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The World According To Dutch: University of Dutch Famous Alumni...Stone Cold Steve Austin

Posted: Oct 20th 2009 By: mikeiles

Author's Note: This is the third part of a three part series of the University of Dutch Famous Alumni. This is a FREE chapter of my book, The World According to Dutch, which is scheduled for release early next year. There will be more information released shortly on how to order the book. Stay tuned for more details. Hope you're enjoying the blog.

Below: A photo I took of the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee in the late 80's. Many an epic battle took place in this storied venue and most of the greats passed through this building. Hogan, Savage, the Rock, the Undertaker, Jimmy Hart, Kamala, Cornette, Jos LeDuc, Bill Dundee, Jeff Jarrett, Lawler, Ventura, and Dirty Dutch. Hell, it's my blog. I might as well throw my name in there too. Also a young wrester in the very early stages of his career, who would later take the wrestling world to new heights, visited this building as well. . That man was Steve Austin. This story took place a long time before he ever became a STAR and in this building. Enjoy.

(Oklafan Editor's Note: To view the picture Dutch is referring to click here

Memphis wrestling has always been on Monday nights. For as long as I can remember, Monday was wrestling night in Memphis. BB King knew it. Muddy Waters knew it. Elvis knew it. Cybil Shephard knew it. But the most important people that knew that Monday nights was wrestling night were the wrestling fans themselves. Monday night was to Memphis what Saturday Night Live was to New York City. It was synonomous with the city. Wrestling was so ingrained in the city's psyche that it was impossible to extract. Back in the early 80's, wrestlers in Memphis enjoyed almost rock star status. I just wish somebody had told us that we were rock stars. I said this before. In the glory days of Memphis wrestling, the wrestlers were the most over people in the state and, in a lot of ways, we didn't even know it. Wrestlers loved wrestling in Memphis and Memphis loved wrestling. On to the story.

This period of time, 1989/90, was one of the times that I booked Memphis. How I came about getting the book I can't remember now but it was most likely due to Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler wanting to take time off. So early one Monday night at the Mid-South Coliseum, as I was busily engaged preparing for the show that night, a good looking blond haired young man walked into the dressing room.

That person turned out to be Steve Williams, who later would be known worldwide as Stone Cold Steve Austin. He had been working in the Dallas office for Jerry Jarrett, who had just bought into the Dallas company. Jerry Jarrett had sent Steve to Memphis to work but somehow, had not informed me that he was coming. I only found out that Steve was coming about 30 minutes before he got there. That was one of the reasons that I was scrambling around so much that night because I was looking for him an opponent. I found one but just barely but don't ask me who. I don't remember. *

* If you see one of these asterisks, it's for a reason. In this blog/book, never hold me to actual dates or times. I've had over thousands of matches but most of them I don't remember nor do I remember the dates. I'm not the only wrestler like that. Ask any of them. I've also been hit over the head with solid objects like chairs and baseball bats numerous times so forgive me if I forget a few details, like my name. It's the wrestling business. It's accepted.

I had never heard of this Steve Williams kid before. He may as well have been any guy who was looking for a shot. He was just another guy trying to break into the wrestling business and I've seen literally hundreds of them. The majority of them never make it. After finding out they don't have what it takes, usually they go back home and get married and raise families like normal people. That's one of the things I always noticed about the wrestling business. The ones that make it are not normal people and that's what makes them stand out. Wrestlers, or the great ones at least, share two traits that make them great. Ego and confidence. If they don't have those traits, then most likely, they don't make the team.

I didn't know this kid from Adam's House Cat. But as I saw him enter the dressing room, I figured he was the one that I was expecting. After a few moments, I entered and gave him the wrestler handshake. If you don't know what the wrestling handshake is, then I won't bore you with the details. I can't give away the 'secret' code. I promised.

I introduced myself as Dutch. He introduced himself as Steve Williams.

As I was looking at the way he presented himself, I could see there was a bit of a natural cockiness surrounding him. I asked him what name he wanted to wrestle under.

He replied, "I just told you. Steve Williams." Let it be said now that Steve, in natural conversation, talks exactly like he talks on interviews. He's a bit brusque and short which can be taken for a tad of hostility, especially down south, unless you know Steve. Since I didn't know Steve and we were both down south, he could have passed the test on being just a bit hostile.

I informed Mr. Williams in my kindest, sweetest voice that he couldn't be Steve Williams and he immediately asked, "Why the hell not!!"

Again, this was the Deep South and we employ certain rules of etiquette when conversing with others. It wasn't so much the words but the bluntness in which he spoke. Also, I could have put up with the answer if he had just left the 'hell' out of his reply. But he didn't. I could see right away that we were getting off on the wrong foot.

I answered his reply with one equally as short but still one that was diplomatic in nature but also made my case.

"Well for one f'n reason, for your information, it's probably due to the fact that there's already a Steve Williams in the business, as in DR. DEATH STEVE WILLIAMS....and there can't be two Steve Williams in the same f'n business at the same f'n time. That would be like having two Willie Nelsons."

Steve fired back with, "but it's my real name." I thought to myself that I had only known this kid for under two minutes and we were already having a dispute. This little partnership might have a short shelf life I surmised.

I felt a bit of irritation coming on so I fired back with, "Well, the other Steve Williams beat you to it. I don't give a s**t what your real name is. You're not going to be Steve Williams tonight or tomorrow night or the next night or for any night for that matter. So the next best thing you can do is come up with another name as fast as you can. I gotta go do something but I'll be back in 10 minutes. When I come back, I want you to come up with a name."

I left Steve alone in the dressing room and went off to handle some of the other BS things that I had to do that night. I didn't have time to stand around and debate freakin names all night.

When I returned, I again asked Steve had he come up with a name and he just looked at me like he was lost. He said no. I looked in those baby blue eyes of his and could tell that he didn't have a clue.

I couldn't believe he hadn't thought of something. Anything. Joe Smazzola or Jimmy Jack Saddleback Rider or Snuggleupagus or something. Hell, Sam the radiator repairman I would have accepted at that point. I thought, I'd hate this kid to have to name a baby. The baby would run around all his life answering to "hey you" or something waiting for Steve to give him a name.

I said to him, "OK. We're 20 minutes to bell time. Let's try this one more time. Keep thinking and I'll be back. Think of a name."

I left to do something, maybe smoke a joint, slam down a few tequilas, do a couple of lines of coke, shoot up black tar heroin...you know, do some things that real wrestlers do. But I didn't. I was a wussy. When I came back, I asked him what he had for me and all I got in return was the thousand yard stare. He was thinking but no wheels were hitting pavement. I knew then that I would have to name him.

So, little kiddies, since I was the booker, I did what bookers have to do sometimes. They have to do what the talent can't do for themselves. I had to give Steve a name and I didn't have time for any market research or copyright/trademark search.

By this time, it was getting late and Lance Russell was waiting for me to tell him a name for this kid so he could announce him that night. Lance Russell also doubled as the ring announcer on Monday nights as well as the announcer on the Saturday morning TV show.

I looked at Steve and just off the top of my head, I told Steve, "OK tonight kid...let's call you Steve...uh...Steve....let's call you...OK uh...OK I got it. Let's call you Steve f'n Austin." I didn't mean to add the f'n in there but since this is a true story, that's what I said.

Steve looked at me like WTF? He said, "like Steve Austin, the 6 million dollar man?"
Again, if you didn't know Steve, you would swear that he was being argumentative.

He wasn't being cross or anything. Later on, I learned it was classic Steve. But I didn't know that then so I responded back with classic Dutch as I said, "No. In your case, more like the $6 dollar man. Now get your s**t on and get out there. You're up first."

Why I called him Austin, I have no idea but Steve didn't much like it. But I'm sure his attitude changed, albeit years later, when he got his first WrestleMania check for a million bucks. Yes, making money sure changes one's outlook on life.

At the time, I don't know why I called him Austin. I've read some BS comments about it over the years on the InterNet. So to set the record straight, as you could see, I didn't have a lot of time so I didn't have a lot of time to think about it. But I've learned in the wresting business, or at least it's been the case with me, that usually the first thought is probably the best one.

For some odd reason, the name Austin popped into my head due to two things. This Steve Williams kid was from Texas so to give him a little credibility, I wanted him to be connected to something associated with Texas. Since Austin is the capital of Texas, I thought that would be a fitting name. Also, there used to be a wrestler by the name of Killer Buddy Austin who was a big rugged blond haired asshole heel from years ago. Steve reminded me of that type character after only being around him for less than 90 minutes.
.
Steve was on first that night which is, a tough lead off spot for an inexperienced wrestler. I was new to booking and there were some things I needed to learn too. The leadoff spot sets the tone for the night. But, I heard Jerry Jarrett tell me once, they can either sink or swim. Little did I know that Steve didn't take swimming lessons.

I usually don't watch first matches due to never having things done in the dressing room by the time the show starts. But something told me, I needed to watch this new kid with a new name. As I watched Steve make his way into the ring that night, I recall that Jerry Jarrett had told me the kid was going to be good.

Jerry must have been thinking Nostradamus good as 'in the future'. I took it to mean good as 'in the present'. So, as I watched the match from the rear of the Mid South Coliseum, I was shocked at how green Steve was. I had been led to believe that this new Steve Williams kid was pretty decent in the ring. For a first match, Steve stunk the joint out.

The match drug on but finally ended after what seemed like an eternity. I called it the concession match because the Mid-South Coliseum set a record during that bout as they sold 695 cokes at the concession stand during the match. That's an old joke in the wrestling business that when a match dies in the ring, it's called a concession match due to the people leaving their seats to go get cokes and popcorn.

Nothing is worse for a booker/creative guy than to see one of his talents, literally, tank in the ring and especially on the talent's first night. As I retreated back to my backstage dressing room, looking for a rope to hang myself or Steve whichever came first, Steve rolled into my dressing room all excited and asked in that gravelly voice of his, "See anything wrong with my match?"

I immediately fired back with "WHAT? Wrong with it? It would be a lot easier and a lot quicker if I told you what was right about it! Nothing!!! F'n nothing."

Why I cussed so much might surprise you as I was really, in those days, somewhat of a Christian fellow. But the wrestling business had damn near turned me into a heathen. If you had been in the wrestling business at that time, you'd be cussing too.

Steve looked at me like I had two heads. I think I hurt his feeling so I let up a bit. I told him that I knew he was green and I didn't want him to get discouraged but it was my job to make sure he knew that his match sucked. I've never liked to get on guys when they made mistakes. Their mistakes weren't made intentionally but they had to be taught as to what was right and what was wrong. That was my job. To teach. So the most direct way to reach any talent that fell short on a performance was to tell them what was wrong. In Steve's case that night, a lot was wrong.

I told him that he was going to need work and a lot of it. While I was talking, I noticed a metal folding chair by the door. I was looking for a way to get out of this tirade gracefully while at the same time, looking as if I'd made a positive statement. I looked at the chair and informed Steve to pick the chair up, go sit in it by the arena door and watch EVERY MATCH, EVERY NIGHT FOR AS LONG AS HE WAS IN THE TERRITORY!!! I then stormed off into the night. Actually, I was quite proud of myself for optimizing my statement. Even Obama would have been proud of the way I negotiated myself out to be the great statesmen in that exchange.

I felt kind of bad after I left Steve's dressing room. I was half kidding but half serious as the same time. He wasn't that bad but he did need work. I had never told anyone else in the entire time that I've been in the wrestling business to go and watch every match, every night. No one. Why you may ask? Well, first off, no wrestler would do it. Secondly, no wrestler would do it.

I don't even know why I told Steve to do it because I certainly didn't expect him to. It was more rhetoric than anything. But, as fate would have it, it turned out to be the greatest advice, I or anyone, could ever have given young Steve Williams.

Later on, as I was watching the rest of the show backstage, I noticed Steve sitting in the chair watching the matches. My attitude toward him softened a little because he had actually listened to what I'd told him to do. Damn, I thought. A wrestler who listens. To the uninformed, a wrestler who actually listens is similar to finding Big Foot. Or Osama bin Laden. A very rare find. He watched the entire show from that chair the rest of the night.

The next night we were in Louisville and his match was slightly better and again, after I had critiqued his match, he found a chair and watched every match. He did it the next night. And the next night and the next night and the next night. He did exactly what I told him to do and watched every match every night until he left the territory 6 or 8 months later.

One reason that Steve Austin became the success he turned into, was one thing. By telling Steve Austin to watch every match, he turned into a serious 'student' of the business as he sat night after night studying matches and how they worked. He dissected, move by move and piece by piece, what made a match work and what made a match fall apart. He studied it, he learned it and he learned where, what, how and when to do things in a match. At the time, Steve wasn't making enough money to buy a VTR so his studying was done in 'real time'. Steve was one of the faster learners at the University of Dutch advanced course. As time went on, I could see that Steve Austin was going to make it, somewhere.

Steve and I used to ride together a lot. Of course, Steve drove. I used to tell him that if this wrestling business didn't pan out for him, he had a great career as an over the road trucker. He didn't find that very amusing as I learned later that Steve once worked as a dockhand loading and unloading trucks. So I could see his dislike for the connection. As Steve drove mile after mile, he and I would talk and as you probably know by now, the rjourney to and from the arena was when class was in session. The University of Dutch 4 wheel lecture circuit had commenced.

As we rode down I-40 West to Memphis or I-65 North to Louisville or 1-24 West to Evansville, I learned that Steve was a very intelligent man. We talked about wrestling and everything else under the sun. That's when I found out that Steve Austin was like me or I, a little like him. He knew a little about everything and not a whole lot about anything. But when he didn't know something, he'd just make something up and move along with it. I even had a name for that. Memphis rules. Make it up as you go along. Or if you want another, if you can't dazzle em with brilliance, befuddle em with BULLSHIT!!!

One day we got around to talking about names, such as the Austin name I had bestowed upon him, and I was attempting to explain how a name defines a person. Off the cuff, I told him that one day he would most likely be a bad guy, because as I explained, he was an natural asshole to begin with and being an asshole would be a natural fit. I told Steve that all he would need to do was to be himself. I even suggested another name for him, Stunning Steve Austin. Later on, when he reached WCW, he used that name too. Plagiarizing bastard.

Steve mentioned me in his book, The Stone Cold Truth, as the one who bequeathed him with the Austin name plus he said some good things about me too. That Steve. He was always such a good liar. But Stephen my boy, thanks for the kind words.

Steve hated Memphis for a reason a lot of guys hated Memphis. A person tends to not like a place or job when they're not making much money. At the time, business was slow and new guys just weren't making enough money to survive. It was true with Austin as it was for Undertaker. Come to think of it, they were both in the Memphis territory at the same time although Mark left about a month after Austin had come in when I sent him to Atlanta. I remember Undertaker coming in to Memphis at 302 pounds. He left 6 months later at a svelte and slim, 265.

Since there were very few places left to learn the wrestling business, Memphis was the last stop. So thinking back on it now, both guys could have realized that they didn't have a lot of time to learn this business because the clock was ticking against them as they took the University of Dutch Wrestling Crash Course 101 as we all rolled down the road in a 4 wheel classroom.

Steve didn't make a dime while he was in Memphis but he survived. He made just enought to survive. He survived due to one thing. The dream of hitting it big later down the pike. Steve's dream drove him, just as it had driven Mark and Glenn. W

Steve came to me one day and said he had to go back to Texas for awhile. He thanked me for my help and I told him to to hang in there because he had something. All he had to do was find the outlet for it. He had two choices. WCW and WWF. I told him the same thing I told Mark. Try WCW first and then after Vince or his people see you, get yourself headed north.

The Stone Cold Steve Austin character exploded several years later when Steve, after a so so career in WCW and a short run in ECW, finally made it to the WWF where he was first given the character, The Ring Master, whatever the hell that was supposed to be. The Ring Master failed. Badly. But if anybody has studied Vince McMahon, you know that if at first he doesn't succeed, he regroups and repackages. McMahon made the wisest choice he could have ever made with Austin when he yanked him out of that horribly stupid Ring Master character and basically let Steve play himself. It worked.

Nobody can ever predict the success of any angle before it starts but it was easy to see that both Steve Austin and Vince McMahon were made for each other thus starting the greatest feud in wrestling history. The world watched as Steve Austin found his spotlight and it shone on him as brightly as it had ever shone on Hogan or Rock or Mick Foley or Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar or Kane or the Undertaker. Steve Austin joined the stratosphere of superstars that he had always dreamed of becoming.

Steve Austin is now entrenched in the WWE Hall of Fame, as he should be, and should be for eternity unless Vince gets mad at him and concocts a story to unentrench him. He came from a basic Texas background to where he is today by hard work, studying and applying his natural talents. Steve didn't get to where he is by being a great wrestler. Stone Cold got to where he is today by touching people in their hearts and their psyches. The one place that Steve touched them is where it really mattered. Their wallets.

Can you give me a HELL YEAH!!! Austin 3:16

To Mark, Glenn and Steve. You graduated from the University of Dutch with PhD's in wrestling. Thanks for the memories. Now where's my f'n royalty checks, bitches?

Hope you've enjoyed this three part series that is a sample of my book that will be out hopefully, sometime next year. I'm still in the process of figuring out all this book stuff out as I'm a newbie in the publishing business.

If you have any public comments, you can leave them below or contact me privately at:

dirtydutchmantell@gmail.com or

dutchmantell@facebook.com

or follow me on twitter at dirtydutchman1

COMING SOON: University of Dutch Wrestling Seminar. This is not a wrestling school but it is for guys who are already wrestling but have reached a point to where they feel like they're going nowhere which, in fact, correct. If you are an active independent wrestler and you want expert advice on how to move higher, this seminar can be invaluable to you. UT, Kane and Stone Cold went through it and they did great. Who knows who might be next? Details are still being worked out. Interested parties, email me for more info.

Or follow me on twitter at dirtydutchman1

COMING SOON: UNIVERSITY OF DUTCH T-SHIRTS!!!

Yes, you too can be an honorary member of the UoD family. Wear the UoD T-Shirt as a badge of honor and join famous alumni like Undertaker, Kane and Stone Cold. But you will have something they never got. An official University of Dutch T-shirt. Email for more details. This offer will not be repeated except for a couple hundred more times.

Tags: Dutch Mantell, Kamala, Jim Cornette, Bill Dundee, Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, Steve Williams, WCW, WWF, ECW, WWE