Steve Austin Reveals Reason Behind Wearing Iconic Black Boots and Trunks

WWE Hall of Famer ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin remains one of the most popular and iconic wrestlers in the history of his business, and many people always picture him with his iconic black boots and trunks and nothing else. In fact, Steve Austin has now revealed the reason behind him wearing the boots and trunks in the first place.

Steve Austin played a pivotal role in kicking off the Attitude Era and quickly became its biggest star. His charisma and larger-than-life persona helped propel professional wrestling into mainstream popularity, turning it into one of the most talked-about forms of entertainment at the time.

While speaking on WrestlingRambles, Steve Austin revealed why he eventually started wearing his famous black trunks and boots look. When he started wrestling, he wore bright, neon-colored tights because they were popular at the time. He had long blonde hair and wore long trunks, even though his legs were his best feature. He admitted that his upper body wasn’t as strong, but he still covered up his legs.

As time went on, he switched from long trunks by cutting them with scissors since he couldn’t afford new gear. When he joined WCW, someone suggested he try wearing trunks. He started experimenting with colorful designs, but they didn’t look good. In fact, he said they were some of the worst outfits in wrestling history and didn’t help his image.

“When I first got into the business, I wore all these multicolored, bright neon-colored tights because that was the trend back then. I was trying to find my look, and I had that long blonde hair, wearing long trunks. My legs were always my best feature—never had great shoulders, chest, or back, but my legs were the best, and I covered them up. Eventually, I got out of long trunks and started cutting them off with a pair of scissors because I couldn’t afford to get any new trunks made.

When I got to WCW, someone over there convinced me to wear trunks, and that’s when I started wearing those multicolored trunks, trying to come up with a design. It was cool, but they were terrible—some of the worst outfits ever in the history of the business. When you look at the total package I presented from a wrestling standpoint, it wasn’t great.”

When he joined WWF, they gave him green trunks to wear, representing money. He wore them for a while but didn’t have matching boots, so he debuted wearing white boots with a black star from his Hollywood Blondes days. The focus was only on the green trunks at first.

Eventually, as the “Stone Cold” character developed, he worked with Terry Anderson to create his gear. He chose black for its simplicity and because it’s one of his favorite colors. His look—black trunks, boots, athletic tape, and later black knee braces—was basic, tough, and no-nonsense.

Finally, when I ended up in WWF, they wanted me to wear these green trunks, the color of money. I did that for a bit, but if I remember correctly, when I first came into WWE, they wanted me to wear green trunks. I asked, ‘What about boots?’ and they said, ‘Don’t worry about boots, just wear the boots you have.’ If I’m not mistaken, I made my debut wearing Hollywood Blondes’ white boots with a black star. They didn’t care what else I had on, as long as I wore the green trunks.

This was before I came up with the vest. When I got the Stone Cold idea, I worked with Terry Anderson, who made all my gear. I decided to go with black, not because of Vern Gagne or Lou Thesz, but because black is the most basic color. No frills, not fancy. I just wanted a simple, basic look, and black is one of my favorite colors. That’s why I chose black trunks, black boots, black athletic tape, and, when I started having knee problems, black knee braces. Again, this all ties into that final look—the character, the persona of Stone Cold Steve Austin—and that’s what allowed me to have the run that I did.”

Steve Austin also recently revealed the reason behind him shaving his head as it ultimately helped his character. Regardless, Austin’s decision to go fully black paid off in dividends and he wouldn’t have had it any other way now.

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