WWE Nearly Killed Stone Cold Steve Austin Before His Rise

Steve Austin’s rise as “Stone Cold” became one of the most important turning points in wrestling history. The rebellious anti-hero helped WWE flip the script during the Monday Night Wars and usher in the Attitude Era. But according to longtime producer David Sahadi, the character nearly disappeared before fans ever saw what it could become.

During an appearance on Wrestling Observer Radio, Sahadi recalled a tense internal meeting at WWE headquarters during the mid-1990s when Vince McMahon was unhappy with how audiences were reacting to Austin. At the time, Austin was supposed to be a villain, but fans had already started cheering him.

Sahadi said McMahon believed the character needed to be reworked to force the crowd to boo him again. The proposed change would have been drastic, potentially taking Austin back to a version of his earlier gimmick.

“Stone Cold Steve Austin was nearly killed, nearly dead on arrival, because Vince wanted to be heel. And when he started getting popular, it’s right before the Mike Tyson thing. I don’t know the exact date, but Vince held a meeting in corporate and I was there. Kevin Dunn, some corporate executives were too.”

Sahadi said McMahon was concerned the audience reaction was going in the wrong direction and began discussing ways to reverse it.

“Vince is like, ‘You know what? I want fans to boo Stone Cold Steve Austin and they’re not. They’re cheering him. So we need heels. I’m thinking about turning him back into like the Ringmaster character, getting his hair stubbly and wearing the powder blue tights.’”

The suggestion reportedly stunned the room. Sahadi described a long moment of silence while executives processed the idea of stripping away the character fans were starting to embrace.

“Oh my gosh, no. This really happened, Dave. I swear to you. We’re sitting there shocked and Vince is asking for suggestions.”

Eventually, Kevin Dunn spoke up and suggested that WWE let the crowd reaction guide the direction of the character rather than forcing a change.

“Kevin Dunn finally said, ‘Vince, the crowd is liking this. Let’s just let it go where it wants to go.’”

Sahadi believes that moment may have saved not only Austin’s career but also WWE’s future during one of the toughest stretches in company history. WCW had dominated ratings for more than a year, and the company was scrambling to regain momentum.

“It was that close to being killed before his great rivalry with Bret Hart where he bled out. If Stone Cold never arrived and existed, what would have happened with WWE? We were two months away from going under.”

According to Sahadi, McMahon even warned staff at the time that the company’s situation had become dire as WCW continued to win the ratings battle.

“Vince held a meeting where he said WCW is kicking our ass. We’ve been losing the ratings for over a year and if we don’t change we’ll be out of business in two months.”

Looking back, Sahadi believes Austin’s rise ended up being the spark WWE desperately needed to turn things around. The character eventually exploded in popularity, especially after the Bret Hart feud and the Mike Tyson angle heading into WrestleMania 14.

“If Vince kills Stone Cold, you might not be here talking about this today.”

Austin would go on to become one of the biggest stars in wrestling history, helping WWE defeat WCW in the Monday Night Wars and reshape the industry.

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