with Santino.
I could see something happening like Honky Tonk Man winning the IC title and holding it for 3 weeks or something, then Santino winning it back & holding it longer ... thereby having a longer IC title reign than Honky Tonk Man
yeah hogan is alright, and austin is cool, and jericho is valiant babyface. but Purple Headed Warrior is the man. dude is thick and covered in veins with a giant mushroom cap dome. PHW gives dudes a serious pounding. i know why everyone ducks Warrior. Cus it's like as soon as Austin or the Undertaker or Kane fall face down, even for a second, Warrior would be on right on top of them, just drilling them. Hard. Giant mushroom cap plunging down again and again. damn. They don't want to mess with that. I can't blame them. But it's like if you say you're the man, you know, a real toughie, then you should be willing to tangle with the best. Purple-head, he's the roughest hombre. How you think Raw got it's name. PHW will work you raw. you come out the ring after tangling w/ Warrior you got an a-hol like a manhole cover. i'm talking stretched out.
There is no way the Honkeytonk man is 41! I was watching him over 20 years ago.he has to atleast be in his mid 50's.
I think they should let Santino hold the IC title just one day shy of breaking HTM's record and have him lose it to an up and coming wrestler in the same fashion as HTM lost to the Warrior.
It seems to me Cyber Sunday has been rigged since after the first one (Taboo Tuesday) if not they most def push voting the way they would like for the outcome to be. I would love if the gimmick PPVs went back to the way the started when the Royal Rumble was the most important part of it's namesake PPV, when Survior Series has nothing but 4 on 4 or 5 on 5 matches ect. also I miss King of the Ring as a PPV.
Hey I expect Austin to win by a land slide and i want batista to win because chris is a loser that doesnt deserve a title belt at all. HE IS SUCH A JERK. I really hope that AUSTIN wins for guest referee
Just remember The Honkt Tonk Man he's cool he's cocky he's BBBBBBBBad!!!!!!!!
Just remember The Honkt Tonk Man he's cool he's cocky he's BBBBBBBBad!!!!!!!!
Just remember The Honkt Tonk Man he's cool he's cocky he's BBBBBBBBad!!!!!!!!
fake wrestling is for booger-eaters
"fake wrestling is for booger-eaters"
Posted by Anonymous | October 11, 2008 13:47
Congratulations, Alfonso. Colin Cowherd reads your blog.
Watching Honky Tonk Man wrestle 20 years ago would put him at 21 years old. I'm not denying that he could be older than that, but I could believe it if it were true.
I don't recall him being on a national stage before the late 80's, which could put him in his early 20's when he started with WWE.
I believe he was one of the "Moondogs" in Jerry Lawler's memphis territory for a little bit, but he could have started in Memphis when he was 18 or even younger. I know Terry Gordy and Gino Hernandez both started wrestling professionally when they were 14 or 15.
Plus, living the wild late-80's wwe lifestyle we've heard so many stories about is sure to put a few wrinkles in Honky's face.
I don't think we need to see Austin in storylines period. If he can't wrestle he shouldn't be involved.
I read a story about Jake Roberts no selling punches from Muhammed Ali, when asked why he said "I have to work here tomorrow, he doesn't." This same philosophy should be enforced on Austin as well. Why does he need to stun Santino? He shows up for one Raw, stuns someone, then comes back 8 months later to stun someone else. I know it pops the crowd for 5 seconds, but if he isn't doing anything for the guy who is supposed to be getting a push, well then i think he should stay in Texas, and stick to autograph session at Wrestlemania and appearances at the Hall of Fame ceremonies.
If you can't work, stay off T.V.!
lick it, sniff it, stick it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN(AKA THE RATTLE SNAKE)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
stone cold and the rock and goldbeger needs to come back an the warrior, if thay would retard wwe would take over tele all together .
The Honky Tonk Man was born on January 25, 1953, which would make him 55 years old.
As for Santino, I think they should have him lose the title a couple of times, just to win it back the next night or the next week, and then continue to claim that he is on the way to beat Honky's record because those losses didn't count since he won the title back so quickly.
Maybe Goldust won't win the voting, but maybe he'll show up to harass his younger brother Cody Rhodes.
Wow, good call! A segment with goldust talking to Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu could be EXTREMELY entertaining! Whether he wins the vote or not, he would be in attendance so WWE would have the opportunity to make it happen regardless. In fact, it would make for a better segment if goldust lost the vote, so Cody could claim he has been "forgotten" amongst the fans, and that, conversely, people will never forget the name "Cody Rhodes" when all is said & done.
Despite someone pointing out Honky Tonk Man's age, there's also the fact that he got his start in Memphis during the mid '70s under various gimmicks like Punk Rock Farris and as a tag team partner to Moondog Spot in the Blonde Bombers. That would mean he started wrestling when he was around 11 or 12 if we're to believe he's only 41. Not likely. Even at youngest, guys like Piper, Regal, and Bret Hart started around the age of 16.
I was curious why WWE had not been promoting the fact that Chris Jericho was one of Stone Cold's antagonists in 2003 when Austin was forced to step down as RAW General Manager, but then I remembered that Batista himself hammered the final nail in the coffin. In fact, all five men (Jericho, Batista, Austin, Randy Orton, and HBK) were heavily involved in that 2003 angle which led to the only five-star elimination match at Survivor Series.
truefully we will never know who was or is the greatest of all time because they all meant so much 2 the industry at different times no matter what order u put them in these are the 7 greatest the undertaker,the rock,hulk hogan,stone cold,bret hart did we 4get about him,hbk,and hhh all 7 of these guys have carried the wwe at some point or another but the only reason i would probably give the nod to hogan is because without his popularity there may be no others to compare
truefully we will never know who was or is the greatest of all time because they all meant so much 2 the industry at different times no matter what order u put them in these are the 7 greatest the undertaker,the rock,hulk hogan,stone cold,bret hart did we 4get about him,hbk,and hhh all 7 of these guys have carried the wwe at some point or another but the only reason i would probably give the nod to hogan is because without his popularity there may be no others to compare
Your comments insult The Rcck, Goldberg, RIc Flair, and Hulk Hogan; who are bigger stars than Austin.
Wtf are you talking about?..the rock gets 10 minute ovations?...when?..did you watch the 2008 hall of fame...the crowed was mixed...they were mostly booing him...the only time they were for him was when they did the whole one more match with him and austin...
When that glass breaks...still to this day...that whole arena is standing up screaming...i dont know what show you are watching...because im not seeing the same thing you are...go on youtube and watch the recent austin clips from 06/07...the fans still go nuts for him....
and yea hogan does get he big ovations but thats only out of respect...same with ric flair...but when hogan was hot back in the 80's...austins run in the 90's def was bigger