Rate Stone Cold as an overall wrestling superstar/ wrestler (in a 1-10 scale)

[meushar100]

How would you rate Stone Cold Steve Austin, as an overall wrestling superstar? give him a mark between 1-10.
discuss

 

[We Are Legion]

10 obviously.

Care to add something a little more worthwhile to this thread? Your own opinion maybe?

 

[Crippler]

4/10 terrible worker, his only good match was against Bret and Bret carried him the whole time, duh!

 

[Mick Donalds]

Wrestling wise: 6.
He could work, that much was obvious. He'd sell, but it seemed like he had to be the dominant wrestler in the match (other than with Bret Hart at Mania 13) and had to "lead" the match pace by calling spots. There's nothing wrong with that, but like Randy Orton, it doesn't always help the other wrestler. A second negative aspect of Austin's wrestling was the fact that he had to rely on the same match flow. Thesz Press/Corner "Mudhole" Stomp/Gut kick/reverse/Stunner/Pin. Tons of guys have done the same match flow for years, but it gets old after a while.

Character wise: 10.
Stone Cold more or less revolutionized and changed wrestling forever. In an era when fans were BEGGING for something new, and were sick of the "vanilla face" routine, The Stone Cold character shook wrestling by its foundation. He was the first "heelish" character to be embraced by the fans and turned face, because fans wanted to tune in and live vicariously through a man beating the shit out of his boss week after week.

 

[ThatGuyFromNukemHigh]

Overall, I don't think he was as great as I did when he was at the height of his popularity. His promos were barely passable, and when you look back at them, they seem like watered down Shane Douglas promos. His matches were rarely anything to write home about, and even his finisher was only as good as the guy selling it.

But, he was over, had a great connection with the fans, and understood the idea of telling a story in the ring. For those reasons I rate him a 7/10, which is a lot higher than I would rate most "Megastars".

 

[Cwalker]

From a work standpoint, he was ok. He was better in his WCW days, but during his time as the top guy in be industry, he was nothing special.

The character was so popular because he was the guy that everyone wanted to be. He got to beat up his boss on a daily bases and it got him over. But outside of that, the character was relatively stale. Considering guys like Rock and Triple H are were their peak at the time, Austin's promos were weak in comparison. He was definitely over and the more I think about it, he wasn't really the number one guy for too long.

Overall, I'd give him a 6.5/10

 

[monkeystyle]

I have to give the guy a 10. Maybe the greatest superstar of all time.

In regards to in-ring skill I agree that he was somewhat formulaic but show me a mega star who doesn't have his spots that they hit in every match. They all do it. That doesn't mean he couldn't work though.

Remember the match that him and Benoit had on Raw? Pure wrestling match. Chain wrestling and counter holds. It was the kind of thing that you hadn't seen from Austin in forever but he clearly showed that just because he doesn't do it, doesn't mean that he can't. It kinda reminds me of seeing some of Hogan's Japanese matches. You saw things that you never would have expected and it totally changes your perception of the man.

In terms of character and promos nothing really needs to be said. The crowd reactions to him back then speaks volumes.

 

[Chris]

IDK how anyone can lie and say anything but 10/10.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

As a Superstar he's a 10.

As a in ring worker a 6 maybe and honestly his promos looking back were nothing amazing I'd say a 6-7. The last few years of his career 90% of his promos was just him saying "what" which would completely undermine and shit on his opponents promo when they give some epic piece and his redneck response was just "what". Ultimately he was just a character, the character got him over. Apart from the Bret Hart match there's not really any classic SCSA matches and "what" has stained any fond memories I have of any of his promos.

 

[Mick Donalds]

I have to give the guy a 10. Maybe the greatest superstar of all time.

In regards to in-ring skill I agree that he was somewhat formulaic but show me a mega star who doesn't have his spots that they hit in every match. They all do it. That doesn't mean he couldn't work though.

Remember the match that him and Benoit had on Raw? Pure wrestling match. Chain wrestling and counter holds. It was the kind of thing that you hadn't seen from Austin in forever but he clearly showed that just because he doesn't do it, doesn't mean that he can't. It kinda reminds me of seeing some of Hogan's Japanese matches. You saw things that you never would have expected and it totally changes your perception of the man.

In terms of character and promos nothing really needs to be said. The crowd reactions to him back then speaks volumes.

I had forgotten that match! I remember expecting to see Benoit steamrolled as usual with the Austin match flow, but Benoit and Austin tore the floor up.

Austin's matches with Angle and Jericho were exciting, ring wise as well. Totally forgot about those in my original post.

 

[Weez]

Sorry, 10/10. No question.

Is he the world's best mat-wrestling technician? No, of course not. Very few are. People talk shit about that "What??" Chant all the time, but it's got "WOOOOO" Status. If I'm watching Ring of Honor, and some guy does a chop, and the 100 people there all yell "WOOOOOOOO," that's gone past the gauge of a promo and into Wresting culture. Same thing with "WHAT?" .. Look out guys, "YES!" is the new "What?"

I think about Austin's matches with Rocky at 'Mania as classics, if not for the in-ring action, but for the culmination of so much build-up over the years between the two of them.

You can't grade Austin on anything that he's done since he stopped actively wrestling and went from competitor to Legend. Legends are expected to come out and spit their tired, old cheap-pop catchphrases and go home. That's what he does. Over and over and over again. WHAT?

It's what The Rock does every single promo.

FINALLY...
The Rock Respects you but doesn't like you
IT DOESN"T MATTER....
Cena Lady parts
IN YOU SMELLLLLLLLLL.

Big whoop. Austin is one of the biggest stars in wrestling history, just like Rocky. They're 10/10.

 

[Dale]

Sorry, 10/10. No question.

Is he the world's best mat-wrestling technician? No, of course not. Very few are. People talk shit about that "What??" Chant all the time, but it's got "WOOOOO" Status. If I'm watching Ring of Honor, and some guy does a chop, and the 100 people there all yell "WOOOOOOOO," that's gone past the gauge of a promo and into Wresting culture. Same thing with "WHAT?" .. Look out guys, "YES!" is the new "What?"

I think about Austin's matches with Rocky at 'Mania as classics, if not for the in-ring action, but for the culmination of so much build-up over the years between the two of them.

You can't grade Austin on anything that he's done since he stopped actively wrestling and went from competitor to Legend. Legends are expected to come out and spit their tired, old cheap-pop catchphrases and go home. That's what he does. Over and over and over again. WHAT?

It's what The Rock does every single promo.

FINALLY...
The Rock Respects you but doesn't like you
IT DOESN"T MATTER....
Cena Lady parts
IN YOU SMELLLLLLLLLL.

Big whoop. Austin is one of the biggest stars in wrestling history, just like Rocky. They're 10/10.

Agree with this, however the WHAT chant getting WOOO status isn't a good thing in my opinion. The WHAT chant was alright when the crowd were using it with Austin, but I honestly think it takes away from 9/10 promos these days when it's chanted at random wrestlers.