If you were a teenager or in your early 20s towards the end of the 1990s, the sound of glass crashing could only mean one thing.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was on your television screen. And changing the face of sports entertainment and pop culture like no professional wrestler had done before him.
The Greatest Of All Time
How did this goateed , baldheaded man in black trunks and boots capture the imagination of lapsed fans and those that had never watched the WWE before? It was simply by being himself, as his four DVD set Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line On The Greatest Superstar Of All Time demonstrates. In all of his years on top of the wrestling industry, Steve Austin maintained a personality that was essentially relateable to so many fans tuning in. He was a beer-drinking, bird flipping, tough SOB who hated his boss. But unlike the blue collar workers that became a huge part of his rabid fan base, Stone Cold also got to beat the crap out of his employer on a weekly basis – never worrying about losing his job.
Steve Austin headlined countless WWE pay-per views, becoming the companies biggest draw of all time. On the documentary portion of his DVD set, you see what being the man a company is built on really means, though. At his peak, Austin wasn’t just wrestling on Monday nights; he was making tv appearances, personal appearances, training, travelling from city to city. It’s a hard life being a top professional wrestler, and this DVD brings it to light. Austin is open and honest about the work he was doing, and the eventual toll it would take on his body and his psyche as well.
One On One With The Great One
Stone Cold Steve Austin has always been portrayed as tough as nails, but watching his DVD you get to see sides of the man he’s rarely if ever revealed. In detailing his final match with his greatest rival The Rock at Wrestlemania 19, we see a clearly emotional Stone Cold talking about what was going through his head as his shoulders are counted one-two-three. Both he and The Rock let viewers in on what they said to one another at the conclusion of their last encounter. It’s pretty emotional stuff for anyone who came of age watching these two superstars feud with one another for years.
The Bottom Line
With just a few days until Wrestlemania 28, watching Stone Cold Steven Austin: The Bottom Line On The Greatest Superstar Of All Time brought back some vivid memories for me. When Steve Austin was at his peak, so was the wrestling industry. And while Austin hasn’t had a match since 2003, the tease of him going one on one with his heir apparent C.M. Punk at next year’s Wrestlemania can’t help but get even this jaded fan excited for his potential return. In the meantime, for fans of Austin and the Attitude era, this DVD set, with 2 discs of matches and one of pure Austin promos, is about as essential viewing as you can get.
And that truly is the bottom line.
You can purchase Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line On The Greatest Superstar Of All Time here.
