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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/columnists/detore/s_178277.html

Will the old 'Stone Cold' step forward

By Rennie Detore
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, February 8, 2004 

If the 1996 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin could look ahead at
"Sheriff"
Austin, he'd tell him where to stick his badge.

Flying to ringside in his four-wheeler, flanked by skull-and-crossbone
flags, the "Sheriff" Austin character has replaced the renegade "Stone
Cold" character that terrorized Vince McMahon and WWE throughout the
late 1990s and into 2000.

Gone is the Austin 3:16 verbiage and attitude, replaced with silly
sayings such as "I'm here to uphold the law," an almost sad
proclamation from a superstar who once laughed at authority figures
such as McMahon, Pat Patterson and Sgt. Slaughter.

Austin's transformation from "Stone Cold" to "Sheriff" isn't
necessarily a surprising revelation. With little direction and no
in-ring career prospects, Austin doesn't have much incentive to
entertain or re-establish himself as a beneficial entity to the
company.

He comes out, does his little act, sells a few shirts and collects his
paycheck for being "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He's still a huge name
and elicits a tremendous response from live crowds at "Raw," so why
not allow him to continue working and selling tickets and merchandise
for the Monday night television show?

On the side, talk of Austin pursuing TV and movie opportunities has
surfaced, and he's certainly plenty busy with public appearances.
Austin's promoting anything from his tantalizing autobiography, "The
Stone Cold Truth" to the terrible "WWE Originals" CD, featuring him
singing -- trying, anyway -- about beer and killing deer, I think.

Austin has moved past his in-ring career and seems happy away from the
rigorous professional wrestling schedule of traveling from one city to
the next, working more than 200 days a year.

That said, Austin's enthusiasm seems canned, almost phony in its
delivery. He isn't the same caliber performer he once was, nor should
he be, given that he's not an active wrestler. But even as a general
manager or "Sheriff," Austin is still not connecting, or in his case
reconnecting, with an audience that would rather remember him as a
former WWE champion and the federation's most prolific and profitable
superstar since "Hulkamania" dominated the '80s.

Austin, no doubt, has always been an extremely proud superstar. He
worked too hard for too long and fought a lot of backstage politics in
WCW to allow his legacy to be remembered more for his ATV driving
skills than memorable matches with Bret "Hitman" Hart, Shawn Michaels
and Mick Foley.

Because of severe nerve damage in his neck, Austin publicly said his
wrestling career is finished, sadly closing the books on one of sports
entertainment's more revolutionary performers. But perhaps, as
"Wrestlemania XX" approaches, Austin could repent for his recent
"Sheriff" sins and dump the fish-out-of-water character in favor of a
return to the ring -- at least for one match.

The opponent could be a young, upstart ready to prove his worth at the
expense of Austin, booked similarly to the fantastic Randy Orton-Foley
feud. First thought: Batista, who has a bit of history with Austin,
calling him a coward a few months ago.

Batista, who WWE is rallying behind as a budding star, could provoke
Austin with more verbal and physical slaps, questioning Austin's will
to be "Stone Cold" again. The various altercations would allow Austin
to come out of his one-dimensional "Sheriff" shell and once again
perform at a respectable level, especially on the mic.

Austin could remind Batista, along with anyone who may have forgotten,
that he was responsible for sports entertainment's second boom period
in the late '90s, ushering in opportunities for young guys such as his
would-be "Wrestlemania XX" opponent.

As it stands now, Austin is simply going through the motions, doing
more harm than good to a legacy built on desire and being sustained by
commercialism and complacency.


WWE, perhaps feeling its "Wrestlemania" plans are becoming too
predictable, could tweak its top two main events. Brock Lesnar vs.
Goldberg still will happen, only not for the WWE Championship.
Instead, Eddie Guerrero would defend that title against Kurt Angle at
the March 14 pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden. That, obviously,
means Guerrero would beat Lesnar at the Feb. 15 "No Way Out"
pay-per-view for the title, perhaps with the help of Goldberg. ... On
the "Raw" side, Shawn Michaels might be added to the main event
featuring Chris Benoit challenging Triple H for the World
Championship, making it a Triple Threat match.

WWE released Zach Gowen last week, ending his short, rather
uneventful, stint with the company.

Rennie Detore's Pro Wrestling Insider appears Sundays in the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.


--- Internet Rex 2.29