Steve Austin On Who Gave Idea For Smoking Skull Belt, Who Came Up With Name For Stunner, More
On episode 383 of The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall Of Famer Steve Austin conducted a Q&A session. Among other things, Austin talked about WWE dropping the term 'diva', the 'Smoking Skull' WWE World Championship, and WWE Attitude Era announcer, Jim Ross' nicknames for Austin.
During the show, Austin explained to his illustrious wife, Kristin, that WWE dropped the term 'diva' and he said he was happy about that decision.
"They're not divas anymore," Austin said. "Now the women are Superstars. No, no, no, there [has] been a whole women's movement. I mean, the women's wrestling scene has evolved tremendously. I was so glad when they dropped the 'divas' moniker because, man, I'll tell you what, they have spun up and they have some talented women down there. So, no, they're WWE Superstars just like the guys. The [term] 'diva' no longer exists."
On 'The Smoking Skull' variant of the WWE World Championship, Austin credited The Road Warriors with giving him the idea to have his own a signature championship.
"Yeah, the [prior] belt, I didn't like. The idea for the 'Smoking Skull' belt was The Road Warriors, Animal and Hawk. They called me over and said, 'hey Steve, you know you're 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. You ought to have your own belt.' That was The Road Warriors' idea and I give them credit for it."
According to Austin, Ross came up with nicknames such as 'The Texas Rattlesnake' and 'Toughest SOB' on the spot and called 'Good Ol' JR' the greatest professional wrestling broadcaster of all time. Also, the former 'Stunning' Steve claimed that he did not come up with the 'Stone Cold' Stunner name for his iconic finishing move.
"As far as JR calling me all those cool nicknames he called me, that was just him being the best commentator in the history of pro wrestling. And he made all that stuff up on the fly. And I would never think, 'hey JR, going out tonight, can you call me 'The Texas Rattlesnake'?' Sure, you could do that on the DL, you could feed it to an announcer, but I didn't. I was out there being 'Stone Cold'. I was from Victoria, Texas. Hell, they came up with the name for the 'Stone Cold' Stunner. I didn't. I didn't like it at first, actually, but it worked. And, boy, did it have a ring to it. It was effective and I'm glad it turned out that way. But JR was simply shooting from the hip and making up those nicknames on the fly. And I am eternally indebted to him for his commentary and him helping to get the 'Stone Cold' persona over the way he did."
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Source: The Steve Austin Show