Stone Cold comeback: Texas Rattlesnake Steve Austin is back in WWE, looking to regain his former glory and revive the flagging federation - Cover Story

Wrestling Digest, June, 2003 by Steve Anderson

No one wrestler can be a cure-all to the struggles that WWE is experiencing. When WCW died, it provided myriad new faces and storylines for the promotion. The WCW invasion begot the Alliance, which begot Ric Flair, who begot the New World Order, which begot the brand split, which begot Scott Steiner, etc., etc., etc. There is no quick fix. There is no magic bullet.

Returning to the past is not a safe path to a prosperous future. What brought WWE to the dance in 1997 was innovation and new ideas; finding new ways to execute an angle and create captivating characters. It was fresh. It was innovative. And it was not one person or one angle. It was a combination of many factors.

The one benefit in bringing back Austin is that he has a track record of leading WWE to unprecedented levels of business. His dedication and creativity provided fans with the feud of the century: Austin vs. McMahon. He's done it before and he can do it again. Provide him with a solid supporting cast and a few new faces to feud with, and former WWE fans will become current WWE fanatics, filling seats in half-filled arenas, buying merchandise, ordering pay-per-views, and tuning in to "Raw" and "Smackdown."

If anyone can turn around WWE's business, it may be Austin with a wag of his middle finger and a hearty, "Oh, hell yeah."

WWE's bottom line waits with eager anticipation.

* June 3, 1991: "Stunning" Steve Austin defeats Bobby Eaton for the WCW World Television title.

* March 2, 1993: "Hollywood Blondes," Austin and Brian Pillman, capture the WCW World tag-team title.

* December 27, 1993: Austin captures the WCW United States title.

* Summer 1995: Austin is fired by WCW executive vice president Eric Bischoff via FedEx and shows up briefly in ECW.

* Late 1995: "Ringmaster" Steve Austin debuts in WWE.

* June 23, 1996: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin wins the King of the Ring tournament and invokes "Austin 3:16" for the first time.

* March 23, 1997: Austin officially turns babyface at Wrestlemania 13 following his "I Quit" match with Bret "the Hitman" Hart.

* August 3, 1997: Austin wins the Intercontinental title from Owen Hart at Summerslam, but is injured when a pile-driver by Hart goes wrong.

* March 29, 1998: Austin captures his first WWE world heavyweight championship.

* November 14, 1999: Austin begins his WWE sabbatical to have neck surgery with an angle at Survivor Series where he is hit by a car.

* September 24, 2000: Steve Austin returns to WWE.

* April 1, 2001: Austin turns heel after he defeats the Rock for the WWE championship at Wrestlemania X-Seven.

* July 22, 2001: After teasing a babyface turn, Austin "re-turns" heel and joins the Alliance of WCW and ECW.

* November 19, 2001: By default, Austin returns to babyface status following the demise of the Alliance.

* June 10, 2002: Fed up with his rote in the ever-changing promotion, Austin walks out on WWE.

* February 23, 2003: Austin returns to WWE to wrestle and defeat Eric Bischoff at No Way Out.

* March 30, 2003: Austin loses a heavily hyped match to the Rock at Wrestlemania XIX.