WWE Once Considered Steve Austin For A ‘Sandman’ Gimmick

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is undoubtedly one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. The Rattlesnake influenced many up-and-comers to lace up their boots and follow in his footsteps inside the squared circle. WWE gave him the ultimate recognition by putting him in the Hall of Fame in 2009.

For those not in the know, Steve Austin wasn’t always “Stone Cold.” In fact, his earliest gimmick in WWE was “The Ringmaster,” a technically sound performer brought with the sole intent to outwrestle everybody by Ted DiBiase. It appears that Vince McMahon had a different pitch for Austin when he first showed up in Stamford in 1995.

Bruce Prichard revealed during the latest episode of Something To Wrestle With podcast that WWE considered a “Sandman” gimmick for Steve Austin in mid-nineties. Obviously, that gimmick had nothing to do with ECW’s Sandman. Prichard further stated that Dustin Rhodes was considered for the character as well.

I could go back to Steve Austin and ‘The Ringmaster’ and ‘Sandman’ were two gimmicks that we loved. We loved the name of The Sandman, a really smooth wrestler that could have the sleeper as a finish and different things but he had to be a real smooth worker and we discussed Dustin Rhodes for that, we discussed Steve Austin for that.

Advertising

Advertising

The WWE senior official said the creative ultimately went ahead with The Ringmaster gimmick for Austin, who would eventually drop the moniker for a far more ruthless and violent persona just a year into his WWE debut.

What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!