Net income in accounting is an entity's income minus expenses for an accounting period.^[1] It is computed as the residual of all revenues and gains over all expenses and losses for the period,^[2] and has also been defined as the net increase in stockholder's equity that results from a company's operations.^[3] In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit and loss.^[1]

Net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit. Profit is a term that "means different things to different people"^[3], and different line items in a financial statement may carry the term "profit", such as gross profit and profit before tax.^[1] In contrast, net income is a precisely defined term in accounting.^[3]

Overview[link]

Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income (also depending on UK and US usage), net earnings and net profit are commonly found as synonyms for net income. Often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is informally called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a company's income statement (a related term is top line, meaning revenue, which forms the first line of the account statement).

The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense (interest expense), and minority interest. Likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, and sales returns and allowances. For a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included.

An equation for net income[link]

Net sales (revenue)

– Cost of goods sold

= Gross profit

– SG&A expenses (combined costs of operating the company)

= EBITDA

– Depreciation & amortization

= EBIT

– Interest expense (cost of borrowing money)

= EBT

– Tax expense

= Net income (EAT)

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} IFRS Foundation. (2012) IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. Retrieved on April 14, 2012 from http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/bnstandards/en/2012/ias1.pdf
2. ^ Stickney, et al. (2009) Financial Accounting: An Introduction to Concepts, Methods, and Uses. Cengage Learning.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Needles, et al. (2010) Financial Accounting. Cengage Learning.

See also[link]

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Coordinates: 40°43′44″N 73°59′43″W / 40.729007°N 73.995162°W / 40.729007; -73.995162

The Bottom Line was a music venue at 15 West Fourth Street between Mercer Street and Greene Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. During 1970s and 1980s the club was a major space for small-scale popular music performances.

History[link]

Owned by Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky, the Bottom Line opened on February 12, 1974 and enjoyed a successful three-decade run, presenting major musical acts and premiering new talent. Bruce Springsteen played showcase gigs at the club and Lou Reed recorded the album Live: Take No Prisoners there. Harry Chapin held his 2000th concert at the Bottom Line in January 1981.

The Bottom Line hosted an extremely wide variety of music and musicians. Among the thousands who performed on its stage were Asım Can Gündüz, Linda Ronstadt, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Loudon Wainwright III, The New York Dolls, Lyle Lovett, The Electric Flag, Pat Martino, Todd Rundgren, Graham Parker, Horslips, Dire Straits, Chris Hillman, Dolly Parton, Tracy Nelson, Emmylou Harris, The Pointer Sisters, Betty Carter, Ravi Shankar, Prince, Ramones, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Mose Allison, Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Ray Barretto, Peter Gabriel, Al Kooper, Tom Waits, Melvin van Peebles, Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka, Billy Joel, Patti Smith, Flo and Eddie, Hall & Oates, Toots and the Maytals, Cheech and Chong, Tower of Power, Tim Hardin, Roger McGuinn, JJ Cale, The Meters, Greg Kihn Band, Ry Cooder, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Sam and Dave and The Ronettes.^[1]

The Bottom Line seated 400 people and had a no smoking policy, long before that restriction became New York City law.

In later years the club hosted In Their Own Words: A Bunch Of Songwriters Sittin' Around Singing, a series of performances with commentary organized and initially hosted by radio personality Vin Scelsa. Another staple was the annual Downtown Messiah, a reworking of Handel directed by Richard Barone. At Christmastime, musicians like Vernon Reid and David Johansen made “The Messiah” their own. Another recurring event was The Beat Goes On, a show in which performers covered pop songs around a theme, such as Christmas songs, or songs from a given time period. That show presented performers including Fountains of Wayne, Richard Lloyd and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch's John Cameron Mitchell. The Bottom Line was also the site, in April 1995, of four concerts by Joan Baez in which she collaborated with a number of female performers, including Dar Williams, Janis Ian, Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Indigo Girls and Mary Black, the results of which were recorded and released as the album Ring Them Bells.

The Bottom Line's cachet faded with time, and by 2003 the club was deeply in debt ($190,000 in back rent, plus several hundred thousand dollars in other expenses) and no longer bringing in large crowds. Its landlord, New York University (NYU), increased the rent to market level, which was beyond the club's ability to pay, and in a contentious negotiation the university threatened eviction. Fans Karen and Carmine DeMarco started a petition on their website in support of the club. Bruce Springsteen offered to pay the club’s back rent if NYU and the owners could settle on a lease. Sirius Satellite Radio offered the same, but rather than risk a takeover, Pepper and Snadowsky closed the club before they could be kicked out. The last Bottom Line show was on January 22, 2004, just shy of the club’s thirtieth anniversary. The building now houses NYU classrooms.

Pepper and Snadowsky are seeking another venue to carry the Bottom Line name. They maintain the Bottom Line Corporate Website, and use it to provide the club's official history and to sell merchandise, including T-shirts. Since 2005, the site has been updated annually on February 12 (anniversary of the club's opening), with a letter detailing their current progress. In February 2007 they announced plans to release a box set of archival recordings on Koch Records. That set is currently in preproduction.

References[link]

Sources

• Bottom Line Corporate Website
• USA Today, "N.Y.'s famous Bottom Line gets reprieve", Oct 23, 2003.
• The Villager, "The Bottom Line tries to avoid end of the line", Oct 29, 2003.
• “CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Bottom Line, a Place Where the Music Always Came First”, Jan 26, 2004

Notes

Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver in September 2011.
Born	Susan Alexandra Weaver (1949-10-08) October 8, 1949 (age 62) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Jim Simpson (m. 1984–present)
Children	Charlotte Simpson
Parents	Sylvester Weaver (deceased) Elizabeth Inglis (deceased)
Relatives	Doodles Weaver (uncle, deceased)

Sigourney Weaver (born Susan Alexandra Weaver; October 8, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for her role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition.

Other notable roles include Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and its sequel Ghostbusters II, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, Working Girl, Death and the Maiden, The Ice Storm, Galaxy Quest, Snow Cake, Prayers for Bobby and Grace Augustine in Avatar.

Weaver has been nominated for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards (one win), two Emmy Awards, six Saturn Awards (two wins) and six Golden Globe Awards, winning two in 1988 for Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl, becoming the first person ever to have won two acting Golden Globe Awards in the same year.^[1] She was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award.

Her 1986 Academy Award nomination for Aliens is considered as a landmark in the recognition of science fiction, action, and horror genres, as well as a major step in challenging the gender role in cinema. Weaver progressively received notoriety for her numerous contributions to the science fiction film history (including minor roles in successful works such as Futurama, WALL-E and Paul) and gained the nickname of "The Sci-Fi Queen".^[2][3][4][5]

Early life[link]

Weaver was born Susan Alexandra Weaver in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Elizabeth Inglis (née Desiree Mary Lucy Hawkins; 1913–2007), an English actress, and the NBC television executive and television pioneer Sylvester "Pat" Weaver (1908–2002).^[6][7][8][9] Her uncle, Doodles Weaver (1911–1983), was a comedian and actor. She began using the name "Sigourney Weaver" in 1963 after a minor character (Sigourney Howard) in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.^[10][11]

Weaver attended the Ethel Walker School, a girls' preparatory school in Simsbury, Connecticut. She also attended The Chapin School. Sigourney was reportedly 5′ 10½″ (179 cm) tall by the age of 14, although she only grew another inch during her teens to her adult height of 5′ 11½″ (182 cm). Weaver attended Sarah Lawrence College as well as Stanford University Bio where she first began her involvement in acting, by living in Stanford's co-ed Beta Chi Community for the Performing Arts.^[12] Weaver earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at the Yale University School of Drama in 1974,^[13] where one of her appearances was in the chorus in a production of Stephen Sondheim's musical version of The Frogs, and another was as one of a mob of Roman soldiers alongside Meryl Streep in another production.^[14] Weaver later acted in original plays by her friend and classmate Christopher Durang. She later appeared in an "Off Broadway" production of Durang's comedy Beyond Therapy in 1981, which was directed by the up-and-coming director Jerry Zaks.

Weaver with her father Pat Weaver in 1989

Film career[link]

Weaver's first role was in Woody Allen's 1977 comedy Annie Hall playing a minor role opposite Allen. Weaver appeared two years later as Warrant Officer/Lieutenant Ripley in Ridley Scott's blockbuster 1979 film Alien. She reprised the role in the three sequels of the Alien movie franchise, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe states, "One of the real pleasures of "Alien" is to watch the emergence of both Ellen Ripley as a character and Sigourney Weaver as a star."^[15] In the sequel Aliens directed by James Cameron critic Roger Ebert exclaims, "Weaver, who is onscreen almost all the time, comes through with a very strong, sympathetic performance: She's the thread that holds everything together."^[16] She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in Aliens, one of the very few actresses honored for a role in a science fiction film. Weaver followed the success of Alien appearing opposite Mel Gibson in The Year of Living Dangerously released to critical acclaim and as Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II.

Sigourney Weaver at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Baby Mama; she played a role in the film.

By the end of the decade Weaver appeared in two of her most memorable and critically acclaimed performances in 1988 as Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist. The same year she appeared opposite Harrison Ford in a supporting role as Katharine Parker in the film Working Girl. Weaver won Golden Globe awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for her two roles that year. She received two Academy Award nominations in 1988, for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Working Girl and Best Actress for Gorillas in the Mist, making her one of the few actors nominated for two acting awards in the same year. By the early 1990s Weaver appeared in several films including Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, earning her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress and winning a BAFTA Award, followed by Dave opposite Kevin Kline and Frank Langella. She played the role of agoraphobic criminal psychologist Helen Hudson in the 1995 movie Copycat. Weaver also concentrated on smaller and supporting roles throughout the decade such as Jeffrey (1994), Galaxy Quest (1999), and A Map of the World (1999) earning her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

In 2001, she appeared in the comedy Heartbreakers playing the lead role of a con artist alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ray Liotta, Gene Hackman and Anne Bancroft. She appeared in several films throughout the decade including Holes (2003), the M. Night Shyamalan horror film The Village (2004), Vantage Point (2008), and Baby Mama (2008). Weaver also returned to Rwanda for the BBC special Gorillas Revisited. She was voted 20th in Channel 4's countdown of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars of All Time, being one of only two women in the Top 20 (the other was Audrey Hepburn).

In 2009, Weaver starred as Mary Griffith in her first made-for-TV movie, Prayers for Bobby, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award,^[17] Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. She also guest starred in the TV show Eli Stone in the fall of 2008.^[18] She reunited with Aliens director James Cameron for his 2009 film Avatar with Weaver playing a major part as Dr. Grace Augustine, leader of the AVTR (avatar) program on the film's fictional moon Pandora. The film has the distinction of being the highest grossing film of all time.

Weaver in December 2009

Weaver has done voice work in television and film. She had a guest role in the Futurama episode "Love and Rocket" in February 2002, playing the female Planet Express Ship. In 2006, she was the narrator for the American version of the Emmy Award-winning series Planet Earth. Also in 2006, Weaver narrated "A Matter of Degrees", a short film that plays daily at The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (The Wild Center) in Tupper Lake, New York. In 2008, Weaver was featured as the voice of the ship's computer in the Pixar and Disney release, WALL•E. She also voiced a narrating role in another computer-animated film, 2008's The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo. Weaver has also expressed interest in starring in a fifth Alien film. Ivan Reitman has confirmed that Weaver will reprise her role as Dana Barrett^[19] in the rumored third Ghostbusters movie due for release in 2012.^[20]

Weaver at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival

Weaver has hosted two episodes of the long-running NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live: once on the 12th season premiere in 1986, and again, on a season 35 episode in January 2010. In March 2010, she was cast for the lead role as Queen of the Vampires in Amy Heckerling's Vamps.^[21] She was honored at the 2010 Scream Awards earning The Heroine Award which honored her work in science fiction, horror and fantasy films. In May 2010, there were reports that Weaver had been cast for the lead role Margaret Matheson in the Spanish thriller film Red Lights.^[22]

In September 2011, it was confirmed that Weaver will be returning to Avatar 2, with James Cameron stating that "no one ever dies in science fiction."^[23]

Personal life[link]

Weaver was engaged to reporter Aaron Latham in 1967.^[24] She has been married to the filmmaker Jim Simpson since October 1, 1984.^{[citation needed]} They are the parents of one daughter, Charlotte Simpson, who was born on April 13, 1990.^[25]

After making Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, she became a supporter of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and is now the DFGFI's honorary chairperson.^[26] Weaver is an environmentalist.^[27] In October 2006, she drew international attention through a news conference at the start of a United Nations General Assembly policy deliberation. She outlined the widespread threat to ocean habitats posed by deep-sea trawling, an industrial method for harvesting fish. On April 8, 2008, she hosted the annual gala of the Trickle Up Program, a non-profit organization focusing on those in extreme poverty, mainly women and the disabled, in the Rainbow Room.^[28]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Documentaries[link]

Video games[link]

Other accolades[link]

Lifetime Achievement[link]

Theatre awards[link]

Other[link]

Stage credits[link]

• Better Dead Than Sorry (1971, Yale Cabaret) as Jenny^[31]
• Story Theatre (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival)^[32]
• Sarah B. Divine! (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Anita, the Eternal Maid^[33]
• The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Dockdaisy^[34]
• The Rat Trap (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Cynthia Muldoon^[35]
• Once in a Lifetime (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Florabel Leigh^[36]
• The Elephant Calf (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival)^[37]
• The Tempest (1973, Yale Repertory Theatre)^[38]
• Watergate Classics (1973-4, Yale Repertory Theatre)^[38]
• Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1974, Yale University Theatre)^[38]
• The Nature and Purpose of the Universe (1974, Direct Theatre) as Eleanor (workshop production)^[39]
• The Frogs (1974, Yale Repertory Theatre) as member of the Chorus^[40]
• The Constant Wife (1975, Shubert Theatre, understudy) as Marie-Louise Durham^[41]
• Titanic (1976, Direct Theatre) as Lidia/Annabella/Harriet^[42]
• Das Lusitania Songspiel (1976, Van Dam Theatre)^[43]
• Gemini (1976, Playwright's Horizons) as Judith Hastings^[44]
• Marco Polo Sings a Solo (1977, Public/Newman Theatre) as Freydis^[45]
• Conjuring an Event (1978, American Place Theatre) as Annabella^[46]
• A Flea in Her Ear (1978, Hartford Stage)^[47]
• New Jerusalem (1979, Public Theater)^[48]
• Das Lusitania Songspiel (new version) (1980, Westside Theatre).^[49] Also co-authored the play with Christopher Durang.
• Lone Star (1980) as Elizabeth
• Beyond Therapy (1981, Phoenix Theatre) as Prudence^[50]
• As You Like It (1981, Dallas Festival of Shakespeare) as Rosalind
• Animal Kingdom (1982, Berkshire Festival) as Cecelia Henry^[51]
• Old Times (1983, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Anna^[52]
• Hurlyburly (1984-5, Ethel Barrymore Theatre) as Darlene.^[53]
• A Streetcar Named Desire (1986, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Stella Kowalski^[54]
• The Merchant of Venice (1986-7, Classic Stage Company) as Portia^[55]
• The Show-Off (1988, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Clara^[56]
• Sex and Longing (1996, Cort Theatre) as Lulu^[57]
• The Guys (2001-2, The Flea Theater) as Joan^[58]
• The Mercy Seat (2002, Acorn Theatre) as Abby Prescott^[59]
• Mrs Farnsworth (2004, The Flea Theater) as Marjorie Farnsworth^[60]
• Crazy Mary (2007, Playwright's Horizons) as Lydia^[61]
• Love Letters (2007, The Flea Theater, single benefit performance) as Melissa Gardner^[62]
• Love Letters (2008, The Detroit Film Theatre, single benefit performance) as Melissa Gardner^[63]

Soundtrack discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sigourney Weaver

• Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Movie Database
• Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• BBC News article on Sigourney Weaver
• Daily Telegraph interview with Sigourney Weaver
• Sigourney Weaver at Emmys.com

Stone Cold Steve Austin
"Austin" at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2010.
Born	Steven James Anderson (1964-12-18) December 18, 1964 (age 47) Victoria, Texas, U.S.
Other names	Steven James Williams
Occupation	Actor/Professional Wrestler
Years active	1989–2003 (wrestler) 1998–present (actor)
Spouse	Kathryn Burrhus (1990–1992) Jeannie Clark (1992–1999) Debra Marshall (2000–2003)
Website
Broken Skull Ranch

Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson, later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964),^[1] better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Austin wrestled for several well-known wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and most famously, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Described by WWE (formerly the WWF) chairman Vince McMahon as the most profitable wrestler in the company's history,^[2] he gained significant mainstream popularity in the WWF during the mid-to-late 1990s as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, a disrespectful, beer-drinking antihero who routinely defied McMahon, his boss.^[3] This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping off McMahon and incapacitating him with the Stone Cold Stunner, his finishing move.^[4] McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

Austin held twenty championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is a six-time WWF Champion as well as the fifth Triple Crown Champion. He was also the winner of the 1996 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the 1997, 1998 and 2001 Royal Rumbles. He was forced to retire from in ring competition in early 2003 due to a series of knee and neck injuries sustained throughout his career. Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, he was featured as the Co-General Manager and "Sheriff" of Raw. Since 2005, he has continued to make occasional appearances. In 2011, Steve Austin returned to WWE to host the reality series Tough Enough.

Early life[link]

Austin was born Steven James Anderson in Victoria, Texas. After his father left the family, his mother, Beverly, re-married to Ken Williams, and Austin adopted his stepfather's surname, and spent most of his childhood in Edna, Texas^[1] After attending high school, Austin got a football scholarship at Wharton County Junior College, followed by a full scholarship at North Texas State University.

Professional wrestling career[link]

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
Ring name(s)	"Stone Cold" Steve Austin[5] The Ringmaster "Stunning" Steve Austin "Superstar" Steve Austin
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[6]
Billed weight	252 lb (114 kg)[6]
Born	(1964-12-18) December 18, 1964 (age 47)[1] Austin, Texas[7]
Resides	Los Angeles, California
Billed from	Victoria, Texas[6]
Trained by	Chris Adams[8][9]
Debut	May 11, 1989[8]
Retired	March 30, 2003[8]

World Championship Wrestling (1991–1995)[link]

After some time, Austin decided to become a professional wrestler and enrolled at the wrestling school run by Chris Adams, whose school was run out of the Dallas Sportatorium where he was wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling. Austin made his debut in World Class in 1989 under his real name, but was later given the name "Steve Austin" by Memphis-area booker Dutch Mantel. Austin's run in Memphis was part of the merger between World Class and the Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis, with the combined company known as the United States Wrestling Association. Austin would eventually return to Dallas and feud with Adams, with Percy Pringle and Jeannie Adams (Adams' real-life former wife and Austin's girlfriend at the time) as his valets. It was during this time Austin adopted the "Stunning" nickname that followed him to WCW.

Austin left WCCW after its final folding in 1990 and signed with WCW the next year. He was originally paired with a valet named Vivacious Veronica,^[10] but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as "Lady Blossom".^[9][10] Just weeks after his debut, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991. Later that year, Austin joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance.^[9][11] Austin lost the WCW Television Championship to Barry Windham in a two out of three falls match on April 27, 1992. He regained the title from Windham on May 23.

Austin enjoyed a second lengthy reign before losing to Ricky Steamboat on September 2, 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter.^[12] At Halloween Havoc, he replaced Terry Gordy, teaming with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team title.^[12] The teams wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw.^[12]

In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team known as The Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman.^[9] They won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on March 3, defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. The Hollywood Blonds held the title for five months.^[9] At Clash of the Champions XXIII the Blonds faced Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a two-out-of-three-falls tag Team title match. Flair and Anderson defeated the Blonds, but were not awarded the title as one fall had been determined by a disqualification.^[13] At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend their title against Anderson and Paul Roma. An injured Pillman, however, was replaced by Steven Regal. Austin and Regal lost to Anderson and Roma.^[14] With Pillman still injured, Austin joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable.^[15] After Pillman returned, Austin betrayed and defeated him in a singles match at Clash of the Champions XXV.^[16]

At Starrcade, in a two-out-of-three-falls match, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes in two straight falls to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.^[9] Austin lost the title to Ricky Steamboat on August 24, 1994. Austin was scheduled to face Steamboat in a rematch for the title at Fall Brawl, but Steamboat was unable to wrestle due to a back injury, and Austin was awarded the title by forfeit. His second reign as US Champion ended just minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan in a match that lasted thirty-five seconds.^[17] Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX.^[18][19] After returning from a knee injury in early 1995, Austin took part in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight title, where he defeated Duggan via count-out in the first round, but lost to Randy "Macho Man" Savage in the quarterfinals.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)[link]

In 1995, Austin was fired by WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff, after suffering a triceps injury, while wrestling on a Japanese tour; Bischoff and WCW did not see Austin as a 'marketable' wrestler.^[9][20] Austin described his opinion on being fired over the phone as Eric Bischoff having taken the coward's way out. Eventually, Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), who had managed him in WCW.^[9] Heyman hired Austin to do in-ring interviews, as he still had not recovered from his injury enough to wrestle.^[21] While in ECW, Austin used the platform to develop his future "Stone Cold" persona as well as a series of vignettes running down WCW in general and Bischoff in particular, most memorably in several promos that mocked his then-status as WCW Monday Nitro host by introducing Monday NyQuil, where he was joined by "Bongo" (a set of drums, meant to represent Steve "Mongo" McMichael) in promoting the show "where the big boys play with each other".^[9][21]

While with ECW, Austin was known as "Superstar" Steve Austin.^[22] He had a match with The Sandman and feuded with Mikey Whipwreck.^[22] Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion at the time, defeated Austin at November to Remember.^[23] The Sandman defeated Steve Austin and Whipwreck in a Triple Threat match at December to Dismember in 1995 for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.^[24] Heyman would later state that he had wanted Austin to win the ECW Title, but Austin had refused because he felt he was more effective "as the hunter, rather than the hunted."

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1995–2002)[link]

The Ringmaster (1995–1996)[link]

In late 1995, Austin joined the WWF after Kevin Nash and Jim Ross helped convince WWE's owner Vince McMahon to hire him.^[9][22] Initially, Austin wrestled as "The Ringmaster" and was managed by Ted DiBiase,^[9] who awarded him with the Million Dollar Championship.^[25] He defeated Savio Vega at in his first WrestleMania appearance, at WrestleMania XII.^[26] During this time, Austin shaved his head bald. At In Your House: Beware of Dog, Austin lost a "Caribbean Strap match" to Vega. In accordance to the pre-match stipulations, DiBiase was forced to leave the WWF, giving Austin the opportunity to forge his own path.^[27] Austin later told announcer Dok Hendrix that he had purposely lost the match in order to rid himself of DiBiase, who was headed for rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Austin 3:16, feud with The Hart Foundation and rise to superstardom (1996–1997)[link]

Austin's genuine rise to superstardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring. Austin began using his trademark finishing maneuver, the Stone Cold Stunner (a move that was used previously by Jimmy Garvin, while the two were in WCW); with this new technique, he won the King of the Ring tournament.^[9] After defeating Marc Mero in the semi-finals, Austin defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the finals.^[9][27] At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian, so after the match, Austin cut a now famous promo during his coronation, telling Roberts,^[28] "You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!". "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the most popular catch phrases in wrestling history,^[9] and subsequently the slogan became one of the best-selling t-shirts in WWE merchandise history. It is also credited as the iconic moment that began the WWF's "Attitude Era", along with the Montreal Screwjob.

Austin in 1996.

Austin spoke about Bret Hart constantly and taunted him relentlessly. Hart finally accepted Austin's challenge and returned to the WWF in October 1996. At Survivor Series, in a match to determine the number-one contender to the WWF Championship, Hart pinned Austin in a match which helped create the foundations for the eventual year-long feud between the two.^[27] The match came hot on the heels of an incident broadcast live on Raw, which saw Austin "break into" Brian Pillman's house, with Pillman holding a gun. During the 1997 Royal Rumble match, Austin was originally eliminated by Bret Hart, but the officials did not see it, and he snuck back into the ring and eliminated Hart by throwing him over the ropes, winning the match himself.^[29] This led to the first-ever pay-per-view main event of Austin's WWF career at In Your House 13: Final Four, after Shawn Michaels suffered a knee injury and left the WWF Championship suddenly vacant. Austin was eliminated early from the four-way match at In Your House 13 for the title after injuring his own knee, but was involved in the finish which saw Hart win his fourth WWF Championship,^[27] which he lost the next night on Raw to Sycho Sid due to Austin's interference, continuing his feud with Hart. At WrestleMania 13, Hart defeated Austin in a 'Submission' match with Ken Shamrock as a special referee. During the match, Austin had been cut and was bleeding profusely from his face, but he still refused to tap out when Hart locked in his Sharpshooter. Austin finally passed out from blood loss, still held in the Sharpshooter, and lost the match. Hart, after the bell, continued to assault Austin, who despite his wounds refused any assistance back to the locker room, thus turning Hart heel and Austin babyface in a rare double-turn.^[27] Austin eventually got his revenge on Hart in the main event of In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, in a match to determine the number-one contender to The Undertaker's WWF Championship. Austin won when Hart was disqualified due to assistance from The British Bulldog, earning him a title match against The Undertaker at In Your House 15: A Cold Day In Hell. Austin faced Hart once again in a street fight on the April 21 episode of Raw, injuring his opponent's leg with a steel chair during the bout. The match was ultimately awarded to Hart when Austin refused to let go of his own Sharpshooter. He proceeded to beat Hart while on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. At A Cold Day In Hell, Austin had The Undertaker down with the Stunner, but while distracted with a timely interference by Brian Pillman, Stone Cold's old tag partner, Undertaker nailed Austin with a Tombstone Piledriver and achieved the victory.^[27]