WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has said that WWE turned down the opportunity to sell Stone Cold Steve Austin merchandise years before it did.
Stone Cold joined WWE from WCW in 1995, initially going by the name “The Ringmaster”.
He would later go on to become one of the biggest merch movers in the company’s history, and help to kickstart the “Attitude Era” of wrestling throughout the late ’90s and early 2000s.
However, as Foley revealed on his podcast Foley Is Pod, WWE did not always see the merchandising potential of the Bionic Redneck:
“Stone Cold Steve Austin never becomes who he is because he wasn’t factored in as a major star. When Steve Austin came over and said, ‘how about a t-shirt for Stone Cold? Jimmy (Miranda) goes, ‘Steve, I’m sorry, but the office just doesn’t see merchandising potential in you.’
“And they were wrong. Everyone involved would be the first to admit they were wrong about what Stone Cold could be.”
Austin is rumored to make his return to the ring at next year’s WrestleMania, after a video emerged of him training.
Transcription courtesy of WrestlingInc.
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