Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Name	Savio Vega
Names	The BossT.N.T.KwangKwang the Ninja />Savio Vega
Height
Weight
Birth date	August 10, 1964
Birth place	Vega Alta, Puerto Rico
Billed	The Orient (as Kwang)The South Bronx (as Savio Vega)
Debut	1987

Juan Rivera (born August 10, 1964) is a professional wrestler best known under the name Savio Vega. During the late 1990s, he was an active wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Outside of Puerto Rico, he has won major titles in Latin America including Panama's Revolution X-Treme Wrestling, Ecuador's Wrestling Alliance Revolution and Mexico's World Wrestling Association.

Early career

World Wrestling Council (1987-1993)

Rivera was born in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico where he received his primary and secondary education. After he graduated from high school, he went to Miami, Florida, where he auditioned for the WWF. He was accepted and sent back to Puerto Rico, where he wrestled for the World Wrestling Council and was managed by El Profe and feuded with Chicky Starr, Abdullah the Butcher, Rip Rogers and Carlos Colón. In 1989, he debuted under the identity of “T.N.T.” and once he had gained enough wrestling experience, he was sent back to the United States.

World Wrestling Federation (1994-2000)

Kwang (1994-1995)

After several weeks of hype, Rivera debuted the gimmick of the masked martial artist Kwang in January 1994. In vein of mysterious "Asian" wrestlers, Kwang would spit mist in his opponents' faces. Managed by Harvey Wippleman, Kwang was primarily successful against enhancement talent but usually on the losing end against bigger name stars.

Savio Vega (1995-1998)

On May 14, 1995, the Kwang gimmick was dropped, as Rivera appeared in street clothes during the WWF's first In Your House pay-per-view. When wrestler Razor Ramon was being attacked after a match by Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie, Rivera jumped over the rails and rescued Razor Ramon. Later on in the PPV, Ramon introduced his rescuer as his friend, the fiery Puerto Rican Savio Vega.

Vega enjoyed some measure of popularity during the remainder of 1995. He competed four times in one night at the King of the Ring, beating IRS, Yokozuna and The Roadie before losing to Mabel in the finals (his match against IRS was a qualifying match for the spot vacated by the injured Ramon).

The next night on Monday Night RAW, Vega came within inches of defeating Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title. Vega would spend the rest of the year teaming with Razor Ramon.

In 1996, Vega fought Stone Cold Steve Austin in both men's WrestleMania debut. Austin would defeat Vega. A few months later, the two had a rematch at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog. They fought in a Caribbean Strap Match. Unlike WrestleMania, Vega was victorious this time. According to the stipulations, Austin's manager Ted DiBiase had to leave the WWF. Thus, this was DiBiase's last appearance on WWF programming until 2005. Also during this time, he was the first recipient of Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner.

Nation of Domination (1997)

In February 1997, Vega became a member of the Nation of Domination with fellow wrestlers Crush, D'Lo Brown and Faarooq. He joined after turning on partner Ahmed Johnson during a tag team match. Vega would leave the group in June 1997.

Los Boricuas (1997-1998)

After Vega left the Nation of Domination , he formed his own alliance known as Los Boricuas with Miguel Perez, Jose Estrada, and Jesus Castillo. This group feuded with Faarooq's Nation of Domination and Crush's Disciples of Apocalypse. In late 1998, Vega competed in the WWF Brawl for All tournament, making it to the quarterfinals before he lost to Darren Drozdov. He was released later that year.

IWA and international promotions (2001-present)

While wrestling in the International Wrestling Association (IWA), he competed in Revolution X-treme Wrestling based in Panama, performing in a royal rumble to determine the winner of the vacant RXW World Heavyweight Championship , where he won the event. On November 24, 2007 he became the leader of a new heel stable known as ''Los Auntenticos'' along Miguel Pérez, Jr. and Ricky Vega. This faction was quickly involved in an angle dealing with a power struggle with several other stables within the company. On January 2008, he began an international tour. This tour began with a presentation in Boston for Power House Wrestling Of New England. And continued with a visit to Ecuador where he would defend the Wrestling Alliance Revolution Tag Team Championship. The tour concluded in Panama where he defended the company's title against Ricky Banderas. In PHW he participated in a tag team match, where he teamed with a wrestler using the name Don Vega. They defeated a team that included the company's heavyweight champion. He would then compete in "WAR Conquest 2008", a special event organized by Wrestling Alliance Revolution. In this event he defended the company's tag team championship along Condor Ortiz, in a match that they lose after Ortiz accidentally kicked Vega. Following the match he turned on Ortiz, and subsequently challenged Kuervo, the company's heavyweight champion to a title match on the event. The encounter happened later in card, and Kuervo retained by disqualification after Vega spit green mist on his face. Since July 2008, Rivera worked as a road agent for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

The ''Los Auntenticos'' angle continued in April 2008, when Vega returned to Puerto Rico. The group would then create a "terror list" where the names of former WWC employees were written. This list was used in a new angle were the stable would ambush and attack wrestlers that were randomly selected from the list. During the following summer Vega alternated his work between the IWA, Division One Pro Wrestling (D1PW) in Florida and Nu-Wrestling Evolution in Spain. Vega retained the RXW championship twice in June, against Ricky Vega and PJD. On March 21, 2009, Vega defended and lost the RXW World Heavyweight Title in a rematch against Panama Jack Daniels. Vega was released from his TNA contract on July 31, 2009. On October 2, 2009, Vega participated in a Wrestling Alliance Revolution card, defeating AP Dynamite for the WAR World Heavyweight Championship. On November 1, 2009, Vega and Pérez participated in a Dominican Wrestling Entertainment card, being booked to win the DWE World Tag Team Championship.

Total Nonstop Action wrestling (2008-2009)

In July 2008, Rivera began working as a road agent for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. After a year, Savio Vega was released from his contract on July 31, 2009.

Interpromotional angle; IWA vs. WWC (2010)

In June 2010, Rivera was contacted by Hugo Savinovich in order to become involved in an angle with IWA's main rival, WWC. Savinovich serves as the producer of Aniversario, the WWC's main annual event. While still in negotiation, Rivera appeared in a talk show along Carlos Colón. Promotion of the angle began here by staging a spot where he criticized Carlito's supposed addiction to painkillers, prompting Colón to leave the stage. This marked the first time that both performed together in over a decade, following a lawsuit filled by WWC over the character "TNT". During the following weeks Rivera continued this line by issuing two challenges in IWA events, as well as changing the name of his finisher to "La Painkiller". During this timeframe, he resumed his role as an active wrestler within IWA, defeating Joe Bravo in a one-on-one match.

In wrestling

As Savio Vega

*Finishing moves

** ''La Painkiller'' (Superkick)

**Spinning heel kick

*Signature moves

** ''La Cobra Dinamita'' (Cobra clutch)

**Jumping high kick

As Kwang

*Finishing moves

**Spin kick

**Spinning heel kick

*Signature moves

**Asian mist

**Knife edge chop

**Superkick

**Throat thrust

Managers

Harvey Wippleman

Championships and accomplishments

Americas Wrestling Federation

:*AWF Americas Championship (1 time)

International Wrestling Association

:*IWA Hardcore Championship (1 time) :*IWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times) :*IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Miguel Pérez, Jr.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

:*PWI ranked him #321 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003

World Wrestling Association

:*WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Council

:*WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (3 times) :*WWC North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*WWC World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mr. Pogo :*WWC World Television Championship (5 times)

Revolution X-Treme Wrestling

:*RXW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Wrestling Alliance Revolution

:*WAR Tag Team Championship (1 time) :*WAR World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Dominican Wrestling Entertainment

:*DWE World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Miguel Pérez, Jr.

Personal life

Rivera was born in the town of Vega Alta (where the “Vega” in his wrestling name comes from), where he received his primary education. He participated in wrestling events during his high school years.

See also

List of famous Puerto Ricans

References

http://www.thewrestlinggame.com/wrestling/news/tna_releases_2_workers.asp

External links

Savio Vega's Profile on onlineworldofwrestling.com

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Puerto Rican professional wrestlers Category:Puerto Rican sportspeople

es:Savio Vega ja:サビオ・ベガ pt:Savio Vega

Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Name	Jim Neidhart
Names	Jim NeidhartWho
Height
Weight
Birth date	February 08, 1955
Birth place	Tampa, Florida
Resides	Land O' Lakes, Florida
Billed	Reno, Nevada
Trainer	Stu Hart
Debut	1979
Retired	}}

James Henry "Jim" Neidhart (born February 8, 1955) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, and is the father of WWE Diva Natalya. Among other accolades, he is a two-time WWF Tag Team Champion with Bret Hart as part of the original Hart Foundation.

Neidhart holds dual citizenship with Canada and the United States.

Early life

Neidhart had an athletic career prior to his entrance into the world of professional wrestling. He first gained acclaim during high school for his success in many strength-oriented track and field events. A talented shot putter, Neidhart held the California high school record in the event from 1973–1985 for Newport Harbor High School (a school which was later made famous for its central role in the hit television show The O.C.). After graduating high school, Neidhart pursued a career in the National Football League, where he may have played briefly for the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys in practices and preseason games. Although some biographies state that he played in the NFL for those teams, DatabaseFootball.com contains no evidence that Neidhart ever recorded actual playing time in an NFL regular season game. In a shoot interview, Neidhart said that he spent some time in jail and actually saw Charles Manson during this period, as well.

Neidhart achieved his nickname from setting a record at the Calgary Stampede games for throwing an anvil further than anyone else. Stu Hart had given him $500 to enter and win and from then, Helen nicknamed him the 'Anvil'.

Wrestling career

Early career

Following his release from the Dallas Cowboys, Neidhart traveled to Calgary to train with Stu Hart and pursue a career in professional wrestling. He worked for Stampede Wrestling, Hart's Calgary based promotion, for several years, during which time he married Ellie Hart, one of Stu's daughters. He thus became the brother-in-law of fellow wrestlers Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Ross Hart, Keith Hart, and Davey Boy Smith, and later the uncle of wrestlers Teddy Hart and Harry Smith.

World Wrestling Federation (1985–1992)

When Stu Hart sold Stampede Wrestling to Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Neidhart and Bret Hart were included in the deal. Originally, McMahon had Neidhart slated to perform as a singles wrestler managed by Jimmy Hart – who has no relation to the Hart family – and Bret Hart was asked to play under a "cowboy" gimmick. But after a short time, Bret requested to drop the gimmick. Hart himself suggested that he be teamed with team with "The Anvil" and his manager Jimmy Hart and be called the Hart Foundation.

While in the WWF, Hart and Neidhart formed a highly successful tag team, "The Hart Foundation". At first they were a heel team managed by "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart. The Hart Foundation made their Pay-per-view debut at Wrestlemania 2 when they were the last 2 eliminated by Andre the Giant in a 20 man invitational Battle royal.

Jimmy Hart led The Hart Foundation to their first Tag Team Championship in January 1987 by defeating two other former Stampede wrestlers, the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid) on the Superstars of Wrestling with the help of heel Referee "Dangerous" Danny Davis. They would hold the belts until October 1987 when they dropped the belts to Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) when Neidhart submitted to Martel's Boston crab.

Used as mid-carders in early 1988, the Hart Foundation wrestled in another 20 man Battle Royal at Wrestlemania IV before starting a feud with The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. In the summer of 1988, the Hart Foundation fired Jimmy Hart and turned face when Hart started managing the Foundation's rivals The Rougeau's who, in the storyline, also gained 25% of the Foundations contract and subsequent money. The Hart Foundation unsuccessfully challenged Demolition (Ax and Smash) for the Tag-Team titles at SummerSlam 88 when Ax hit Hart with Jimmy Hart's megaphone. The Foundation would continue feuding with Jimmy Hart's wrestlers for the next year, teaming with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan to defeat Dino Bravo and The Rougeau's in a two out of three falls match at the 1989 Royal Rumble before defeating The Honky Tonk Man and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine at Wrestlemania V. They then faced the Tag Team Champions the Brain Busters in a non-title match at SummerSlam 89 where they lost pushing then further from regaining their titles.

The Hart Foundation was split in late 1989 as both Bret Hart and Neidhart began wrestling singles matches to varying degrees of success. The Anvil was often pitted against other "power" wrestlers such as The Warlord during this period.

The Hart Foundation re-formed in early 1990 and started challenging for the titles almost immediately. At Wrestlemania VI in Toronto, Canada, they defeated The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov) in just 19 seconds following which they started a second feud with champions Demolition, who by this time had added Crush due to Bill Eadie's ongoing health problems. They won their second Tag Team Championship by defeating Demolition at SummerSlam 90 in a two out of three falls match. Jimmy Hart was also instrumental in ending the team's second championship reign at WrestleMania VII when he led The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) to the titles against his former team, after Jimmy's distraction of the referee allowed Sags to knock out Neidhart with a helmet.

After Bret split off into singles competition, Neidhart went to the announce table, commenting for Wrestling Challenge, alongside Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. In the fall of 1991, he returned to the ring, but only to be injured by Ric Flair during a match held on the November 9 episode of Superstars, followed by an ambush by the Beverly Brothers. Neidhart was removed from the annual Survivor Series 1991, but returned soon after teaming up with Owen Hart (Bret's little brother) as "The New Foundation." The New Foundation saw moderate success including a win over The Orient Express (Kato and Tanaka at the Royal Rumble 92 Pay-Per View. Following the win, Neidhart would leave the WWF.

World Championship Wrestling (1993)

After a stint wrestling in Japan, Neidhart had a brief run in World Championship Wrestling in 1993, competing in lower card matches and teaming with The Junkyard Dog on occasion.

Return to the WWF (1994–1997)

Neidhart reappeared in the WWF at King of the Ring 1994 as the mystery cornerman of Bret in his WWF Championship defense against Intercontinental Champion Diesel. The finish saw Diesel Jackknife Bret to the canvas, which would have assured him of capturing the Federation championship. Neidhart, however, interfered, costing Bret the match, but allowing him to retain his title. Following the match, Bret was subject to a beatdown at the hands of Diesel and Shawn Michaels, but Neidhart did not come to Bret's aide. Later in the night, Neidhart reappeared at ringside during Owen's match against Razor Ramon in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament. Neidhart assaulted Ramon behind the referee's back, allowing Owen to become the second WWF King of the Ring (after his brother Bret, who was King in 1993) on pay-per-view.

Owen was mired in a feud with Bret stemming from the 1994 Royal Rumble. Neidhart believed Owen when he said that Bret had been holding him down all his life and sided with him against his former tag team partner. Usually seconding Owen in his matches throughout the summer of 1994, Neidhart was seated in the third row at SummerSlam 1994 behind members of the Hart family, as well as Davey Boy Smith for the steel cage match pitting Bret against Owen for the Federation championship; this was the title that Neidhart had saved for Hart back at the King of the Ring so Owen could claim it at SummerSlam. Following a grueling match-up, Bret emerged triumphant, but was later subject to another beating at the hands of Owen and Neidhart, who locked themselves inside the caged ring while members of the Hart family tried to climb over the top to get in and help Bret. Neidhart joined Owen as part of Shawn Michaels' "Teamsters" team at Survivor Series 1994. After eliminating all the members of Razor Ramon's "Bad Guys" team except for Razor himself, Michaels inadvertently hit Diesel with the Sweet Chin Music. This move split up their tag team, as Diesel chased Michaels down the aisle. This cost their team the match as Neidhart and Owen were counted out along with the rest of the "Teamsters". Following Survivor Series, Neidhart disappeared from the WWF.

In 1996, he had a very short stint as the masked wrestler named Who, a gimmick purely designed for commentators Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler to make Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" jokes during his matches. He last wore the mask at SummerSlam 1996 as part of the "Bikini Beach Blast-Off" party held during the Free For All pre-show.

In 1996 Jim Neidhart wrestled for the independent New York based promotion Ultimate Championship Wrestling or UCW,where he wrestled with the likes of Tatanka, his brother-in-law Bruce Hart, Falcon Coperis Louis Velazquez, King Kong Bundy and Marty Jannetty.

World Championship Wrestling; Second run (1997–1998,1999)

He later reunited with Bret as part of his stable of Canadian sympathizers in the WWF in 1997. After Bret left the company on bad terms because of the incident in 1997 which would go down in history as the Montreal Screwjob, Neidhart followed him to World Championship Wrestling (though not immediately, as he would be beaten up and humiliated, on the November 24 episode of Raw, by D-Generation X prior to his departure) where he formed a tag team with The British Bulldog, who also followed Bret there. Although this was his first true big-money deal, they were rarely utilized by WCW. They achieved little in-ring success, and he was eventually released and returned to the independent circuit.He was inducted into the WCW Hall Of Fame in 1999.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2007)

On ''Raw XV'', the 15th-anniversary ''WWE Raw'' special on December 10, 2007, Neidhart participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal, eventually making it to the final five before being eliminated by Skinner.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2009)

Neidhart appeared in TNA on the November 12, 2009, edition of ''Impact!'' winning against Jay Lethal in his initial open challenge thrown out to the legends of professional wrestling.

Personal life

Neidhart continues to wrestle all over the world on the independent circuit and is pursuing a career in "micro-asset classes" and real estate.

Neidhart and wife Ellie have three daughters – Jennifer, a gourmet chef and caterer, Natalya, and Kristen ("Muffy"), who was married in early June 2007. Natalya is also a professional wrestler and is currently signed to WWE.

Media

On April 6, 2010, World Wrestling Entertainment released Hart & Soul: The Hart Family Anthology, which is a 3 DVD set featuring a documentary on the Hart wrestling family (including Jim Neidhart) as well as 12 matches. It is unique in that it also features previously unseen home movies from the Harts as well as candid interviews from surviving family members.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Anvil Flattener'' (Front powerslam)

''Anvilizer'' (Cobra clutch)

Signature moves

Camel clutch

Leaping shoulder block

With Bret Hart

*''Hart Attack''

With Owen Hart

*Rocket Launcher

Managers

*Mr. Fuji

Jimmy Hart

Championships and accomplishments

Championship Wrestling from Florida

*NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' (1 time)

*NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' (1 time) – with Krusher Khruschev

Memphis Championship Wrestling

*MCW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Blue Meanie

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation

*MEWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Mid-South Wrestling

*Mid-South Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Butch Reed

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked him # 61 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1994

PWI ranked him # 189 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

PWI ranked him # 37 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years with Bret Hart in 2003.

Pro Wrestling Ohio

*PWO Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Greg Valentine

Stampede Wrestling

*Stampede International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Hercules Ayala (1) and Mr. Hito (1)

Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame

Universal Wrestling Alliance

*UWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Federation

*WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bret Hart

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*Feud of the Year (1997) with Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and Brian Pillman vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

References

External links

Online World of Wrestling profile

Bodyslamming.com profile

MuscleSport Radio Interview

Solie's title histories

Hart Family News

Category:1955 births Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Canadian professional wrestlers Category:Dallas Cowboys players Category:Living people Category:Oakland Raiders players Category:People from Calgary Category:People from Tampa, Florida

de:James Neidhart es:Jim Neidhart fr:Jim Neidhart it:Jim Neidhart nl:Jim Neidhart ja:ジム・ナイドハート pl:Jim Neidhart pt:Jim Neidhart

Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Name	John Layfield
Names	Bad SantaBlackjack BradshawBradshawDeath MaskJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)John HawkJohnny HawkJustin "Hawk" BradshawVampiro Americano
Height
Weight
Birth date	November 29, 1966
Birth place	Sweetwater, Texas
Resides	Bermuda
Billed	New York City
Trainer	Black BartBrad Rheingans
Debut	September 23, 1992
Retired	April 5, 2009 }}

John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966) is a former American professional wrestler and a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League. Layfield is best known by his ring names, Bradshaw, John "Bradshaw" Layfield or JBL while working for WWE, where he was the longest reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history with a reign lasting 280 days.

Layfield's main gimmick as John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) – a wealthy, gladhanding, big-mouthed, fiery-tempered businessman – was based on Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. Layfield is a regular panelist on Fox News Channel's ''The Cost of Freedom'', has appeared on CNBC, and has written a best-selling book on financial planning called ''Have More Money Now.'' (ISBN 0-7434-6633-0). Layfield also hosts a weekend talk radio program, syndicated nationally by Talk Radio Network, in which he discusses his conservative political views. Layfield is also employed by Northeast Securities as its Senior Vice President.

In WWE, Layfield won 24 total championships including one reign as WWE Champion, one reign as United States Champion, one reign as European Champion, seventeen reigns as Hardcore Champion, one reign as Intercontinental Champion, and three reigns as World Tag Team Champion with Faarooq as part of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA). He is also recognized as the twentieth Triple Crown Champion, and the tenth Grand Slam Champion.

Football

Prior to his professional wrestling career, Layfield was a collegiate American football coach for Trinity Valley Community College and player for Abilene Christian University. At Abilene, Layfield was a two-year starter on the offensive line and was named first-team All-Lone Star Conference as a junior and senior.

Layfield signed with the Los Angeles Raiders as an undrafted free agent, but was released before the 1990 season began. Layfield did play in the World League of American Football, starting all ten games of the 1991 season at right tackle for the San Antonio Riders, wearing jersey number 61.

Professional wrestling career

Global Wrestling Federation (1992–1994)

Layfield was trained initially by Brad Rheingans and first started wrestling in the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) in Texas. His first gimmick was as Johnny Hawk, storyline cousin of the Windham brothers. He formed the tag team "Texas Mustangs" with Bobby Duncum, Jr.; they quickly won the GWF Tag Team Championship from Rough Riders (Black Bart and Johnny MantellE) on November 27 but dropped the titles to Bad Breed (Ian and Axl Rotten) on January 29, 1993. Later that year, Hawk won his second GWF Tag Team Championship with Black Bart on December 25 from Steve Dane and Chaz Taylor. They held the title for a long time before losing them to The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Terry Gordy) on June 3, 1994. Layfield also won the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship on January 14, 1995, defeating Kevin Von Erich. Two months later, he lost the NWA North American Title to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1996–2009)

Debut and New Blackjacks (1996–1998)

After three and a half years touring the independent circuit, Layfield signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in late 1995 and debuted in January 1996 as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw. His initial gimmick was that of a tough cowboy/mountain man. After victories, he branded his opponents with the symbol "JB" in ink, rather than being seared into the flesh. Managed by Uncle Zebekiah, the character fizzled out by the end of the year, perhaps remembered only for a feud with Savio Vega and a match with Fatu which he won in eight seconds.

Layfield paired up with his storyline cousin Barry Windham to form The New Blackjacks, complete with the traditional "Blackjack" handlebar mustaches and short, jet black hair.

Windham's injuries piled up throughout 1997, so the team disbanded, and Layfield wrestled only occasionally on TV as "Blackjack Bradshaw", sometimes teaming with fellow Texan Terry Funk. He earned a shot at the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship against Jeff Jarrett at No Way Out of Texas: In Your House and won by disqualification but Jarrett retained the title because a title cannot change hands by a disqualification. In 1998, he wrestled as a mid-carder wrestling the likes of Marc Mero at Mayhem in Manchester, Kaientai (Funaki, Dick Togo, and Men's Teioh) with Taka Michinoku in a handicap match at Over the Edge, and Vader in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Breakdown.

The Acolytes / Acolytes Protection Agency (1998–2002)

In late 1998, Bradshaw teamed alongside former Nation of Domination member Faarooq to form the tag team Hell's Henchmen, managed by the Jackyl. After the Jackyl left the WWF, Faarooq and Bradshaw joined The Undertaker's new Ministry of Darkness under the name The Acolytes. The Ministry went on to feud with the Corporation. As part of the Ministry, Bradshaw feuded with Ken Shamrock. The two stables would soon unite as the Corporate Ministry, but disbanded after Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated the Undertaker at Fully Loaded. When the Undertaker went on hiatus in September, Bradshaw and Faarooq's dark gimmick faded.

On the May 31, 1999 edition of ''Raw is War'', the Acolytes (still with the Corporate Ministry) won their first WWF Tag Team Championship by defeating Kane and X-Pac. On the July 5 edition of ''Raw is War'', they dropped the titles to the Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) before defeating the Hardyz and their manager Michael "P.S." Hayes at Fully Loaded for their second WWF Tag Team Championship. On the August 9 edition of ''Raw is War'', they lost the titles to Kane and X-Pac.

The duo became fan favorites and changed their gimmick to cigar-smoking, bar-brawlers-for-hire. In jeans and t-shirts, Faarooq and Bradshaw became the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA), with a motto of "because we need beer money." The duo was often seen in the backrooms of arenas with a poker table and later a framed doorway comically in the middle of the often large, open aired hallways; they insisted that anyone entering the space use the door. Occasionally, if the "room" was destroyed in one arena, it was set up exactly as it was destroyed at the next arena, pushing continuity through time and space for comic effect.

The Acolytes earned a shot at the WWF Tag Title at the Royal Rumble against the New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn), but lost the match. Their next shot at the title was at Fully Loaded when they faced Edge and Christian. The Acolytes won the match by disqualification but did not become champions. After unsuccessfully challenging for the tag title in 2000, APA won their third WWF Tag Team Championship on the July 9, 2001 edition of ''Raw is War'' by defeating the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von). On the August 9 edition of ''SmackDown!'', they lost the tag title to Alliance members Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon.

On the October 22 edition of ''Raw is War'', Bradshaw defeated The Hurricane to win the WWF European Championship, his first singles title in the WWF. He lost the title to Christian on the November 1 edition of ''SmackDown!''. At No Way Out in 2002, APA won a Tag Team Turmoil match and as a result, they challenged for the tag title at WrestleMania X8 along with Hardys and Dudleys, in a Four Corners Elimination match. The champions Billy and Chuck retained their title.

Singles competition (2002–2003)

Shortly after WrestleMania, Faarooq and Bradshaw split due to the WWE Draft. Layfield was drafted to Raw where his Bradshaw gimmick had an increased emphasis on his Texas roots, which included him carrying a cowbell to the ring. Bradshaw joined the hardcore division after debuting on ''Raw'' and won the WWE Hardcore Championship seventeen times, with his first title win coming over Steven Richards. He renamed the title the Texas Hardcore Championship. It was also during this time that his finishing move was briefly renamed from the "Clothesline From Hell" to the "Clothesline From Texas" or the "Clothesline From Deep in the Heart of Texas". Jim Ross often called the move as such during his commentary, although the name eventually reverted back to the original "Clothesline From Hell".

In the hardcore division, Bradshaw feuded and exchanged the title with the likes of Richards, Shawn Stasiak, Raven, Christopher Nowinski, Big Show, Justin Credible, Johnny Stamboli, Crash Holly, Jeff Hardy, and Tommy Dreamer, before the title was unified by WWE Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam in August 2002. In September 2002, Layfield suffered a torn left biceps at a house show. He was out of action for six months until returning to Ohio Valley Wrestling and then a few weeks later to the active WWE roster.

APA reunion (2003–2004)

Bradshaw returned on an episode of ''SmackDown!'' in 2003, which saw him and his old friend Faarooq saving the Undertaker from the hands of Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli. Layfield returned with a new look by cutting his long hair, returning it to its natural color, and going clean shaven. His new look would only be referenced once when, in a scripted segment, Faarooq asked him directly about it. Bradshaw insisted that he had already told the story to Faarooq, who rejected this claim. The duo would return to perform their regular segments, as they did before the brand extension, such as playing poker, drinking beer, and bribing superstars of their money. Unlike before, they would not attack or protect other superstars at the employ of other superstars as none would hire them. At Vengeance, Bradshaw won a bar room brawl match which featured Faarooq and a variety of mid-card superstars and other WWE employees. The duo wrestled tag teams such as the Basham Brothers (Doug and Danny) at No Mercy and The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) at No Way Out. At WrestleMania XX in 2004, they unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way tag team match. The gimmick continued on-and-off until the March 18 edition of ''SmackDown!'' until losing a tag team "You're Fired" match to Tag Team Champions Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty for the tag title. In the lead-up to the first Draft Lottery, many face superstars on the SmackDown brand would indicate their certainty that they would be moved to Raw away from the then-''SmackDown!'' General Manager Paul Heyman. Frustrated by the APA's insult, Heyman told Faarooq that if he did not win the aforementioned match, then "You're Fired". After the match, Bradshaw led Faarooq back to Heyman's office to state they had not been fired, but had resigned. Then Heyman cleared up the mis-understanding and pointed out that he said that if they did not win the titles, then he told Faarooq "You're fired." His reason for saying this directly to Faarooq was because it applied only to Faarooq because "WWE Management" still saw a lot of potential in Bradshaw. He left them after telling Bradshaw to think about his own future. Faarooq shouted after Heyman that he was not fired because they (Faarooq and Bradshaw) had quit. But Bradshaw hesitated. Faarooq took Bradshaw's hesitation to mean that he would not resign, and so Faarooq promptly disbanded the APA and left. In reality, the WWE had decided to stop using Ron Simmons as an on-air performer. He was initially fired, but he was later re-hired to work behind the scenes in the WWE under various roles.

JBL; WWE Championship and the Cabinet (2004-2005)

After Faarooq was fired from WWE, Bradshaw changed his gimmick into a J. R. Ewing esque as a villain persona complete with a suit, cowboy hat, and tie as he began his first main event push. He began referring to himself as John "Bradshaw" Layfield, or JBL. His finishing move's name was part of the overhaul, becoming the ''Clothesline From Wall Street'' until he later changed it back to its original name. His first promo was on the border between Texas and Mexico, where he hunted for incoming illegal immigrants in order to win a "Great American Award", which granted the winner number one contendership to the WWE Championship. He won, thanks to the then-SmackDown! heel general manager Kurt Angle, and immediately challenged Eddie Guerrero for the title. The storyline leading up to the match was that JBL caused Guerrero's mother to have a heart attack at a house show when he threatened her and grabbed her by the shoulder. At Judgment Day, JBL defeated Guerrero via disqualification in a match for Eddie's WWE title. A title cannot change hands by DQ, so Guerrero retained the title. JBL controversially won the WWE Championship from Guerrero in a Texas Bull Rope match at The Great American Bash. The initial decision of Guerrero's victory was reversed by then-General Manager Kurt Angle, awarding the match and the title to JBL; the replay showed that JBL touched the fourth corner before Guerrero. JBL won a rematch in a steel cage two weeks later, again with Angle's assistance.

After claiming he would not be defending the title at SummerSlam, the Undertaker challenged JBL for the title. Around this time, JBL hired Orlando Jordan to help him in title matches. At SummerSlam, JBL won the match by disqualification. After the match, Undertaker chokeslammed JBL through the roof of his limo. JBL wore a halo complete with his cowboy hat on top for the next few weeks to sell his "injuries". SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long then booked a Last Ride match for the title at No Mercy. JBL retained the title with some help from Heidenreich. Though JBL held the title for many months, most title matches were won controversially. At Survivor Series, JBL defeated Booker T to retain his WWE Championship by hitting Booker in the face with the title belt when the referee was knocked out. JBL defeated Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker, and Booker T in a Fatal Four-Way at Armageddon after a run-in by Heidenreich, who incapacitated the Undertaker, allowing JBL to take advantage and hit Booker with the Clothesline From Hell to get the pinfall victory.

During JBL's time as WWE Champion, he employed a "staff" to work for him. The stable was named The Cabinet. At its peak, the stable contained Orlando Jordan, who was JBL's "Chief-of-Staff" and Doug and Danny Basham, who were his "Co-Secretaries of Defense" until "quitting" the Cabinet on the June 16, 2005 episode of ''SmackDown!''. Amy Weber was also a member, being JBL's image consultant, but later left WWE. WWE explained Weber's absence by saying that JBL "fired" her after an episode of ''SmackDown!'' taped in Japan. That episode saw Weber accidentally shoot JBL with a tranquilizer gun. Jordan is the only member not announced to have left the group, though mention of the term cabinet went on hiatus after SummerSlam and Orlando was released from WWE in May 2006.

JBL's luck continued in early 2005; at the Royal Rumble, he sneaked past both Big Show and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match when he pinned Angle after the Clothesline From Hell. He once again emerged with his title intact from WWE's first-ever Barbed Wire Steel Cage match at No Way Out against Big Show. JBL won the match when Big Show chokeslammed JBL off the top rope through the ring. JBL managed to crawl out from under the ring apron before Show could make it to the floor, winning the match by escape. On the next edition of ''SmackDown!'', JBL had a "Celebration of Excellence" in which he and his Cabinet celebrated the fact that he was the longest-reigning WWE Champion in ten years, a party which was broken up and ruined by The Big Show and newly-crowned number one contender John Cena. JBL was aggravated consistently by John Cena to make him retaliate as John Cena could then strike back. Cena failed to convince Layfield to do so.

JBL lost the WWE Title to John Cena at WrestleMania 21. pinning JBL to become the new WWE Champion. Layfield's unbroken nine-month reign was billed as the longest in a decade, lasting 280 days. On the April 28 edition of ''SmackDown!'', JBL defeated Big Show, Booker T, and Kurt Angle in a four-way elimination match to earn a rematch for the WWE title, but lost to Cena at Judgment Day in an "I Quit" match.

Various feuds and United States Champion (2005–2006)

On June 12, Layfield appeared at the WWE-promoted ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view as an anti-ECW "crusader." In the course of the night he attacked The Blue Meanie in a shoot. WWE capitalized on the situation by resigning Meanie to a short-term contract. On the July 7 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Meanie was reunited with his old Blue World Order associates Nova and Stevie Richards and he defeated Layfield with the help of the World Heavyweight Champion Batista, who was drafted to ''SmackDown!'' a few weeks after Cena was drafted to ''Raw''.

Layfield and Batista then met in a match at The Great American Bash for the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL won the match by disqualification but a title does not change hands by disqualification, so Batista retained the title. At SummerSlam, Batista defeated Layfield in a rematch. JBL lost another rematch with Batista on the September 9 edition of ''SmackDown!'' in a Texas Bullrope match.

On the September 16 edition of ''SmackDown!'', JBL lost to Rey Mysterio, which was the beginning of a long feud with Mysterio that lasted almost eight months. He hired Jillian Hall to "fix" his career. At No Mercy, JBL defeated Mysterio in a rematch.

In early 2006, JBL started a feud with The Boogeyman who scared him many times in the new year. The two had a match at the Royal Rumble, which the Boogeyman won. His next opponent was Bobby Lashley, whom Layfield defeated at No Way Out. On the February 24, 2006 edition of ''SmackDown!'', he suffered a broken hand at the hands of Chris Benoit in a six man tag team match, and WWE.com announced that he underwent successful surgery. Layfield returned and feuded with Benoit, defeating him for his WWE United States Championship at WrestleMania 22. During this time, Jillian Hall remained at the side of JBL until the April 21 edition of ''SmackDown!'' when JBL fired Hall, due to a mistake she made during a JBL/Benoit steel cage rematch the week before as well as her lack of putting together an "appropriate" celebration for him.

JBL, while still United States Champion, challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL tried to weaken then champion Rey Mysterio in the weeks leading up to his title match as Mysterio faced off against any opponent of JBL's choosing. Mysterio was defeated by Mark Henry and squashed by The Great Khali in non title singles matches before facing Raw's Kane in a match, that went to a no-contest. This was leading to their title match at Judgment Day, which Mysterio won and retained the title by pinning JBL after a frog splash. On the May 26 edition of ''SmackDown!'', JBL lost the US Title to Bobby Lashley. He also lost another attempt at the World Title against Mysterio, stating beforehand that he would quit SmackDown! if he lost that match. When he did lose, the crowd at the arena began to sing "Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye". He made his debut as a heelish color commentator on the June 16 edition of ''SmackDown!''. Layfield noted in a commentary on TheStreet.com that he was retiring from in-ring competition for good. In his final column on the website, JBL wrote, "I have also come to believe that you can't fight father time. A broken back suffered in a match in England, compounded by a herniated and bulged disc, finally made me realize my career as a professional wrestler was over. I since migrated to the color commentary position much in the way that Jesse Ventura did before me."

JBL returned to the ring on November 13, 2006, in the main event of a WWE house show in Dublin, Ireland. JBL teamed with Mr. Kennedy and King Booker against the Brothers of Destruction (Kane and The Undertaker), and Batista. On the December 22 edition of ''SmackDown!'', JBL cut a promo berating Theodore Long and cursing out the fans for cheering during the Inferno match at Armageddon five days earlier ("Rome didn't fall because of the gladiators in the ring. Rome fell because of the spectators in the stands.")

On the October 12, 2007 edition of ''Smackdown!'', Layfield was announced as one of the options WWE fans would be able to vote for to be the special guest referee at Cyber Sunday for the World Heavyweight Championship match between Batista and The Undertaker. He lost the vote to Stone Cold Steve Austin. At Cyber Sunday, he issued a heated altercation towards those running alongside him, ultimately receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin. After this, he became physical as a color commentator, attacking both Batista and The Undertaker in the middle of a match as revenge after he was speared by Batista and later chokeslammed by The Undertaker after taunting them consecutively, in events leading up to the pay-per-view. He justified these actions by explaining, "I am retired, not dead" (and that he [Layfield] should be respected).

In ring return and Championship pursuits (2007–2008)

JBL was present at the SmackDown announcer's table during the WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and Chris Jericho, at Armageddon. During this match, Orton whipped a charging Jericho over the announcer table where JBL was situated, and in the heat of the match, Jericho "pushed" JBL out of the way. Minutes later, an infuriated Layfield applied his boot to the head of Jericho whilst he looked set to win the match. This interference led to a disqualification victory for Jericho meaning that Orton retained the title.

On the December 17, 2007 edition of ''Raw'', JBL announced that he would resume his role as an active wrestler, in response to a challenge made by Jericho. On the December 21 edition of ''SmackDown!'', JBL gave his farewell address from SmackDown, officially marking his return to Raw on December 31. Jericho was disqualified in their match at the Royal Rumble. The duo battled in a rematch on the February 11 edition of ''Raw'', which Jericho won.

On February 18 on ''Raw'', JBL interfered in the scheduled steel cage match between Mr. McMahon and his storyline illegitimate son, Hornswoggle. After Vince whipped Hornswoggle with his belt, JBL attacked Finlay from behind and handcuffed him to the top rope. After Mr. McMahon left the ring, JBL proceeded to beat Hornswoggle by throwing him against the sides of the cage. JBL later revealed to McMahon that Hornswoggle was Finlay's storyline son, not McMahon's. On March 29, JBL inducted the Brisco Brothers into the WWE Hall of Fame. On March 30, JBL defeated Finlay in a Belfast Brawl at WrestleMania XXIV.

JBL's first championship bid since returning to the ring came by challenging Randy Orton for the WWE Championship and participating in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match at Backlash that also included John Cena and Triple H. JBL was eliminated first in the match by tapping out to Cena's STF, thus renewing their feud from 2005. Cena defeated JBL at Judgment Day and then at One Night Stand in a First Blood match. He managed to defeat Cena in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl at The Great American Bash.

JBL would continue to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship. His next on-screen rivalry with CM Punk, who was, at that time, the World Heavyweight Champion. During the feud, JBL criticized Punk's straight-edge beliefs, saying he could challenge Punk to a contest Punk could not win which was revealed to be an alcohol-drinking contest on ''Raw''. Punk, instead of drinking a shot, said that he followed his own rules, before throwing the drink in JBL's face. JBL finally got his match for Punk's championship at SummerSlam. Despite dominating for most of the match, JBL would lose the match after Punk landed the Go To Sleep on him and getting the pinfall.

Feud with Shawn Michaels (2008–2009)

JBL had a short rivalry with Shawn Michaels in 2008. Michaels had lost his family's personal savings due to the global financial crisis and would become Layfield's employee. After failing to secure JBL the World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at the Royal Rumble, Michaels agreed to take part in an "All or Nothing" match at No Way Out on February 15, 2009. Shawn eventually won this match, after his wife (who was watching in the audience) punched JBL in the face and Michaels planted the Sweet Chin Music. This ended any employment links between the two with Michaels still receiving the full payment owed to him, to end the feud.

Intercontinental Championship and departure (2009)

On the March 9, 2009 episode of ''Raw'', JBL defeated CM Punk to win the Intercontinental Championship, thus becoming the tenth Grand Slam Champion and twentieth Triple Crown Champion. JBL defended and subsequently lost the title at WrestleMania XXV, against Rey Mysterio in 21 seconds. Post-match, a frustrated JBL grabbed a microphone and shouted "I quit!"; the next day he announced his retirement on his WWE Universe blog.

Return to WWE (2011)

Layfield made his return to WWE on the March 7, 2011 edition of ''WWE Raw'' held at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas as Michael Cole's choice for special guest referee for his match against Jerry Lawler at WrestleMania XXVII. He cut a promo claiming he was starting his "journey back to the main event at WrestleMania", but was interrupted by a returning Stone Cold Steve Austin just as he was about to sign the contract. After a brief argument Layfield was hit with Austin's Stone Cold Stunner, and Austin proceeded to sign the contract to be the guest referee and poured beer on Layfield.

Mixed martial arts career

Vyper Fight League (2009–2010)

In April 2009, after Layfield's retirement and departure from WWE, OVW owner Danny Davis announced in a press-release that Layfield was to become a commentator and host for the up-start MMA promotion and OVW's affiliate Vyper Fight League, which Layfield also sponsors with Layfield Energy. The promotion went defunct in 2010.

Personal life

His parents are Lavelle Layfield, who is a minister, and Mary Layfield.

Layfield makes regular appearances on the Fox News Channel weekend business show, ''Bulls & Bears''. His company, Layfield Energy, launched a drink called MamaJuana Energy. In March 2009, Layfield Energy became the main sponsor and advertiser of Ohio Valley Wrestling, a former WWE developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky.

During a WWE house show in Munich, Germany early in June 2004, in an attempt to draw heel heat, he gave the crowd several Nazi salutes while goose-stepping around the ring. Such a display is illegal in Germany if used for political purposes. In an interview with ''The Washington Post'', Layfield explained "I'm a bad guy [on WWE TV]. I'm supposed to incite the crowd. I've done it for decades. I really didn't think anything of [the Nazi salute] - I know how bad it is, I've lived [in Germany]. I've been to Dachau, seen those places where they exterminated millions of Jews. I draw the line between me and my character. That's like saying Anthony Hopkins (who portrays Hannibal Lecter) really enjoys cannibalism."

Layfield married Meredith Whitney on February 12, 2005 in Key West, Florida.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Clothesline From Hell'' / ''Clothesline From Wall Street'' (Running high-impact clothesline, or a running lariat)

''JBL Bomb'' / Release powerbomb, with theatrics – 1998–2006

Signature moves

Abdominal stretch

Backbreaker rack

Bearhug

Big boot

Eye poke

Flowing DDT

''Last Call'' (Fallaway slam, sometimes from the second rope)

Multiple elbow drops

Sleeper hold

Swinging neckbreaker

With Faarooq

*Finishing moves

*Aided powerbomb

*Signature moves

*Double spinebuster

Managers

Uncle Zebekiah

*Skandor Akbar

The Jackyl

Jacqueline

Amy Weber

Jillian Hall

*The Kat

Nicknames

"Big"

Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw

"JBL"

"The Wrestling God"

Entrance themes

"Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen (GWF)

"Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex (GWF)

*"Longhorn" by Jim Johnston

*"Bar Room Brawl" by Jim Johnston

*"Protection" by Jim Johnston (used while part of Acolytes Protection Agency)

Championships and accomplishments

College football

Abilene Christian University

*1989 NCAA Division II All–American

Professional wrestling

Catch Wrestling Association

CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Cannonball Grizzly

Global Wrestling Federation

GWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bobby Duncum, Jr. (1) and Black Bart (1)

Memphis Championship Wrestling

MCW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Faarooq

NWA Texas

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Ohio Valley Wrestling

OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ron Simmons

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked him #5 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2005

Pro Wrestling Report

*Color Commentator of the Year (2006)

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

WWE Championship (1 time)

WWE Hardcore Championship (17 times)

WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)

WWE United States Championship (1 time)

WWF European Championship (1 time)

WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Faarooq

*Tenth Grand Slam Champion

*Twentieth Triple Crown Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

Best Gimmick (2004)

Worst Worked Match of the Year (2002) with Trish Stratus vs. Christopher Nowinski and Jackie Gayda on Raw, July 7

Notes

External links

WWE Alumni profile

JBL's Complete Biography at Wrestling Gimmicks

Online World of Wrestling profile

TipsTraders profile

The Last Great WWE Heel

Category:1966 births Category:American color commentators Category:American football offensive linemen Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American writers Category:American radio personalities Category:Abilene Christian University alumni Category:Abilene Christian Wildcats football players Category:Living people Category:People from Abilene, Texas Category:People from New York City Category:Professional wrestling announcers Category:San Antonio Riders players Category:Texas Republicans Category:New York Republicans

bar:John Layfield ca:John Layfield da:John Charles Layfield de:John Layfield es:John Layfield fr:John Layfield id:John Layfield it:John Layfield nl:John Layfield ja:ジョン・レイフィールド no:John Layfield pl:John "Bradshaw" Layfield pt:John Layfield ro:John Layfield ru:Джон Лэйфилд simple:John Layfield fi:John Layfield sv:John Layfield th:จอห์น เลย์ฟิลด์ tr:John Layfield

Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Alias	Steven James Williams"Stone Cold" Steve AustinThe Ringmaster Stunning Steve
Birth name	Steven James Anderson
Birth date	December 18, 1964
Birth place	Victoria, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor And Professional Wrestler
Yearsactive	1989–present
Spouse	Kathryn Burrhus (1990–1992)Jeannie Clark (1992–1999)Debra Marshall (2000–2003)
Website	}}

Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964, later and formerly Steven James Williams), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. 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), which later became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002. Billed as "The Most Popular Superstar in WWE History", 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 his boss, Vince McMahon. This defiance was often shown by Austin flipping off McMahon and incapacitating him with the ''Stone Cold Stunner'', his finishing move. McMahon inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.

Austin held nineteen championships throughout his professional wrestling career, and is recognized by WWE as a six-time World Champion, having held the WWF Championship on six occasions, and 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

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 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

name	"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
names	"Stone Cold" Steve Austin The Ringmaster"Stunning" Steve Austin"Superstar" Steve Austin
height
weight
birth date	December 18, 1964
birth place	Austin, Texas
resides	Los Angeles, California
billed	Victoria, Texas
trainer	Chris Adams
debut	May 11, 1989
retired	March 30, 2003 }}

World Championship Wrestling (1991–1995)

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, but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as "Lady Blossom". 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. 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. 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. The teams wrestled to a thirty-minute time limit draw.

In January 1993, Austin formed a tag team known as The Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman. 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. 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. 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. With Pillman still injured, Austin joined Colonel Robert Parker's Stud Stable. After Pillman returned, Austin betrayed and defeated him in a singles match at ''Clash of the Champions XXV''.

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. 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. Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the United States Championship at both Halloween Havoc 1994 and ''Clash of the Champions XXIX''. 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 Savage in the quarterfinals.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)

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. 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. Heyman hired Austin to do in-ring interviews, as he still had not recovered from his injury enough to wrestle. 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.

While with ECW, Austin was known as "Superstar" Steve Austin. He had a match with The Sandman and feuded with Mikey Whipwreck. Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion at the time, defeated Austin at November to Remember. The Sandman defeated Steve Austin and Whipwreck in a Triple Threat match at December to Dismember in 1995 for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. 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–present)

The Ringmaster (1995–1996)

In late 1995, Austin joined the WWF after Kevin Nash and Jim Ross helped convince WWE's owner Vince McMahon to hire him. Initially, Austin wrestled as "The Ringmaster" and was managed by Ted DiBiase, who awarded him with the Million Dollar Championship. Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Savio Vega at in his first WrestleMania appearance, at WrestleMania XII. 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 WWE, giving Austin the opportunity to forge his own path. Austin later told announcer Dok Hendrix (Michael P.S. Hayes) 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 and rise to superstardom (1996–1997)

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; with this new technique, he won the King of the Ring tournament. After defeating Marc Mero in the semi-finals, Austin defeated Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the finals. 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, ''"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 whupped your ass!"''. "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the most popular catch phrases in wrestling history, and subsequently the slogan became one of the best-selling t-shirts in WWE merchandise history. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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.

During this time, Austin found a way to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions. On May 25, 1997, Austin and Shawn Michaels defeated Owen Hart and The British Bulldog for the title. They held the title until July 14, before Michaels was forced to vacate due to an injury. That same night a tournament was held to determine who would face Austin and a partner of his choosing for the vacant championship. Hart and Bulldog won the tournament, with Austin refusing to pick a partner and choosing to wrestle the former tag team champions by himself. Late in the match, a debuting Dude Love came out to offer assistance and Austin became a two-time tag team champion. Austin continued his feud with the Hart family, becoming embroiled in a heated rivalry with Owen Hart, who pinned a distracted Austin and secured victory for The Hart Foundation in the ten-man Tag Team match main event of In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede, where Austin was partnered with Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and The Legion of Doom.

At SummerSlam, Austin and Owen Hart faced each other with Hart's Intercontinental Championship on the line and an added stipulation that Austin would have to kiss Hart's buttocks if he lost. During the match Hart botched a piledriver and dropped Austin on his head, resulting in a legitimate broken neck and temporary paralysis for Austin. As Hart stalled by baiting the audience, Austin managed to crawl over and pin Hart using a roll-up to win the Intercontinental Championship. A visibly injured and dazed Austin was helped to his feet by a number of referees and led to the back. Due to the severity of his neck injury, Austin was forced to relinquish both the Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Championships. Austin was sidelined until Survivor Series. However, in the interim he made several appearances, one being at Bad Blood where he was involved in the finish of a match between Hart and Faarooq, which was the final match in a tournament for the Intercontinental Championship. Austin hit Faarooq with the Intercontinental Championship belt while the referee's back was turned, causing Hart to win the match. Austin's motive was to keep the Intercontinental Championship around Hart's waist, as demonstrated when he interfered in Hart's matches on the October 20 and 27 episodes of ''Raw''. Austin regained the Intercontinental Championship from Hart at Survivor Series.

With Hart out of the way, Austin set his sights on The Rock, who stole Austin's belt on the November 17 episode of ''Raw'' after Austin suffered a beating by his Nation of Domination stablemates. In the weeks to come, The Rock began declaring himself to be "the best damn Intercontinental Champion" ever. The Rock kept possession of the belt until D-Generation X: In Your House, when Austin defeated him to 'retain' the title and get his belt back. As Austin had used his pickup truck to aid in his victory, McMahon ordered him to defend the title against The Rock the next night on ''Raw''. In an act of defiance after forfeiting the title to The Rock, Austin tossed the belt into a New Hampshire river.

Feuding with Mr. McMahon (1997–1999)

On September 22, 1997, on the first-ever ''Monday Night Raw'' to be broadcast from Madison Square Garden, Owen Hart was giving a speech to the fans in attendance. During his speech, Austin entered the ring with five NYPD officers following, and assaulted Hart. As it looked Austin was going to fight the officers, Vince McMahon ran into the ring to lecture Austin about why he couldn't be "physically" able to compete. After telling McMahon that he respects the fact that he and the WWF cared, Austin attacked McMahon with a Stone Cold Stunner, leaving McMahon in shock. Austin was then arrested on charges of trespassing, assault, and assaulting a police officer. This marked the beginning of the Austin-McMahon rivalry.

With Bret Hart's departure for WCW, Austin and Shawn Michaels were the top superstars in the company. Austin won the 1998 Royal Rumble, lastly eliminating The Rock. The next night on ''Raw'', Austin interrupted Vince McMahon in his presentation of Mike Tyson, who was making a special appearance, over the objection of McMahon referring to Tyson as "the baddest man on the planet." Austin flipped off Tyson, which led to Tyson shoving Austin much to McMahon's embarrassment, who began to publicly disapprove of the prospect of Austin as his champion. Tyson was later announced as "the special enforcer" for the main event at WrestleMania XIV, although he appeared to be aligning himself with WWF Champion Shawn Michaels' stable D-Generation X. This led to Austin's WWF Championship match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, which he won with help from Tyson, who turned on DX by making the deciding three-count against Michaels, and later hit HBK with his knock-out punch. In fact Shawn Michaels had suffered two herniated discs and another completely crushed at the hands of The Undertaker in a Casket match at the Royal Rumble. This victory ushered in the Austin Era, and with it, The Attitude Era. On the ''Raw'' after Austin won the WWF Title, Vince McMahon presented him with a new title belt and warned Austin that he did not approve of his rebellious nature and that things could be done "the easy way or the hard way." Austin gave his answer in the form of another Stunner. This led to a segment a week later where Austin had pledged a few days prior in a meeting to "play ball" with McMahon, appearing in a suit and tie, with a beaming McMahon taking a picture of himself and his new corporate champion. The entire thing was a ruse by Austin who in the course of the segment proceeded to tear off the suit, tell McMahon it was the last time he would see Austin dressed like this, punch his boss in the "corporate grapefruits," and take another picture of the two of them while McMahon was doubled over in pain. In April 1998, it appeared Austin and McMahon were going to battle out their differences in an actual match, but the match was declared a no-contest when Dude Love made an appearance. This led to a match between Dude Love and Austin at Unforgiven: In Your House, where Austin hit McMahon with a steel chair, then the following month they had a rematch at Over the Edge: In Your House for the WWF Championship. Austin managed to retain the title despite McMahon acting as the referee and his "Corporate Stooges" (Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson) as timekeeper and ring announcer, respectively.

McMahon continued to do everything he could to ruin Austin, and he finally scored a big victory for his side at the 1998 King of the Ring tournament. There, Austin lost the WWF Championship to Kane in a First Blood match. Austin further infuriated McMahon by winning back the championship the next night on ''Raw''. Austin also emerged victorious against The Undertaker at SummerSlam. In response, McMahon set up a Triple Threat match at Breakdown: In Your House, where The Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin at the same time. McMahon decided to vacate the WWF Championship and award it based on a match between The Undertaker and Kane, in which Austin was the guest referee. Austin refused to count for either man and attacked both towards the end of the match. McMahon later fired him, although Austin got revenge by kidnapping McMahon and dragging him to the middle of the ring at "gunpoint," which ended up being a toy gun with a scroll that read "Bang! 3:16." Also the segment was very "embarrassing" to McMahon as it showed he was so scared that he urinated his pants. Stone Cold was later re-signed by Shane McMahon. In the semifinals of the Survivor Series tournament to award the vacant WWF championship, Austin lost to Mankind, after Shane double-crossed Austin. The next night on ''Raw'', Judge Mills Lane ruled that The Rock had to defend his newly won WWF Championship against Austin that night. The Undertaker interfered and hit Austin with a shovel, earning Austin a disqualification victory, but The Rock kept the championship. At Rock Bottom: In Your House, Steve Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match after Kane Tombstoned The Undertaker into the grave. With this victory, Austin qualified for the 1999 Royal Rumble.

Austin's next definitive chance to exact revenge on Mr. McMahon came during the 1999 Royal Rumble match. On ''Raw'', McMahon drew Austin's entry number with the obvious intention of screwing him over. Austin drew entry number one, while McMahon drew number two thanks to WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels. During the Rumble match, McMahon slipped out of the ring and into the crowd as Austin chased him down. It turned out to be a trap as McMahon led Austin into the lobby restroom where he was ambushed by members of The Corporation. Austin was injured and taken away in an ambulance. With Austin gone and not in the Rumble match, McMahon joined the announce table in calling the match. Later on, however, Austin returned in an ambulance and re-entered the Royal Rumble, delivering a Stunner to the Big Boss Man and eliminating him. With the assistance of the Corporation and a last minute interference from The Rock, Austin was eliminated by McMahon himself, and McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble. With McMahon turning down his number-one contender spot against The Rock, WWF Commissioner Michaels awarded Austin the title shot during ''Raw'' the next night. At St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Stone Cold got a one-on-one match against McMahon in a Steel Cage match, with the WWF Championship opportunity at WrestleMania XV at stake. During the match, Paul Wight made his debut, breaking through from under the ring and attacking Austin. Wight's attack propelled Austin into the side of the cage forcing the cage to give way and dropping Austin to the floor first, making him the victor. Austin defeated The Rock at WrestleMania XV for his third WWF Championship.

Austin faced The Rock in a rematch at Backlash, in which Shane McMahon was the referee. During the match, Vince McMahon approached the ring, only to hand Austin back his 'Smoking Skull' belt and take Shane out of the proceedings. Austin won the match when another referee made the count. The Undertaker, however, won the WWF Championship from Austin at Over the Edge. Due to events revolving around Vince McMahon, Stephanie and Linda McMahon made Stone Cold the Chief Executive Officer of the company. Vince and Shane McMahon challenged Austin to a Handicap Ladder match at King of the Ring with the CEO title on the line, which the duo of father and son won. The next night on ''Raw'', however, Austin made it clear that while he was the CEO of the company, he could have a title shot at any time and place to be determined by himself. Austin made the WWF Championship match that night on ''Raw'' and defeated The Undertaker to win his fourth WWF Championship. However, after he won it, The Undertaker came and hit him with the title belt, leading to a First Blood match between the two at Fully Loaded where Mr. McMahon stipulated that if Austin lost he would never be able to wrestle for the WWF Championship again, and if Austin won, he would never see McMahon again. Austin won after interference from X-Pac, hitting The Undertaker with a TV camera and gave McMahon a goodbye Stone Cold Stunner. Austin held on to the WWF Championship until SummerSlam when he lost it to Mankind in a Triple Threat match also featuring Triple H. Austin would get his rematch at No Mercy against Triple H but lost after The Rock accidentally struck him with a sledgehammer that was meant for Triple H. When Survivor Series rolled around, Triple H was still champion. Austin was booked into a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship against Triple H and The Rock. However, Austin was run down by a car in the parking lot. The Big Show would replace Austin in the match and would win the WWF Championship. What followed was neck surgery by Dr. Lloyd Youngblood and a nine-month rehabilitation with the car angle as his reason for leaving. In reality, Austin had needed neck surgery since the Owen Hart incident in 1997.

Return and heel turn (2000–2001)

Austin appeared at Backlash 2000, attacking Triple H and Vince McMahon to help The Rock reclaim the WWF Championship. At Unforgiven, Austin made his official return. The company, meanwhile, tried to find out who ran him down at Survivor Series the previous year. Rikishi finally admitted to being the driver because "he did it for the people." At No Mercy, Austin was back to face Rikishi in a No Holds Barred match. During the match, Austin motioned he was going to drive his truck into Rikishi, who by that time was a bloody mess. Before he could, he was stopped by officials, the match being deemed no-contest and Austin was (kayfabe) arrested and later bailed by Commissioner Mick Foley. During a handicap match against Rikishi and Kurt Angle, Triple H came down with the apparent intention of teaming with Austin. After clearing the ring, Triple H smashed his sledgehammer over Austin's head, and revealed it was actually him behind the whole scheme, devised to shield the WWF Championship from Austin and end his career. At Survivor Series, Triple H had plotted to run Austin down again during their match (thus repeating the events of the previous year's Survivor Series) but his plot failed when Austin lifted Triple H's automobile with a forklift, then let it drop 20 feet, causing Triple H to shout "Holy shit!" just before the car was released. Also, in the year 2000, Stone Cold Steve Austin competed in a 6 man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon for the WWF Championship, against Triple H, the Undertaker, Rikishi, Kurt Angle and The Rock. In the end, Stone Cold Steve Austin gave The Rock a Stunner and was about to pin him when Triple H came in the way and got a stunner. But Kurt Angle took advantage of the situation and pinned The Rock and picked up the victory, hence retaining the WWF Championship. After the match, Stone Cold Steve Austin delivered a stunner to Kurt Angle, while he was celebrating his victory.

Austin won his third Royal Rumble in January 2001, last eliminating Kane. His rivalry against Triple H ended at No Way Out in a Three Stages of Hell match, with Triple H beating Austin two falls to one. Then, at WrestleMania X-Seven, Austin turned heel by hitting The Rock with a steel chair several times to win the WWF Championship. After the match, Austin shook hands and shared a beer with Vince McMahon. With the victory, Austin became a five-time WWF Champion. The next night on ''Raw'', after teasing a quick face turn, the heel turn continued. He also altered his character considerably over the next few months, in a deliberate turn from the rebellious and anti-establishment character beloved by the fans, Austin became a whiny, temperamental prima donna who would complain incessantly when he felt he was not getting the respect from the fans and wrestlers that he deserved. He also developed an infatuation with McMahon, going to great lengths to impress him and even going so far as to hugging him and bringing him presents. McMahon, though visibly uncomfortable and wary by the attention, was still grateful to have Austin with him instead of against him. During a cage match with The Rock in a rematch for the title, Triple H came down to the ring with a sledgehammer and together with Austin viciously attacked The Rock and put him out of action. Austin further cemented his heel turn the following Thursday on Smackdown! when, during an interview with Jim Ross about his actions at WrestleMania, thought Ross was denouncing their friendship and then proceeded to attack and brutally assault Ross. Austin and Triple H became a team and called themselves The Two-Man Power Trip.

Austin and Triple H were the top heels in the company, and feuding with The Undertaker and Kane. After defeating Kane and The Undertaker for the WWF Tag Team Championship at Backlash2001, they held the Tag Team Titles, the WWF Championship (Austin), and the WWF Intercontinental Championship (Triple H) all at once. At Judgment Day2001, Triple H lost his Intercontinental Title to Kane. Then, the following night on ''Raw'', Austin and Triple H wrestled against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit with the Tag Team Titles on the line. Midway through the match, Triple H tore his quadriceps muscle. As planned, the team lost the Tag Team Titles at the end of the match when Triple H accidentally hit Austin in the stomach with a sledgehammer, but the injury to Triple H, which kept him out for the remainder of the year, forced the WWF to go in another direction. Austin had a minor injury for a month.

The Invasion (2001)

Austin was paired with Kurt Angle and feuded against Jericho and Benoit. This culminated with a Triple Threat match at King of the Ring, in which Austin faced the former tag team champions. Although WCW's Booker T interfered, Austin scored the victory and retained his championship. The feud ended at that point, as Benoit had neck surgery after the match, sidelining him for the following year.

In July 2001, with Benoit out for surgery, the Austin/Jericho feud was dropped without a mention. With the Rock still away making movies, the WWF desperately rushed out the plans for The Invasion. As The Invasion storyline began and progressed, McMahon was watching helplessly as his empire crumbled around him due to The Alliance luring more and more talent away from the WWF, and his biggest allies, Austin and Angle, were too busy sucking up to him and bickering amongst themselves to successfully counter the Alliance. Austin made it known that he was against teaming with Angle, whom Austin saw as both a threat to his WWF Championship, as well as an annoying tag-along. A frustrated McMahon appealed to Austin to return to his old Texas Rattlesnake persona, even imploring him to give him a Stone Cold Stunner. Though intending to fire up Austin, it backfired and only seemed to hurt the feelings of Austin, as he promptly left the arena, dejected. But the week before InVasion, the old Stone Cold Steve Austin "returned," delivering Stunners to the Alliance members. This was all part of the setup for a swerve at the event, where Austin betrayed the WWF team and partner Angle to help the Alliance win, as Austin assumed leadership of the group. The reason why Austin did this was that he felt McMahon was grooming Angle to take over his spot, and that he himself was "unappreciated" when McMahon insisted he return to the old Austin. This turned him heel once more.

Austin lost and regained the WWF Championship in a feud with Angle, who was put over by Austin as a threat. Austin lost the title to Angle at Unforgiven before regaining it on the October 8, 2001 episode of ''Raw''. In a swerve, Angle joined the Alliance just before Survivor Series. As the Invasion angle dragged on, it was ultimately decided to bring the plot line to an end with Austin and a group of ECW and WCW wrestlers facing The Rock and a group of WWF wrestlers at the Survivor Series. Austin and his team lost after Angle betrayed him, thus ending the Invasion angle. The next night on Raw, as McMahon was about to award Angle with the WWF Championship for actions at Survivor Series, Ric Flair came out and announced that he owned half of the WWF. Austin came out and attacked Angle and McMahon, taking back the WWF Championship. Austin then had a beer bash with Flair, turning Austin face once again. Austin would hold the WWF Championship for another month before losing it to Chris Jericho at Vengeance 2001 due to interference from Booker T. Jericho defeated both The Rock and Austin consecutively that night, winning the WCW World Title and later the WWF Title and combining them to create the unprecedentedWWF Undisputed Championship. After that, Austin continued another feud with Booker T. In one angle, Austin defeated Booker T in an unofficial grocery store fight.

Issues with Bookings and Creative Teams (2002)

Beginning 2002, although Austin's character remained with the WWF's most popular wrestlers as top face, his upcoming story lines in the build-up to WrestleMania were somewhat questionable compared to those of his previous years. In the 2002 Royal Rumble, Triple H made his long-awaited return from injury, with he and Austin two of the last four participants in the ring along with Kurt Angle and Mr Perfect. Austin was eliminated by Kurt Angle, however he shortly went back in the ring and hit all three with a steel chair. A few days later on ''Raw'' he defeated Kurt Angle to earn a shot at Chris Jericho's WWF Undisputed Championship at ''No Way Out 2002''.

In the build-up to No Way Out, McMahon had re-signed the New World Order, who started a feud with him after (kayfabe) Austin refused a beer gift. Problems in the backstage creativity were however then seemingly beginning to surface. Austin was reported as being unhappy regarding Hulk Hogan's return to the WWF, and was reported as refusing to lose to Hogan in a proposed match at WrestleMania X8, while Hogan reportedly told McMahon the same regarding losing to Austin. Consequently, the match was re-billed as The Rock defeating Hogan, whilst Austin defeated Scott Hall, climaxing his feud with the nWo.

In a surprise altercation the next night on ''Raw'', Austin refused to show up and took a week-long break without the company's consent, claiming exhaustion. McMahon claimed his actions caused fury among fans who had paid to see him that night. Austin returned on the April 1, 2002 episode of ''Raw'', the first of the new "brand extension" era. The show was centered on which show he would sign with, and he ultimately chose Raw. Austin entered a feud with The Undertaker that resulted in a number-one contender's match for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Backlash 2002, which Austin lost despite having his foot on the rope when he was pinned. He would later be betrayed by Big Show, who went on to rejoin the nWo, and Ric Flair. Austin then defeated Big Show and Flair in a handicap match at Judgment Day.

Departure from WWE

In an interview on WWE television by telephone in May 2002, Austin stunned the company and fans by launching a verbal attack on the direction the company was heading in and slated the creative team for not using him the way he felt they previously did. The commentators struggled to keep Austin's opinions on a neutral wavelength, leading to the WWE apologising to fans for the outburst and stated it was not part of Austin's current or upcoming storylines. McMahon responded a week later on the same show playing down the outburst, claiming that Austin was merely the type of wrestler who was occasionally difficult to work with.

The WWE rehired Eddie Guerrero for Austin to feud with, while also prepping Austin for a feud with Brock Lesnar. Austin, however, vetoed any matches that would result in him losing to Lesnar and ultimately walked out of the company. Austin later explained that he thought hot-shotting a rookie made Austin look weak and did not give Lesnar a proper stage for such a big win over a star of the magnitude that Austin held.

Further fanning the flames amongst Austin's growing number of detractors was a well-publicized domestic dispute incident between Austin and his wife Debra.

On June 3, following the dispute with Debra, Austin made his last appearance for WWE on Raw. After Austin no-showed the episode of ''Raw'' the following week, his storylines were dropped.

Austin walked out again publicly stating he felt bad storylines were presented to him by the creative team. This time his departure was for good. McMahon, along with longtime Austin supporter and real-life friend Jim Ross, buried Austin on WWE programming, referring to him as "taking his ball and going home" because he wasn't getting his way, whilst also explaining to the fans that neither he nor Ross were able to persuade Austin to change his mind. McMahon insisted that Austin owed an apology to all the fans across the world, especially those who paid solely to see him that night. McMahon toasted to Austin's career with a beer thanking him for all his hard work nonetheless. The Rock also made an appearance on Raw despite being drafted to Smackdown!, and announced his frustrations towards Austin.

Austin's merchandise continued to sell greatly in the weeks following his departure, however with no sign of a return likely to be seen, the company stopped marketing his character, his merchandise, and removed his profile from WWE.com.

This period was documented in an episode of ''WWE Confidential''.

Return to WWE and retirement (2003–2004)

For the remainder of 2002, Austin kept a low profile and did not make any public appearances in or out of wrestling. It was reported however by the end of the year, Austin and McMahon met and resolved their differences. He then agreed to return to the company in early 2003.

In an interview with WWE Raw Magazine, he announced deep regret over the situation that led to his departure and the way in which he'd left, and deeper regret over inaccurate speculation regarding his alleged grudges held against other WWE wrestlers, claiming he had no problem with Scott Hall rejoining the company, although he admitted he still held strong reservations about his singles match with Hall at WrestleMania only lasting 7 minutes and felt build-up to the match did not live up to his or Hall's fans expectations, and was angered by speculation suggesting he disagreed with Kevin Nash re-joining the company, insisting he and Nash have always been good friends. He confessed he had a major rift with Paul Levesque's (Triple H's) role in the company upon his return in 2002, but insisted as of 2003 they resolved their issues. In addition, he claimed a brief dispute with Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) was resolved quickly upon his return, and that none of his disputes with the talent roster continued or played the major part in his departure.

In February, Austin returned at No Way Out in a short match against Eric Bischoff. Austin would wrestle only one match between then and WrestleMania in another short match against Bischoff on ''Raw'' but was then defeated by The Rock at WrestleMania XIX, who returned about the same time as a smug, "sell out" villain, which, ultimately, became Austin's last official match in WWE. It was also revealed later in the documentary "The Mania Of Wrestlemania" (Based around the Wrestlemania 19 event) that the letters O.M.R were put on his jacket for his match against The Rock symbolically meaning "One More Round"

The night after on ''Raw'', Bischoff (kayfabe) "fired" Austin on medical grounds. The next morning, Austin gave an interview on wwe.com announcing his retirement from wrestling, although he stated that he and Vince McMahon had reached an agreement seeing him only appear in non-wrestling roles on a weekly basis. In reference to Bischoff firing him on Raw that week, he said that although firing was for storyline purposes, he admitted the medical problems read out on ''Raw'' were real and mainly related back to his injury sustained at SummerSlam 1997 in a match with Owen Hart, and had begun to seriously plague him since late 2001. He confessed wrestling against the advice of his doctors up to his departure in 2002, which forced him to quit wrestling, and cited this as the sole reason as to why he suddenly departed, with doctors advising an awkward or violent move performed on him could have resulted in Austin being permanently disabled or resulting in death.

The following week, Austin began his non-wrestling career with the WWE and began a fresh storyline when he was brought back by Linda McMahon as the Co-General Manager of Raw. He continued this storyline for the remainder of the year, still showing wrestling moves including the Stone Cold Stunner and several exchanges of punches and kicks, although limiting regularity of these being performed. On the November 17, 2003 edition of ''Raw'', Austin was "fired" from Raw as the result of a stipulation in a match at Survivor Series where Austin's hand-picked team of wrestlers failed to beat Bischoff's team of wrestlers. Austin quickly returned to WWE television before the end of 2003 when he was part of the WWE Tribute to the Troops taped live in front of U.S. troops in Iraq, posing and stunning Mr. McMahon. He finally came back on ''Raw'' on December 29 as its "Sheriff", giving a Stone Cold Stunner to Eric Bischoff and rehiring Shawn Michaels, who had just been "fired" by Bischoff.

Austin appeared on and off as 2004 began, culminating in him being the special guest referee for the notorious match between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg at WrestleMania XX in which fans cheered for Austin and jeered both Lesnar and Goldberg due to both men announcing their departures from the company following the event. Then, on April 17, WWE put out a press release on their website claiming that Steve Austin and WWE were unable to settle long-running contract disputes and had again parted ways.

Hall of Famer (2005-present)

Austin made his first appearance on WWE programming in a year at WrestleMania 21 where he was confronted by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper in ''Piper's Pit'' until Carlito interrupted to insult both. This resulted in Carlito receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin and Piper throwing him out of the ring. The segment ended with Austin and Piper celebrating with beer until Austin gave Piper a Stone Cold Stunner as well. He then appeared on the following nights Raw.

At ECW One Night Stand Austin came to the ring following the show's main event. Wearing a Las Vegas Outlaws (of the failed XFL) jersey, Austin came to the ring to give The Sandman a beer which he had asked for. However, Austin invited the whole locker room to the ring for a Beer Bash. However, before the bash he demanded the WWE Crusaders come to the ring for a fight. Tazz came to the ring, which started the brawl. After Taz applied the Tazzmission to Kurt Angle the brawl ended. ECW stood alone in the ring after throwing all of the Crusaders out of the ring. Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) then dragged Eric Bischoff to the ring. The Dudley Boyz gave him a Dudley Death Drop, followed by Chris Benoit giving him a Diving Headbutt, Rey Mysterio followed that with a 619. When Austin then asked Bischoff about his feelings on the night, he responded with "Fuck ECW", which prompted Austin to give Bischoff a stunner. As the Dudley Boyz took Bischoff outside, and loaded him onto a WWE production truck, the remaining ECW Originals took part in a "beer bash" as the show went off the air. He was on Raw the following night.

Then, at ''WWE Homecoming'', Austin again returned to ''Raw'', delivering Stunners to all four members of the McMahon family. An angle including Jim Ross being fired led to a match in which Austin agreed to face Ross's replacement, Jonathan Coachman, at Taboo Tuesday, with the stipulation of Ross regaining his announcing job if Austin were to win and Austin losing his own job if he lost the match. Austin hurt his back prior to the match, and could not wrestle unless he was heavily medicated, so the match was cancelled. To explain away his failure to appear at Taboo Tuesday, Vince McMahon said on ''Raw'' that Austin had been involved in an accident, thus preventing him from competing. Batista substituted for Austin defeating The Coach along with Vader and Goldust. The stipulation was dropped due to Austin not competing.

Austin returned to WWE briefly to face John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a beer drinking contest at the March 5, 2006 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event''. Austin won by disqualification as he saw JBL cheating by pouring the beer down his clothes. Austin gave a stunner to JBL and then celebrated with the Stone Cold beer salute. Austin then inducted Bret Hart into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006.

Austin returned to WWE programming (appearing on ''Raw'', ''ECW'', and ''SmackDown!'') in March 2007, partially to promote his starring role in the release of WWE Films' production, ''The Condemned''. On March 31, 2007, Austin inducted his friend Jim Ross into the WWE Hall of Fame. At WrestleMania 23, Austin, as a special guest referee, officiated the match between Bobby Lashley and Umaga. The stipulation for the match was that if Lashley lost, Donald Trump's head would be shaved, and if Umaga lost, Mr. McMahon's head would suffer the same fate. In the course of the event, Austin delivered stunners to Umaga, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Donald Trump. Lashley eventually won the match, and Trump, Austin and Lashley then shaved Mr.McMahon's head on live TV. Stone Cold ended by stunning McMahon as well as Donald Trump and toasting beers. He then appeared in a video on the June 11 edition of ''Raw'' as part of "Mr. McMahon's Appreciation Night", where he shared his thoughts on his past feuds with McMahon.

Austin appeared on the August 18, 2007 edition of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', as a possible illegitimate child of Mr. McMahon and stunned McMahon and Jonathan Coachman. Austin appeared at SummerSlam where he was the replacement for Matt Hardy to battle Montel Vontavious Porter in a Beer Drinking Contest. The match ended in a no contest after Austin handed a beer to MVP and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner. Austin made another appearance at Cyber Sunday, where he guest refereed a World Heavyweight Championship match between the champion Batista, and the challenger The Undertaker. Batista walked out the champion after delivering a Batista Bomb to The Undertaker.On the November 5, 2007 edition of ''Raw'', Austin made an appearance to confront Santino Marella for criticizing ''The Condemned''. The argument ended as Marella received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin, who then walked backstage only to return with a Budweiser beer truck to hose down Marella and his valet Maria with beer. On December 10, 2007 during the ''Raw 15th Anniversary Spectacular'', Austin returned after Vince McMahon received the mandible claw from Mankind and a chokeslam from The Undertaker for proclaiming himself "the greatest Raw superstar of all time." Shortly after, McMahon received a Stone Cold Stunner(which as of 2011, would be the last one McMahon would take, because in July 2011, McMahon was told by his doctors not to take anymore "bumps") as Austin called out all WWE stars in attendance to the ring to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Raw. The show closed as Austin, Triple H and Hornswoggle poured beer on McMahon, who was knocked out outside the ring.

On October 26, 2008, at Cyber Sunday, Austin was the special guest referee during a match between Batista and Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. In between the match Stone Cold told a fleeing Jericho that if he was counted out or disqualified, Batista would win the title. During the course of the match, Batista accidentally knocked Austin down. When Austin recovered, Randy Orton, who had come out as the third referee, knocked Austin back down, only to receive a Stone Cold Stunner when Austin recovered. Eventually Batista won the match by hitting his signature Batista Bomb on Chris Jericho, leading Austin to give the three count, making Batista the new World Heavyweight Champion.

On January 12, 2009, edition of ''Raw'', Austin was announced to be the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. He was inducted by his long-term on-screen rival Vince McMahon, who referred to Austin as "The Greatest WWE Superstar of all time." During the induction, there were "''one more match''" chants, to which Austin said he was officially closing the door on his wrestling career and starting a new chapter in his life. At WrestleMania XXV, Austin was introduced alongside the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2009. After the introductions, Austin's theme music hit, and he re-entered the ringside area wearing a vintage "Austin 3:16" shirt driving an ATV. He then enjoyed his trademark beer bash with the fans.

Austin returned to the company on the March 15, 2010 episode of Raw as its guest host. On that episode of ''Raw'' he moderated a contract signing between Vince McMahon and Bret Hart for their match at WrestleMania XXVI. In the same episode Austin met up backstage with his longtime rival Shawn Michaels, who asked Austin whether he believed that Michaels could end the Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak in their upcoming match. Austin replied "Hell yeah I think you can beat the Undertaker, but I don't think you're going to, The streak is going to go 18-0". Michaels lost the match extending the Undertaker's streak to 18-0 and forcing Michaels to retire.

On the 900th episode of "Raw"; which took place on August 30, 2010; the intro and theme for Stone Cold Steve Austin were shown. However, this was only a trick by fellow wrestler CM Punk who was attempting to prove a point about what the Straight Edge Society believed was a disturbing history of the WWE. Steve Austin did not actually make an appearance on this night. In early 2011, Austin was announced as the head trainer and host for the revival of ''WWE Tough Enough''. On the March 7 edition of ''Raw'', Austin interrupted the contract signing of the special guest referee to the Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler match at WrestleMania XXVII, originally scheduled to be John "Bradshaw" Layfield. After stunning Layfield, Austin signed the contract instead and became the official guest referee for the scheduled match. Although Lawler won by submission, the anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the decision and disqualified Lawler, claiming that Austin had "overstepped his authority". He appeared on Raw the following night with the cast from Tough Enough, while also getting into an altercation with The Miz and Alex Riley

On April 7, 2011, Austin gave an Interview where he talked about his return, filming Tough Enough and the respect he has for CM Punk. Austin was asked about a return to the ring and said that he felt that if he had to, he had two more years in him and could still do a full-time schedule. However, he then stated that he was happy with where he was at in life and wanted to be able to hunt and fish 10–20 years from now and be able to do it pain free.

On the June 6th edition of Raw, Austin appeared live alongside old rival Vince McMahon to declare Andy Leavine as the winner of Tough Enough. He also served as the Special Guest Referee in the evening's tag team main event, John Cena and Alex Riley vs. The Miz and R-Truth. The end of the match came as a result of Austin hitting the infamous Stone Cold Stunner on The Miz, which was followed by an Attitude Adjustment from Cena and then the pinfall victory. However, the Anonymous Raw General Manager chimed in and the GM's ringside mouthpiece Michael Cole announced that since Austin had abused his authority as referee, The Miz and R-Truth win via disqualification. Austin did not take kindly to the GM overturning his decision and Cole also received a Stunner, which was followed with another Attitude Adjustment courtesy of Cena. Austin and Cena closed the show, celebrating with a beer bash.

Austin was the special guest GM on the 3-hour All-Star edition of Monday Night Raw, eminating live from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply Nassau Coliseum) in Long Island, New York, where all Superstars and Divas have performed. Also in his special guest GM time, He destroyed the GM Laptop by running over it with his ATV. This is the second time the GM Laptop was destroyed since Edge destroyed it on September 27, 2010.

He also announced that the next week of Raw (June 20, 2011, also the Raw after Capitol Punishment); eminating live from the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland; will be another 3-hour show where the WWE Universe takes the authority to choose the opponent or stipulation of a match. He then announced that the show is named "Power to the People".

Television and film career

Steve Austin filmed guest roles on ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' and ''Nash Bridges'', where he played Detective Jake Cage. His motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Guard Dunham in the 2005 remake of ''The Longest Yard''. Austin had his first starring film role, as Jack Conrad, a dangerous convict awaiting execution in a Salvadoran prison, who takes part in a illegal deathmatch game that is being broadcast to the public in the 2007 thriller ''The Condemned''. In 2010, Austin appeared in the film ''The Expendables'' as Dan Paine, the bodyguard and right hand man for the primary antagonist of the film. This role featured Austin working alongside other action stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Randy Couture. It has been suggested by Bruce Willis that he will return for a sequel of The Expendables.

Filmography

Film

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 2005 || ''The Longest Yard'' || Guard Dunham || |- | 2007 || ''The Condemned'' || Jack Conrad || Produced by WWE Films |- | 2009 || ''Damage'' || John Brickner ||rowspan=2|Direct-to-video |- | rowspan="3"| 2010 || ''The Stranger || The Stranger |- | ''The Expendables'' || Dan Paine || |- | ''Hunt to Kill'' || Jim Rhodes ||rowspan=5|Direct-to-video |- | rowspan="2"| 2011 || ''Knockout'' || Dan |- | ''Tactical Force'' || Tate |- | rowspan="2"|2012 ||''Recoil'' || John Varrett |- | ''The Package'' || Thomas Boyette |- |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1998–2002 || ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' || Himself || 4 seasons |- | 1999 || ''Teen Choice Awards'' || Himself || |- | 1999–2000 || ''Nash Bridges'' || Detective Jake Cage || Six episodes |- | 2000 || ''Dilbert'' || Judge ||rowspan=2|One episode |- | 2005 || ''The Bernie Mac Show'' || Himself |- | 2010 || ''Chuck'' || Hugo Panzer || Two episodes |- | 2011 || ''Tough Enough || Host/head trainer || |}

Personal life

Austin dated Kathryn Burrhus throughout high school and college, and the two married on November 24, 1990. Nonetheless, Austin pursued a relationship with Jeannie Clark ("Lady Blossom"), with whom he was working. His marriage to Burrhus was quickly annulled on August 7, 1992, and Austin and Clark married on December 18, 1992. Together, they have two daughters, Stephanie (born in 1992) and Cassidy (born in 1996). He also adopted Jade, Clark's daughter with former husband Chris Adams. Jade is also married to professional wrestler Adam Windsor. Austin and Clark divorced on May 10, 1999 and their daughters live in Southend-on-Sea, England with Clark, while Jade lives in America with her husband and son.

In December 2007, the ''Wrestling Observer'' newsletter reported that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin legally changed his real name (Steven Williams) to his wrestling name Steve Austin. Austin currently resides in Los Angeles, California and Tilden, Texas.

Marriage to Debra Marshall

On September 13, 2000, Austin married WWE Diva Debra Marshall. On June 15, 2002 police were called to their residence in San Antonio, Texas. They found a hysterical Marshall with bruises. Austin had left the house and was asked by police not to return. On August 14, 2002, Austin was arrested and charged with domestic abuse. He pled no contest on November 25, 2002 and was given a year's probation, a $1,000 fine, and ordered to carry out eighty hours of community service. Marshall would later claim that Austin was a steroid user and this incident was the result of roid rage. Austin filed for divorce from Marshall on July 22, 2002 and the divorce was finalized on February 5, 2003. On June 29, 2007, Marshall told ''Fox News'' that Austin beat her three times. She also stated that WWE put a gag order on her so she would not reveal that Stone Cold hit her, as it would cost the company millions of dollars. The WWE did not respond to her allegations.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

*As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

*''Stone Cold Stunner'' (Seated three-quarter facelock jawbreaker, usually preceded by a kick to the midsection)

*As "Stunning" Steve Austin

*''Stun Gun'' (Flapjack dropped into a hangman)

*As The Ringmaster

*''Million Dollar Dream'' (Cobra clutch)

Signature moves

*As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

*Back body drop

*Boston crab

*Catapult

*Clothesline

*Leapfrog body guillotine to an opponent draped over the second rope

*''Mudhole Stomp'' (Multiple stomps to the chest of a seated opponent in a corner, followed by the middle finger gesture to the opponent and finished with a final stomp)

*Pointed elbow drop, sometimes from the second or top rope

*Sleeper hold

*Spinebuster

*Stomp to the opponent's groin

*STF

**Suplex

**Superplex

*Texas piledriver

*Thesz press followed by multiple punches

*As "Stunning" Steve Austin

*''Hollywood and Vine'' (Standing figure four leglock)

*Knee drop

*Pointed elbow drop, sometimes from the second or top rope

**Schoolboy pin

*Sleeper hold

*Vertical suplex

Stables

*Dangerous Alliance

*Hollywood Blonds

*Million Dollar Corporation

*The Alliance

*The Power Trip

Managers

Paul E. Dangerously

Col. Robert Parker

Ted DiBiase

*Paul Bearer

*Debra

Nicknames

"The Texas Rattlesnake"

"The Bionic Redneck"

" Toughest Son of a Bitch in the WWF/E"

"Superstar"

"Stunning"

*"Stone Cold"

Entrance themes

*World Championship Wrestling

**As "Stunning" Steve Austin

***"Roman Love" (1991–1995)

*Extreme Championship Wrestling

**As "Superstar" Steve Austin

**"Jesus Christ Superstar" (1995)

*WWF/E

**As The Ringmaster

***"Ringmaster" by Jim Johnston (1996)

**As "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

***"Hell Frozen Over" by Jim Johnston (October 27, 1996 – October 4, 1998)

***"Glass Shatters" by Disturbed (September 24, 2000 – July 23, 2001; 2011 - Promos)

***"Rattlesnake" by Jim Johnston (2001)

***"Hell on Earth" by Jim Johnston (2001)

***"Paranoid" by Jim Johnston (2001)

***"Venomous" by Jim Johnston (August 6, 2001-November 29, 2001)

***"I Won't Do What You Tell Me" by Jim Johnston (October 11, 1998– April 27, 2000; December 3, 2001–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Feud of the Year (1998, 1999) vs. Vince McMahon

PWI Match of the Year (1997) vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 in a Submission match

PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2001)

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1998)

PWI Rookie of the Year (1990)

PWI Wrestler of the Year (1998, 1999, 2001)

PWI ranked #1 of the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1998 and 1999

PWI ranked #19 of the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI Years in 2003

Teen Choice Awards

*Choice Pro Wrestler (1999)

Texas Wrestling Federation

TWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The California Stud

World Championship Wrestling

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Pillman

WCW World Television Championship (2 times)

NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Brian Pillman

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

Million Dollar Championship (1 time)¹

WWF Championship (6 times)

WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWF Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Shawn Michaels (1), Dude Love (1), The Undertaker (1) and Triple H (1)

King of the Ring (1996)

Royal Rumble (1997, 1998, 2001)

*Slammy Award for Freedom of Speech (1997)

*Fifth Triple Crown Champion

*WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)

*WWF CEO (kayfabe)

*WWE Co-General Manager

*WWE Sheriff

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*5 Star Match (1992) with Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, and Larry Zbyszko vs. Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, and Barry Windham in a WarGames match at WrestleWar

*5 Star Match (1997) vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13

*Best Box Office Draw (1998, 1999)

*Best Gimmick (1997, 1998)

*Best Heel (1996)

*Best Interviews (1996–1998, 2001)

*Best Non-Wrestler (2003)

Feud of the Year (1997)

Feud of the Year (1998, 1999)

Match of the Year (1997)

*Most Charismatic (1997, 1998)

*Rookie of the Year (1990)

Tag Team of the Year (1993)

*Wrestler of the Year (1998)

Worst Worked Match of the Year (1991)

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2000)

1 The Million Dollar Championship isn't an official championship recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment.

Bibliography

References

External links

Professional wrestling record for Steve Austin from The Internet Wrestling Database

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin WWE Hall of Fame profile

Steve Austin 2007 Interview on ''Sidewalks Entertainment''

Stone Cold Steve Austin in 'The Stranger'

Stone Cold Steve Austin in 'Damage'

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1964 births Category:American film actors Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Fictional kings Category:Living people Category:North Texas Mean Green football players Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from San Antonio, Texas Category:People from Victoria, Texas Category:Professional wrestling executives Category:WWE Hall of Fame

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Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Name	Scott Hall
Names	Scott HallRazor RamonDiamond StudStarship CoyoteTexas Scott
Height
Weight
Birth date	October 20, 1958
Birth place	Chuluota, Florida
Resides	Chuluota, Florida
Billed	Miami, Florida
Trainer	Hiro MatsudaAl SnowBarry WindhamMike Rotunda Christopher Adams|Hardcore Holly
Debut	October 13, 1984

Scott Hall (born October 20, 1958) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the late 90s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name. Since the late 2000s, Hall has become most well known for his much publicized battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, which he initially struggled with in the late 1990s during his time in World Championship Wrestling. He also appeared in the Insane Clown Posse movie Big Money Rustlas.

During his tenure with the WCW, Hall was one of the three original members of the nWo stable (along with Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash), whose storyline involving the "invasion" of the WCW by anarchist wrestlers helped to skyrocket WCW's television ratings and reinvigorated interest in the promotion. He has held several titles over the course of his career, most notably the WWF Intercontinental championship, which he held four times, and the WCW World Tag Team Championship, which he held seven-times.

Outside of the ring, Hall—along with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman— is a member of The Kliq, a group of wrestlers who were friends backstage.

Hall is also known for his appearances with various other wrestling promotions including the American Wrestling Association, Extreme Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He currently serves as Executive Consultant to Juggalo Championship Wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

National Wrestling Alliance

Hall began his career in 1984 in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) and soon began a feud with Dusty Rhodes. Scott Hall and his workout buddy Dan Spivey were trained in Florida mainly by Dusty Rhodes but also received training from Rick Martel and Barry Windham. When it was time for the team's debut Dusty Rhodes made a deal with Jim Crockett for the two to work in Crockett's territory based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. While wrestling for Jim Crockett Promotions as part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1984 and 1985, Hall formed a tag team with Dan Spivey, known as American Starship ("Starship Coyote" and "Starship Eagle", respectively). With their furry boots, massive stature, bright masks and Hulk Hogan-esque t-shirt ripping routine the two men were easy to spot on any card.

Initially, American Starship worked only sporadically. At first they were booked so sparingly that the two were given a job for the Charlotte Orioles (which Jim Crockett owned at the time) as part of the ground crew. When the two men did get into the ring it was with little success, the highlight of their stay in Crocket's Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling was being defeated by Arn and Ole Anderson when the rookies challenged for the NWA National Tag Team Championship. After working in MAW the duo joined Bob Geigel's NWA Central States territory based in Kansas City in 1985.

The duo had a shot at the NWA Central States Tag Team Champions Marty Janetty and "Bulldog" Bob Brown but did not manage to win the titles. Spivey’s stay in the Central States territory was short lived, according to Scott Hall Spivey did not like Kansas City. Spivey returned to the Carolinas and the recently redubbed "Jim Crockett Promotions" where he worked as "American Starship" Eagle as a jobber. Hall however stayed and got a big push and gained the respect of several big names including Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zbyszko who went to a time limit draw with a rookie Hall, and he also developed a friendship with Curt Hennig.

American Wrestling Association

Scott Hall next moved on to the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1985, where he was named "Magnum" Scott Hall, name checking Magnum T.A., and later "Big" Scott Hall and was pushed as a babyface wrestler. Verne Gagne, the owner and promoter of the AWA, tried to push another younger superstar to the same heights as Hulk Hogan following Hogan's departure to Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Gagne had Hall use mannerisms and moves similar to Hogan.

Hall eventually formed a tag team with fellow future-superstar Curt Hennig, and together they defeated "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal for the AWA World Tag Team Championship on January 18, 1986 (However, the match never really took place. It was a phantom title change due to the fact that Regal had left the company shortly before the title change was scheduled to take place, so the AWA put the belts on Hennig and Hall claiming that they won the belts in an "epic" 58 minute match in Albuquerque, New Mexico). Referred to as the "Perfect Combination" by ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'', the team gained victories over "Playboy" Buddy Rose and "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers, Konga the Barbarian and Boris Zhukov, and Bill and Scott Irwin. They eventually dropped the belts to Rose and Somers by countout (even though in all wrestling, including the AWA, belts didn't change hands on DQ's or countouts; This was never explained) on May 17, due to interference by Colonel DeBeers. After losing the title, Hall and Hennig soon parted ways, with the AWA pushing Hall into matches for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship with Stan Hansen and Rick Martel. Although Gagne wanted to put the AWA world title on Hall, he hated the cold, and recognized the sinking ship and moved on to the NWA in 1989.

NWA, WCW, and WWC

Scott Hall was brought in, under his real name, to the National Wrestling Alliance's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) territory by Jim Ross in 1989, when the NWA was beginning to focus on developing new, young superstars such as Brian Pillman and Sid Vicious. His first and only pay-per-view appearance during this time was at The Great American Bash: The Glory Days, which saw Hall participate (unsuccessfully) in a King of the Hill battle royal. Scott Hall made little impact during this run and soon after he began jobbing regularly, after which he went on hiatus.

Hall made a brief stint in 1991 in the Puerto Rican promotion World Wrestling Council (WWC). On March 3, he defeated Miguel Pérez, Jr. for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship, holding it for one month before losing the title to Super Medic III on April 20, 1991.

World Championship Wrestling

The Diamond Studd

Hall returned to the NWA in 1991, although by then the region was known as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was named The Diamond Studd, whose gimmick was similar to Ravishing Rick Rude's with the added element of a monster big man heel, and he was managed by Diamond Dallas Page. He squashed Tommy Rich in his debut on the June 14 edition of ''Clash of the Champions'', and he defeated Tom Zenk at The Great American Bash.

He received a significant push in his early days with WCW, but by the end of 1991 this began to fade, starting with the September 2 edition of ''Clash of the Champions'', where Studd was defeated by Ron Simmons. At Halloween Havoc: Chamber of Horrors, the team of Studd, Abdullah the Butcher, Cactus Jack, and Big Van Vader lost to Sting, El Gigante, and the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott). On the November 19 edition of ''Clash of the Champions'', Studd lost to Zenk in a rematch from The Great American Bash.

In 1992, he formed short-lived tag teams with Vinnie Vegas and Scotty Flamingo during his time in the Diamond Mine stable, while also teaming with members of Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. The idea of adding him to the Dangerous Alliance fell through, however, and he left WCW shortly after.

World Wrestling Federation

Razor Ramon

Hall signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1992 and his character evolved from Scott Hall to that of Razor Ramon, a shady, but stylish Cuban American bully from Miami. The Latino-heel persona was modeled after Tony Montana and Manny Ribera (Al Pacino and Steven Bauer's characters from the movie ''Scarface'', respectively). Hall's nickname (The Bad Guy) and catchphrase ("Say hello to The Bad Guy") derive from quotes from the movie; "Say hello to my little friend" and "Say goodnight to the bad guy".

Later in his career, Hall claimed he pitched the idea of a ''Scarface''-like character during a meeting with Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson, as a joke. Hall quoted lines with a Cuban accent and gave ideas for vignettes (also inspired by the movie) that would involve Hall recreating several scenes, such as Ramon driving around South Florida in a convertible with a leopard-skin interior. Although his pitch was taken right from the film, Hall claims McMahon and Patterson were nevertheless floored by the ideas and called Hall a "genius." Hall later learned that neither McMahon nor Patterson had ever seen or heard of the film, and thus believed that Hall was coming up with the ideas himself. Patterson and McMahon came up with the name Razor, but agreed with Hall's suggestion that "Razor" should be a nickname, and that the character needed an actual given name. Hall later asked Tito Santana for a Latino sounding name that starts with R, and when he suggested "Ramon" Hall promptly brought it back to McMahon and the name stuck.

Hall's WWF debut was preceded by his vignettes, with his in-ring debut coming on the August 8, 1992 edition of ''Superstars'', defeating local jobber Paul Van Dow with his finishing move, the Razor's Edge (Hall had used the finisher in his run in WCW, under the name "Diamond Death Drop"). Early on, Ramon would wear large gold chain necklaces to the ring; upon handing them to an attendant at ringside he would threaten "Something happens to this, something gonna happen to you.", and then flick his toothpick at the hapless attendant.

Hall's first major angle began on the September 14 edition of ''Prime Time Wrestling'', where Ramon interfered in a WWF Championship match between the champion Randy Savage and the challenger Ric Flair. Ramon helped Flair win the title after attacking Savage on the floor. As a result, Ramon and Savage started a feud with each other, which then went on to include the Ultimate Warrior after Warrior saved Savage from a post-match beating by Ramon. Ramon and Flair were scheduled to face the Ultimate Maniacs (Savage and Warrior) at the Survivor Series; however, Warrior was fired from the WWF prior to the event and was replaced by Flair's executive consultant, Mr. Perfect, who had made a face turn. At Survivor Series, Ramon and Flair went on to lose to Savage and Perfect after being disqualified by the referee for constantly double-teaming their opponents.

WWF Champion Bret Hart was scheduled to defend his title against the Ultimate Warrior at the Royal Rumble, but the Warrior's departure from the WWF left Hart without a challenger, and Razor Ramon replaced him. During the feud, Ramon continued his heel persona by disrespecting Hart and the Hart wrestling family. Like his previous attempts to win the AWA Championship in the late 1980s, Ramon was unable to defeat Hart at the Royal Rumble, submitting to the Sharpshooter. Ramon won a 16-man battle royal the following month after Giant González—who was not a participant in the match—entered the ring and eliminated Tatanka and El Matador. Ramon made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania IX, defeating former WWF Champion Bob Backlund with a roll-up.

Ramon defeated Tito Santana to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament in 1993, but lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual tournament winner and the man he lost to at the Royal Rumble, Bret Hart. On the May 17 edition of ''Monday Night Raw'' he had an upset loss to jobber "The Kid" (who would later gain the nickname the "1-2-3 Kid" following the upset). As a result, a small feud between himself and the 1-2-3 Kid began; it carried with him into the King of the Ring tournament; and it also began a slow face turn for Ramon, who had gained both respect for The Kid and support from the crowd. Ted DiBiase, however, did not show respect for Ramon and instead began making fun of Ramon for losing to such a small jobber. Ramon's face turn was solidified after helping the 1-2-3 Kid defeat DiBiase. The feud culminated in a match at SummerSlam, where Ramon defeated DiBiase in DiBiase's final WWF match before going to Japan.

Intercontinental Champion

On the October 4, 1993 edition of ''Monday Night Raw'', a 20-man battle royal for the vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship was held; the last two participants would face other the following week for the title. Ramon and Rick Martel were the final two. The next week on ''Raw'', Ramon came out on top following a Razor's Edge to win the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Ramon would go on to have successful defenses against the likes of Martel and Irwin R. Schyster (IRS). At Survivor Series, Ramon teamed with Marty Jannetty, Randy Savage, and the 1-2-3 Kid to take on the team of Martel, IRS, Adam Bomb, and Diesel. Razor, captaining his team, went on to eliminate the opposing captain, IRS, after scoring a pin following a Razor's Edge. Although he was later eliminated from the match after being counted out when IRS hit him with his briefcase, Razor's team went on to win the match, beginning a feud between the two captains. Ramon's feud with IRS culminated at Royal Rumble where he defeated IRS to retain the Intercontinental title following the Razor's Edge.

At the same time, Ramon was in the early stages of a feud with Shawn Michaels over who had the real claim to the Intercontinental champion. Michaels had been stripped of the title months before due to "inactivity" (he was actually on suspension at that time), but began appearing on television with his own version of the belt, claiming he had never been beaten for it. Their feud was showcased with Ramon defending the Intercontinental Championship against Michaels in a ladder match at WrestleMania X, where Ramon retained the championship after retrieving both belts. This match was voted ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'''s Match of the Year in 1994. It was also the first WWF match to receive a five star rating from Dave Meltzer of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''. On WWE.com, this match is rated as the #5 match in the top 22 matches in WrestleMania history. Ramon continued to feud with Michaels and his bodyguard Diesel and on the April 30 edition of ''Superstars'', he dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Diesel after interference from Michaels.

Ramon went on to defeat Kwang to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament in 1994. At King of the Ring, he defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in the quarterfinals of the tournament and Irwin R. Schyster in the semifinals, before a loss in the finals of the tournament to his old rival Bret Hart's younger brother, Owen. At SummerSlam, Ramon (with Walter Payton in his corner) defeated Diesel to win his second WWF Intercontinental Championship after Shawn Michaels accidentally hit Diesel with Sweet Chin Music. At Survivor Series, he captained a team dubbed "The Bad Guys" consisting of himself, the 1-2-3 Kid, Davey Boy Smith, and The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Sione) against The Teamsters (Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Jeff Jarrett). Ramon ended up as the sole survivor of the match and by the end of 1994, he began a feud with Jeff Jarrett which led into the next year.

At the Royal Rumble in 1995, Ramon lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jarrett, although the match ended in controversial fashion; Jarrett had originally won the match by count-out, but demanded that the match be restarted so he could win the title. Jarrett then pinned the champion with a small package. He faced Jarrett in a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XI. Ramon won the match by disqualification after Jarrett's assistant The Roadie interfered; thus, Jarrett retained the title as a title cannot change hands by count-out or disqualification. Ramon later defeated Jarrett and Roadie at In Your House 1 in a handicap match. On May 16, Razor qualified for the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Jacob Blu. He later defeated Jarrett in a ladder match on May 19, 1995 at a live event to win his third WWF Intercontinental Championship. At that time, this was a record because Ramon was the first man to hold the Intercontinental title three times. Three days later on May 22, he lost the title back to Jarrett. ''(Actually, this win of the IC title was "accidental." Jarrett was booked to win the ladder match, but was legitimately injured during the match and could not prevent Razor from retrieving the title belt. To avoid breaking kayfabe, Razor had no choice but to win the match. As a result, Jarrett was booked to regain the title on the May 22 event.)'' On June 9, Ramon suffered a rib injury during a ladder match rematch against Jarrett. During this time, he formed a team with Savio Vega, and Vega defeated Irwin R. Schyster in the Free for All match at the pay-per-view to fill Razor's vacancy. Razor managed Vega throughout the tournament, who ultimately lost to Mabel in the finals.

Razor and Vega lost to Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo) at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks, and a Tag Team Championship match against Owen Hart and Yokozuna on the August 7 edition of ''Raw''. Razor received an Intercontinental title ladder match against the new champion Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam, in what was considered to be their WrestleMania X rematch. Razor went on to lose the match against Michaels, and then started a feud with Dean Douglas. Ramon defeated Douglas at In Your House 4 for the Intercontinental Championship. Michaels had just forfeited the title to Douglas.

In early 1996, Ramon started a feud with newcomer Goldust, leading to an Intercontinental title match at the Royal Rumble. Ramon lost the title to Goldust after Ramon's former partner the 1-2-3 Kid (who had previously made a heel turn) cost him the match. He became a member of the WWF's off-stage The Kliq which consisted of Kevin Nash (Diesel), Paul Levesque (Hunter Hearst Helmsley), Michael Hickenbottom (Shawn Michaels), and Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid). Razor was originally scheduled to face Goldust in a rematch for the title at WrestleMania XII, but had been suspended by the WWF in the weeks prior due to drug abuse. He was not seen on WWF television again until April's In Your House 7 where he jobbed to Vader. Hall was also a participant in the MSG Incident. As Hall and fellow Kliq member Kevin Nash were departing for WCW, the pair along with Hickenbottom (Shawn Michaels) and Levesque (Triple H) broke kayfabe, celebrating and embracing in the ring together.

World Championship Wrestling

The Outsiders and the New World Order (1996-1998)

Hall's first appearance on May 27, 1996 on WCW television after leaving the WWF was an unannounced interview where he appeared from the crowd in street clothes, claiming to be "an outsider." He was then joined in the following weeks by Kevin Nash, the two claiming they were going to undertake a hostile takeover of WCW, slamming Eric Bischoff through the announcer's table in the process. The angle directly paralleled the real-life competition between WCW and the WWF. At the following pay-per-view, Bash at the Beach, Nash and Hall, known as The Outsiders, challenged Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage to a '3 vs. 3' match, announcing a 'mystery partner' as their third partner. The mystery partner turned out to be Hulk Hogan, and the three formed the New World Order (nWo). The stable stormed WCW, enlisting such stars as Syxx (Kliq member Sean Waltman) and The Giant.

Hall and Nash closed out 1996 with victories over Sting and Lex Luger at Hog Wild, and WCW's WarGames match at Fall Brawl. They defeated Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) at Halloween Havoc for their first WCW World Tag Team Championship. They successfully defended the titles against The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) and Faces of Fear (The Barbarian and Meng) at World War 3, and then again defeated the Faces of Fear at Starrcade. The duo would hold the WCW World Tag Team title from February 24, 1997 to October 13, 1997, often feuding with the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott), Lex Luger and the Giant, and the Four Horsemen. Since Eric Bischoff was a member of the nWo, he used his power to return the title to the Outsiders on a technicality whenever they lost them. The Outsiders would also use the Freebird Rule to defend their title. With Nash and Syxx out with injuries, Hall used the last quarter of 1997 to focus on singles wrestling. Hall was defeated by Luger in a grudge match at Halloween Havoc via submission with Larry Zbyszko serving as the guest referee. One of Hall's greatest achievements in WCW was winning the 60 man battle royal at World War 3 1997 earning a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

On the January 12, 1998 edition of ''Nitro'', Hall and Nash defeated the Steiner Brothers for their second WCW World Tag Team Championship. Hall eventually wrestled Larry Zbyszko at Souled Out but lost by disqualification. The Outsiders lost the tag title back to the Steiners on the February 9 edition of ''Nitro''. At SuperBrawl VIII, the Outsiders won their third WCW World Tag Team Championship by defeating the Steiner Brothers. At Uncensored, Hall got his title shot against Sting for the World Heavyweight Championship as a result of winning World War 3, and lost the match, despite interference from Dusty Rhodes. He would then be taken off TV for a short while in early 1998 in a show of power by WCW President Eric Bischoff as a way to keep Hall and Nash in check and was forced by the company to enter rehabiliation after he and Nash both showed up to the March 16, 1998 edition of ''Nitro'' heavily intoxicated. While Hall was absent, the nWo split into two warring factions. As he was still one half of the tag team champions with Kevin Nash, the thinking was that Hall would return alongside his friend in the nWo Wolfpac.

nWo Hollywood (1998)

At Slamboree, Hall returned to team with Kevin Nash in a title defense against Sting and The Giant. In a swerve, Hall turned on Nash, costing them the title and jumping sides to align himself with Hulk Hogan in nWo Hollywood. On the July 6 edition of ''Nitro'', a returning Scott Hall was handpicked by Hogan to wrestle United States Champion Bill Goldberg. Hall lost the match, setting the stage for Hogan to be defeated later that night by Goldberg for the World Heavyweight Championship. Hogan publicly blamed Hall for the loss and Hall was seen as a weak link by the rest of the nWo, especially Scott Steiner.

On July 13, Hogan challenged Hall to a match on ''Nitro''. Hall accepted the challenge and it looked like Hall had finally gotten sick of being ordered around by Hogan and his lackeys. However, Nash interfered during the match. As he was about to Jacknife Powerbomb Hogan and regain Hall as his friend, Hall viciously attacked Nash, proving his allegiance to Hogan and nWo Hollywood. In the following weeks, Hall mocked Nash calling himself "Medium Sexy (later "Super Sexy"), the Nash Killer." On the July 20 edition of ''Nitro'', Hall won his fourth WCW World Tag Team Championship with The Giant, as they defeated Sting and Nash due to outside interference from Bret Hart, who was in the midst of a rivalry with Sting at the time. This title reign would come to an end at Halloween Havoc, when Rick Steiner defeated The Giant and Scott Steiner (who replaced Hall) to claim the title even after partner Buff Bagwell turned on him.

Scott Hall's character became out of control and would bring alcohol to the ring, and his behavior on TV mirrored his real-life problems with drugs and alcohol. This had him once "vomit" on Eric Bischoff, and in another vignette, Kevin Nash along with Wolfpac members Konnan and Lex Luger, followed Hall to a local bar where Hall and Nash had a physical confrontation.

Hall and Nash eventually faced each other on October 25 at Halloween Havoc. After hitting Hall with two Jackknife Powerbombs, Nash left the ring and lost the match by count-out in what was seen as an act of mercy. Hall was then ousted by nWo Hollywood after Steiner took control in Hogan's absence in late 1998. He then referred to himself as the Lone Wolf. On November 30, 1998, Hall needed a tag partner to face the team of Steiner and Horace Hogan. Initially, Hall said he would do it alone, but Kevin Nash came to the entrance and told Hall he would tag with him. Together the team, formerly known as the Outsiders, won the match. At Starrcade, Hall disguised himself as a security staff member and used a stun gun on WCW Champion Goldberg during his title match with Kevin Nash. Having not seen the interference, Kevin Nash jackknifed and covered Goldberg to become the WCW Champion and break Goldberg's winning streak.

nWo Reunion, United States Champion and World Television Champion (1999-2000)

It seemed Nash and Hall were seeing eye to eye again, and it all came to a head in January 1999 when the two nWo factions rejoined. Scott Hall feuded with Goldberg and faced him in a "Ladder Taser match" on January 19 at Souled Out. Hall lost the match when Goldberg used the taser gun on Hall. At SuperBrawl IX, Hall defeated Roddy Piper for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Shortly after, Hall suffered a foot injury forcing him to forfeit the title. Hall would not be seen again until October 1999 when he and Kevin Nash began sitting at ringside during WCW television, proclaiming that "the band was getting back together." On the November 8 edition of ''Nitro'', Hall defeated Goldberg, Bret Hart, and Sid Vicious in a Texas Tornado ladder match to win his second United States Heavyweight Championship. Two weeks later at Mayhem, he defeated Rick Steiner by forfeit to win the WCW World Television Championship, therefore becoming a double champion. He successfully defended both titles against Booker T later that same night.

Hall, however, vacated the TV title by throwing it into a trash can eight days later on ''Nitro''. Hall's U.S. title was soon stripped due to a knee injury and awarded to Chris Benoit. Hall and Nash would eventually team up to defeat Bret Hart and Bill Goldberg on the December 13 edition of ''Nitro'' for their sixth WCW World Tag Team Championship as a team. Yet soon afterwards, Hall's personal problems arose again and the tag team title was stripped from the Outsiders. After the nWo returned in December 1999, Hall soon joined teammates Kevin Nash, Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett, and Scott Steiner in what was coined "nWo 2000." As 2000 came along, Scott Hall got involved in a feud with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sid Vicious and nWo teammate Jeff Jarrett for the WCW title. Sid pinned Hall in a match also involving Jarrett at SuperBrawl on February 20. This pay-per-view appearance was Scott Hall's last, and it ended his stint in WCW. In total, Hall won seven World Tag Team Championships, one World Television Championship and two United States Heavyweight Championships.

Extreme Championship Wrestling / New Japan Pro Wrestling

Hall wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a brief period. He wrestled two non-televised matches (one against Big Sal, the other against Justin Credible) on November 10 and 11. He then wrestled in Japan and also did some independent shows in the United States. When he was in New Japan Pro Wrestling, he was a part of nWo Japan/Team 2000/ArisTrisT usually tagging with Masahiro Chono, fellow WCW alumni Scott Norton or Super J/Black Scorpion/nWo Sting. The highlights of his stay in New Japan, however, were only defeats: a loss to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) Triple Crown champion Keiji Mutoh (the match was booked by New Japan, but AJPW Wada officiated) and a loss to then-rookie Hiroshi Tanahashi, who was trying to break out into the heavyweight division.

Return to World Wrestling Federation

Six years since leaving to join WCW, Hall returned to the WWF and reunited with Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan to repackage the nWo in February.

He started a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin and they fought each other in a match at WrestleMania X8 which Austin won. The match however came under heavy critique from Austin on his return to the company in 2003, claiming the match did not meet his nor Hall's fans expectations and was disappointed it only lasted seven minutes. On the March 25 edition of ''Raw'', Hall was drafted to the Raw brand as a result of the Brand Extension, where he feuded with Bradshaw, culminating in a match at Backlash which Hall won. Hall then continued his feud with Austin, however he then opened release talks from his contract due to personal issues stemming from a child-custody dispute with his wife.

Hall was however fired from the company after Insurrextion 2002. No official explanation has ever been released by the company nor Hall himself.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Hall worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) periodically between 2002 and 2005. He was on TNA's debut pay-per-view and later teamed up with Syxx-Pac when he made his debut in the promotion. Hall had three matches for the International Wrestling Association (IWA) in Puerto Rico in April 2003. On February 24, 2004, the Outsiders briefly reunited for Ultimate Pro Wrestling's fifth anniversary show where they lost to Tom Howard and Christopher Daniels. They also had a match in Japan in May 2004 where they lost to Naoya Ogawa and Shinya Hashimoto. Hall disappeared until late 2004, when he made his return alongside the debut of Kevin Nash, and both signed and were offered contracts as TNA prepared for their first monthly pay-per-view, Victory Road. Hall joined Nash and Jeff Jarrett in the Kings of Wrestling, a stable similar to the nWo. The Kings of Wrestling lost to Randy Savage, Jeff Hardy, and A.J. Styles at Turning Point on December 5. Hall lost to Jeff Hardy at Final Resolution on January 16, 2005 in his final TNA match of this stint.

World Wrestling Council

On July 13, Hall made his return to wrestling for the World Wrestling Council (WWC) as Razor Ramon, albeit while wearing WolfPac themed attire, in the main event of the WWC Anniversary tour at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan against Carlito. Hall was defeated after Apollo interfered on Carlito's behalf. The next night, Hall won his 2nd World Championship, the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Carlito and then-champion Apollo in a Three-Way Dance match in the main event of the evening. On August 4 and September 23, Hall successfully defended the title against Eddie Colón, Carlito's younger brother. On October 27, he again retained the title at WWC's ''Halloween Wrestling Xtravaganza'' by defeating Carlito's cousin Orlando "Fireblaze" Colon. In this match, Scott was managed by his friend Rico Casanova.

Scott Hall no-showed his scheduled appearances in Puerto Rico for WWC where he was scheduled to wrestle on December 14 in Ponce and December 15 in Caguas. Hall arrived late to the island Friday which is the reason why he missed the Ponce event. Although Hall was on the island on Saturday, he was affected emotionally by several family issues that had occurred earlier in the week and was unable to compete.

Return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

On the November 1 edition of ''Impact!'', it was predicted by Kevin Nash that Scott Hall would be Sting's mystery partner at Genesis. On the November 8 edition of ''Impact!'', Hall made his return to major American pro wrestling television, rebuffing the advances of Kurt Angle's wife, Karen, and then battling Kurt in his dressing room. Hall stated that he was in TNA solely to confront Nash. Hall asked Nash why he was not there to help him in his troubled past, and Nash responded that it was a result of his own nonstop partying and risk of losing his family. Hall then claimed that all was forgiven and the two embraced in the ring. He also revealed that he was not Sting's mystery partner. The reunited Outsiders and Samoa Joe then began a feud with the Angle Alliance. They were to compete together at Turning Point, but Hall no-showed the event.

Juggalo Championship Wrestling

Hall made his Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) debut on August 12, 2007 at ''Bloodymania'', losing to the JCW Heavyweight Champion Corporal Robinson. In the match, Hall took his first ever bump on thumbtacks.

On October 6, 2007, Corporal Robinson, Scott Hall, and Violent J formed the Juggalo World Order (JWO) at ''Evansville Invasion''. At that years ''Hallowicked After Party'', on October 31, Shaggy 2 Dope was introduced as a member of the group. After the main event of the night, special guest referee Nosawa ripped off his referee shirt to reveal that he too was a member of the JWO. At ''Bloodymania II'', Kevin Nash teamed with Scott Hall and proclaimed himself a member of the group. The 2008 ''Hallowicked After Party'' saw the JWO induct its newest member, 2 Tuff Tony.

On November 9, the Juggalo World Order (Scott Hall, Shaggy 2 Dope, Violent J, 2 Tuff Tony, and Corporal Robinson) "invaded" Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Turning Point PPV by purchasing front row tickets to the event. They proceeded to promote their faction by flashing their JWO jerseys, before being removed from the building. The group expressed interest in "invading" WWE at its 2009 Royal Rumble PPV, but were unable due to filming commitments for Big Money Rustlas in Los Angeles. They have also shown interest in "invading" Ring Of Honor and Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Hall teamed with Kevin Nash at Great Lakes Championship Wrestling on the March 21, 2009 and faced The New Age Outlaws, in what was the first match pitting the nWo vs. DX. Nash walked out on Hall, setting up a grudge match between the two that was scheduled for June. That match never happened. Hall and Nash were supposed to team together at JCW's Bloodymania as part of team jWo with the ICP, but Nash was replaced with Sid Justice because of the Outsider split. Hall later defeated Sid in a singles match on August 22. Hall has wrestled Sid in various independent promotions throughout the latter portion of 2009.

Return to TNA Wrestling (2010)

On the January 4, 2010 three-hour Monday night live edition of ''Impact!'' Hall and Sean Waltman returned to TNA on the night Hulk Hogan made his debut for the company. Kevin Nash, Hall and Waltman quickly reformed their old-time alliance, but Hogan kept himself out of the group, claiming that times have changed. The following week the newly revived alliance was named "The Band". Hall was scheduled to team with Nash at Genesis in a match against Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm), but was replaced at the event by Sean Waltman (who was renamed Syxx-Pac). In the end Hall inadvertently cost his stable mates the match. On the following edition of ''Impact!'' Hogan, disgusted by the actions of The Band, had security remove Hall and Waltman from the Impact! Zone, since they were not under contract with the company. Despite this Hall and Syxx-Pac kept on returning to Impact! Zone for random attacks and on the February 4 edition of ''Impact!'' they turned on Nash and beat him down. At Destination X Hall and Syxx-Pac faced Nash and Eric Young in a tag team match, where the Band's TNA futures were on the line. In the end Nash turned on Young and helped the Band pick up the victory, which finally gave them contracts with the company. On the March 29 edition of ''Impact!'' the Band lost a six man tag team steel cage match against Eric Young, Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy. At Lockdown Hall and Nash were defeated by Team 3D in a St. Louis Street Fight. On the May 3 edition of ''Impact!'' Eric Young turned on Team 3D and joined The Band. On May 4, at the tapings of the May 13 edition of ''Impact!'', Hall teamed with Nash, when he cashed in his "Feast or Fired" contract and defeated Matt Morgan to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Nash later named Young one third of the champions under the Freebird rule. At the June 14 tapings of ''Impact!'' The Band was stripped of the Tag Team Championship, due to Hall's legal problems. The following day it was reported that Hall had been released from his contract with TNA.

Independent circuit (2010–present)

On May 3, 2010 Hall appeared at Continental Championship Wrestling with Ricky Ortiz and Syxx-Pac. Hall and Pac escorted Ortiz to the ring for his match with Navy Seal which Ortiz won. On November 7, 2010 Hall appeared at Vintage Pro Wrestling with Ricky Ortiz using the Wolfpac theme. On January 8, 2011 Scott Hall made an appearance at I Believe in Wrestling in Orlando and talked about his health before bringing out Ricky Ortiz for his match with "Hotshot" Mike Reed.

On April 8, 2011, the day after his rumored overdose, Hall made an appearance in Massachusetts where he showed up in very poor condition even still wearing a hospital bracelet. Things were so bad for Hall that he had to be helped down to the ring and into it because he was unable to walk on his own. Hall cut a promo in the ring and would later sign autographs. The crowd seemed surprised by his appearance especially since Hall a day before guaranteed they would get their money's worth by his appearance.

On June 4, 2011, Scott Hall returned to make an appearance along side with Santana Garrett, in an independent wrestling event.

On June 21, 2011 Scott Hall was sentenced to 10 days in Seminole County Jail, stemming from an arrest back in May 2010. Back in 2010, Hall was arrested after drunkenly yelling and cursing at patrons in a Florida bar. He was reportedly uncooperative with police, and was arrested for resisting arrest. Hall got sentenced to 10 days in jail, but the time ended up being reduced to 2 days for the time served.

Personal life

Hall married Dana Lee Burgio in 1990. The couple divorced in 1998, remarried in 1999, then divorced permanently in 2001. He has two children, a son, Cody Taylor (born in 1991), and a daughter, Cassidy (born in 1994).

August 24, 2009, Hall began his own internet show on YouTube, ''Last Call with Scott Hall''. Guests have included: Sid Vicious, Kevin Nash, Ricky Ortiz, Larry Zbyszko, and Sean Waltman.

Legal issues, battles with drugs/alcohol and health problems

On October 7, 1998, Dana wrote an open letter "to anyone who cares". In the letter, she admonished World Championship Wrestling and Eric Bischoff for not only failing to rehabilitate him but coming to the point where they were exploiting, humiliating, and even enabling him to continue his self-destructive behavior. She accused WCW of allowing Hall to perform while under the influence, and taking advantage of his real addictions to drugs and alcohol for profit and ratings. She called the angle "deplorable, disgusting, and inexcusable". She pleaded with WCW to discontinue the controversial angle for the sake of Hall's two children, whom she said he had no relationship with. She ended the letter by making a desperate plea to everyone to help Scott see his problems and "put himself in God's hands". She said Hall remained a very sick man and his addictions had destroyed his marriage, his future, and his children's future.

On October 10, 2008, Hall was arrested during a roast of the Iron Sheik held at a Crowne Plaza hotel in New Jersey, in which a comedian joked, ''"After The Sheik and Hacksaw Jim [Duggan] got caught snorting coke in the parking lot, his career fell faster than Owen Hart."'' An enraged Hall charged at the performer and knocked down a podium, then grabbed the microphone from him and yelled about how he was disrespecting Hart. The comedian described the incident on his MySpace page, adding that he loved Hart as a wrestler and a man and believed Hart would have laughed at the joke. He also claimed that Hall was drunk at the time of the attack.

Hall was arrested on May 14, 2010, and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting a police officer, according to ''The Orlando Sentinel''. Authorities were called to the Hitching Post Bar in Chuluota after Hall, who had been "drinking heavily" according to a police report, "became aggressive". When authorities arrived, they found Hall yelling and cursing at the amateur wrestling personalities Marc Grabowsky, Kevin "Showtime" Van Camp, Tony "ODB" Griffin, Shawn Shiever The Beaver Retreiver, and Mark E. Nelson and other staff of the bar. Hall was told he was not allowed to return to the establishment. On his police report, Hall listed himself as an "unemployed" professional wrestler, despite having a job with TNA Wrestling, who would release Hall a month after the arrest. After his release from TNA, Hall checked into a WWE sponsored rehab. Hall checked out of the rehab facility in early October 2010. Weeks after he checked into rehab, Hall had both a defibrillator and a pacemaker implanted into his heart. He was also hospitalized twice in 2010 for double pneumonia, which affected both lungs.

Hall was the only member of The Kliq not on hand to see longtime friend, Shawn Michaels inducted to the WWE Hall Of Fame and decided to not attend any of the Wrestlemania XXVII festivities due to concerns of remaining sober in that type of atmosphere. Hall posted on his Twitter page during the Wrestlemania event, "Taker wins!" which was in reference to The Undertaker winning his match over Triple H, one of Hall's closest friends in the business. Wrestler, CM Punk, who is known for living a Straight Edge lifestyle praised Hall for his deicision not to attend the Wrestlemania events because it could hurt his sobriety.

On April 7, 2011, Hall was reportedly taken to the hospital due to drug overdose, though Hall's representative quickly responded that the info was untrue and fabricated saying that Hall was at home and doing fine that day. Hall's rep said that he was however in the hospital for low blood pressure and a change to his blood pressure medication. His rep said that Scott visits his doctor on a regular basis and is still recovering from his double pneumonia and being treated for his heart.

Hall gave an interview on April 7 discussing an appearance at an independent wrestling show for the following day, and went on to say that the fans who bought tickets would get their money's worth. He discussed his problems with his vices by saying "while alcohol and drugs are fun, when you want to quit you can't, and it hurts everyone that is close to you". Hall stated that he has been to rehab 19 times and attended thousands of AA and NA meetings, but that this time he was making an honest attempt to stay sober. Hall credited close friends such as Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, and Shawn Michaels with helping him through his battles.

On April 8, 2011, one day after his rumored overdose, Hall showed up clearly intoxicated to his appearance at a Top Rope Promotions wrestling show in Massachusetts. Things were so bad that Hall, who was still wearing a hospital bracelet, had to be helped into the ring by two men because he was unable to walk on his own. Hall proceeded to cut a promo and was confronted by a local wrestler named Gorgeous Gino Giovanni, who was trying to begin a match with Justin Credible. Most of the fans were confused by his behavior, while some understood what was happening and proceeded to heckle Hall to the point where he yelled back at the crowd. Unfortunately, Scott was apparently so impaired that he thought he was in England instead of New England, and called the crowd a bunch of ''Wankers'', which is an English insult. After the match between Giovanni and Credible ended, Hall, who was still slurring, tried to goad Giovanni to come back into the ring. Former wrestler, Scotty 2 Hotty was at the show and said seeing Hall in that condition was one of the saddest, most embarrassing things he has ever witnessed, and asked how many people have to die before they learn. After the event, Hall was onhand for autograph signings and was clearly still intoxicated.

TMZ reported on April 9, 2011, that Hall was taken to the hospital following his appearance at an indy wrestling show in Massachusetts a day earlier. Hall is being treated for his cardiac issues and will remain in the hospital for at least three days. Hall is reported to be on ten different medications, which TMZ reports led to his overdose on April 7, although his agent quickly denied that report.

Top Rope Promotions released a statement on April 11, 2011 regarding Hall's behavior and performance at their April 8 show. 31 year old owner Steve Ricard said that Hall arrived the day before the event in a wheelchair with 3 bottles of prescription pills in his possession though the following day he showed in the state he was in demanding appearance fee although he was already paid. Hall made many threats to the staff and made many demands about money and when he would perform. According to Ricard, Hall was threatening to "kill me if I 'screwed' him over."

Longtime friend, Kevin Nash commented on Hall's recent problems saying that he will always be there for Hall. Nash also claimed that Hall is not a drug addict but rather that he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that Hall has been using drugs and alcohol as a crutch. Eric Bischoff, another one of Hall's close friends and former boss said he wished he knew how to help him saying he was an amazing talent and deep down a great person but his demons were killing him.

On May 8 another incident took place following a conversation with his ex-wife Dana. After a call where he reportedly came to terms with the fact he doesn't have long to live the call ended abruptly. Dana alerted the authorities and Hall allegedly got into a physical altercation with them when they arrived. Following this Dana cut off all remaining ties with Hall. Kevin Nash made a statement later that day reiterating his support for Hall.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Hall Buster'' (Bulldog) – 1980s; used as a regular move thereafter

''Outsider's Edge'' (WCW / Independent circuit / TNA) ''Razor's Edge'' (WWF / independent circuit) / ''Diamond Death Drop'' (WCW) (Crucifix powerbomb) – innovated

Signature moves

Abdominal stretch

Belly to back suplex, sometimes from the second rope

Chokeslam

Diving bulldog

Fallaway slam, sometimes from the second rope

Multiple slaps to the back of the opponent head

Sleeper hold

Two or three punches followed by a discus punch

Wrist-lock followed by multiple shoulder blocks

*Dusty Rhodes

*Louie Spicolli

*Syxx

*Vincent

Nicknames

*"The Bad Guy"

*"The Lone Wolf"

Entrance themes

*"Bad Guy" by Jim Johnston (WWF; 1992–1996)

*"Rockhouse" by Frank Shelley (WCW / WWF; used while a part of the New World Order)

*"Kevin Nash / Wolfpac Theme" by J.Hart (WCW)

*"Ready Or Not" by The Fugees (ECW and Independent circuits)

*"Marvelous Me" by Dale Oliver (TNA)

*"The Band Theme" by Dale Oliver (TNA; Used while part of The Band)

*"Kevin Nash / Wolfpac Theme (Instrumental)" by J.Hart (TNA; Used while part of The Band)

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Association

AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Curt Hennig

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Match of the Year (1994) vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X

PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1992)

PWI Tag Team of the Year (1997) with Kevin Nash

PWI ranked him #7 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1994

PWI ranked him #72 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

PWI ranked him #40 of the Top 100 Tag Teams of the "PWI Years" with Kevin Nash in 2003

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

*TNA World Tag Team Championship ([[List of TNA World Tag Team Champions|1

time]])¹ – with Kevin Nash and Eric Young

United States Wrestling Association

USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Championship Wrestling

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

WCW World Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Kevin Nash (6) and The Giant (1)

WCW World Television Championship (1 time)

WCW World War 3 (1997)

World Wrestling Council

WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Federation

WWF Intercontinental Championship (4 times)

*Slammy Award for US Best Match of the Year (1996) vs. Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 1995

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*5 Star Match (1994) vs. Shawn Michaels in Ladder Match On WrestleMania X

*Match of the Year (1994) vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X

¹Hall defended the title with either Nash or Young under the Freebird Rule.

References

External links

Online World of Wrestling profile

Category:1958 births Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Living people Category:People from Florida Category:Military brats

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