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142-520: In 2019, the belt was revived and introduced to Major League Wrestling (MLW), as Savio Vega was announced as the “Caribbean Heavyweight Champion” upon making his debut. In 2020, Richard Holliday began a streak of unofficial defenses after taking possession of the belt following a non-title match. Story wise, the Caribbean Heavyweight Championship was not initially sanctioned by MLW, only acquiring affiliation as it became

284-479: A Fusion television special. MLW began introducing contracts as part of their growth strategy. In August, the promotion started a working agreement with Mexican-based promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). On September 19, it was announced that MLW expanded its partnership with beIN Sports to air Fusion in Spanish . In October, MLW announced a Halloween-themed, Fusion television special, and announced

426-455: A bed and breakfast . The storyline evolved to feature Holliday demanding that the Caribbean Heavyweight Championship was incorporated, or “naturalized”, as an official title within MLW and have him recognized as incumbent. In response, “MLW's CEO [Court Bauer] met with Puerto Rican government officials about hosting a Caribbean Heavyweight Championship title fight“ to be held in 2021 (tentatively at

568-708: A legitimately injured Pillman was replaced by Steven Regal , with whom Austin lost to Anderson and Roma. With Pillman injured, Austin joined Colonel Robert Parker 's Stud Stable . After Pillman returned, the team was broken up when Austin turned on him, a decision Austin describes as a "mystery". Austin defeated Pillman in a singles match at Clash of the Champions XXV in November 1993. At Starrcade in December 1993, Austin defeated Dustin Rhodes 2–0 in

710-457: A steel cage match , with the championship opportunity at WrestleMania XV at stake. During the match, Paul Wight made his WWF debut, coming from under the ring and attacking Austin, but Wight's attack propelled Austin into the side of the cage forcing the cage to give way and dropping Austin to the floor first, making him the victor. The week before WrestleMania, Austin interrupted The Rock, Vince, and Shane McMahon's interview segment by driving

852-571: A "brush with greatness". At Halloween Havoc in October 1992, Austin (substituting for Terry Gordy ) teamed with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to wrestle Dustin Rhodes and Windham for the unified WCW and NWA World Tag Team Championship , wrestling to a 30-minute time limit draw . On March 27, 1993, the Hollywood Blonds won the unified NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championship by defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas , and held

994-409: A "corporate champion"; Austin responded with a Stone Cold Stunner, leading him being kayfabe arrested once again. The following week, it appeared as if Austin had agreed with McMahon, appearing in a suit and tie, before revealing it was a ruse and again attacking McMahon. On April 13, it appeared Austin and McMahon were going to battle out their differences in an actual match, but the match was declared

1136-538: A "strategic alliance". On August 23, MLW and The Crash announced they would co-promote their first event on October 5 at the Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez in Tijuana , Mexico . On February 1, 2020, MLW announced a working relationship with Japanese promotion Dragon Gate (DG), which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions. After AAA vs MLW on March 13, 2020, MLW would take

1278-469: A 2017 interview, "After watching the Pulp Fiction movie with Bruce Willis , that's the haircut that inspired me. I was traveling on the road to Pittsburgh with Dustin Rhodes and before I went to the show, I said fuck it. I went into the bathroom with a razor blade and shaved all my hair off. Then I grew the goatee and everything came full circle." By March 11, The Ringmaster moniker (now merely

1420-410: A AAA card, Díaz ambushed the champion in the lockers and took both the belt and his mask. After Octagón Jr. no-showed a scheduled defense at Histeria Boricua 2023, Savio Vega stripped him of the title and announced that the vacancy would be filled in the event. In a match of impromptu contenders, Díaz defeated Alejandro Marrero to win the revamped belt. The original design introduced in 2008 was based on

1562-452: A Community post on their YouTube channel that they had launched a membership program, later to be known as the "MLW Standard Pass". Subsequentially, past uploads from MLW's weekly programming library, and several full match videos, became paywalled. Ahead of Battle Riot VI on June 1, it was reported that MLW would be moving its streaming events to their YouTube channel as part of the rollout of its membership program. This subsequently ended

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1704-481: A Stone Cold Stunner to Big Boss Man and eliminating him. With the match down to Austin and McMahon, The Rock came down to the ring to distract Austin, who was eliminated by McMahon, thus McMahon winning the Royal Rumble. McMahon turned down the number-one contender spot, and Michaels promptly awarded Austin the championship shot the next night on Raw . At St. Valentine's Day Massacre , Austin faced McMahon in

1846-492: A Triple Threat match at Breakdown: In Your House , where The Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin at the same time. McMahon decided to vacate the WWF Championship and award it based on a match between The Undertaker and Kane, in which Austin was the guest referee on Judgment Day: In Your House . Austin refused to count for either man and attacked both towards the end of the match. McMahon would, in storyline, fire him as

1988-409: A beer truck to the ring and using a hose to spray the trio with beer. Austin defeated The Rock at WrestleMania XV to win his third WWF Championship. Austin faced The Rock in a rematch the following month at Backlash , in which Shane was the referee. During the match, Vince approached the ring, only to hand Austin back his Smoking Skull championship belt and take Shane out of the proceedings. Austin won

2130-549: A big victory for his side at King of the Ring . Austin lost the WWF Championship to Kane in a First Blood match after The Undertaker accidentally hit him with a steel chair while the ref was incapacitated, despite Austin having knocked Kane unconscious and thwarted an earlier intervention by Mankind. Austin further angered McMahon by winning back the championship the next night on Raw . Austin also emerged victorious against The Undertaker at SummerSlam . In response, McMahon set up

2272-541: A color commentator starting March 2, 2019. He continued to work for the company for Rise of the Renegades , Battle Riot II , and Fury Road . He also worked unofficially in an agent-like role for the company. This includes coaching younger talent on their television presentation and promos. In addition to SuperFight and Intimidation Games, Rise of the Renegades and Battle Riot II were all revealed to have sold out. In April 2019, MLW would move their operations into

2414-626: A corporate office building in New Rochelle, New York . On April 18, MLW announced the creation of a new title: the MLW National Openweight Championship , with the inaugural champion to be crowned during Fury Road in Waukesha, Wisconsin . In June 2019, International Wrestling Association (IWA-PR) owner Savio Vega was brought in as an on-air talent and backstage agent. This working relationship resulted in

2556-541: A deal to produce a new series centered around Azteca Underground, featuring a different roster from that seen on MLW Fusion . In an update during Wrestling Observer Radio on November 1, 2021, Meltzer reported that tapings for the series were cancelled because MLW was unable to secure a TV deal. On July 7, 2021, it was announced that Shimmer Women Athletes co-founder Dave Prazak had joined MLW to help relaunch its women's division; later to be announced in September as

2698-565: A double countout, before defeating him in his first WrestleMania appearance at WrestleMania XII . At In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies , Austin lost to Vega in a rematch. At In Your House: Beware of Dog , Austin lost a Caribbean strap match to Vega, with the added stipulation that DiBiase was forced to leave the WWF as a result, leading Austin to quietly vacate the Million Dollar title. DiBiase would later say that nobody foresaw

2840-708: A feud with Gino Medina, a former member of The Dynasty, retaining the belt in April. Since Fall 2020, several talents formally associated with Lucha Underground were brought into MLW as part of the Azteca Underground stable, including César Durán (previously known as Dario Cueto), who became the on-screen owner of IWA-PR. King Muertes (formerly Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground , and known in Puerto Rico as Ricky Banderas ) defeated Holliday to win

2982-419: A forklift, then let it drop 20 feet. Austin won his third Royal Rumble match on January 21, 2001, last eliminating Kane. His rivalry against Triple H ended at No Way Out on February 25 in a Three Stages of Hell match, with Triple H defeating Austin two falls to one. With The Rock defeating Angle for the WWF Championship at No Way Out, Austin was again set to face him at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1. In

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3124-551: A good outcome for MLW, its fans and REELZ." On March 7, MLW filed an amended lawsuit against WWE, citing WWE's alleged interference with the promotion's deal with Reelz. In March 2023, MLW reached an agreement with the Premier Streaming Network to distribute MLW Underground Wrestling outside of the U.S. On May 2, 2023, a new partnership with FITE was announced, in-which MLW would produce live specials for subscribers to FITE+. The first event under this deal

3266-463: A gun " segment on Raw wherein Austin broke into Pillman's home while he was nursing his injury. Pillman had been anticipating him and was armed with a pistol. Just as Austin broke in, Pillman aimed his gun at him before the episode cut to commercial break. The segment was highly controversial for its perceived violence and rare use of profanity in WWF programming. The segment is also credited for paving

3408-423: A knee injury, prompting him to switch to play as a defensive end . The first wrestling events Austin watched were those produced by Houston Wrestling and run by Paul Boesch , and Austin would later say, "I fell in love with the business when I was seven or eight years old. All I ever wanted to be was a professional wrestler. Wrestling was the biggest thing in my life." When he moved to attend university, he

3550-457: A legitimate bruised spinal cord and temporary paralysis for Austin. As Owen stalled by baiting the audience, Austin managed to crawl over and pin Hart using a roll-up to win the championship. A visibly injured and dazed Austin was helped to his feet by several referees and led to the back. Due to the severity of his neck injury, Austin was forced to relinquish both championships. On September 22, on

3692-463: A live, premium event for Triller TV+ subscribers; and a free, taped , TV special for Bein Sports and MLW's YouTube channel. MLW Azteca Lucha , the promotion's first event to take place at Cicero Stadium since Saturday Night SuperFight in November 2019, would break MLW's all-time box office record with the announcement that tickets were sold out on April 29. During the same month, MLW announced in

3834-498: A marketable wrestler, and additionally thought Austin was hard to work with. Paul E. gives me a call and gives me a free platform to start venting and cutting the promos and putting a microphone in front of my face. I get a chance to speak what's on my mind and from my heart, and I find that is where the best promos come from, the ones that come from your gut and your heart — and from your brain, because you've got to feel them. Words don't mean anything if you don't mean them. So that

3976-424: A match at Survivor Series , which he accepted. During an episode of Superstars , old friend Brian Pillman conducted an interview with Austin regarding his upcoming match. After Pillman inadvertently complimented Hart, Austin grew angry and attacked him. He then proceeded to wedge Pillman's ankle in between a steel chair and stomp on it, breaking his ankle in storyline. It would lead to the infamous " Pillman's got

4118-466: A new "anthology mini-series" titled MLW Azteca to premiere on Thursday, January 6, 2022, on MLW's YouTube channel and FITE TV . On January 11, 2022, MLW filed an anti-trust lawsuit against WWE , accusing them of interfering in television and streaming deals and poaching talent. Through the lawsuit, it was disclosed that a streaming deal with Fox Corporation -owned Tubi was terminated due to WWE allegedly threatening to pull their programming from

4260-480: A new broadcast deal with Ayozat TV in the United Kingdom . Two days later, MLW announced an expanded agreement with beIN Sports USA to carry the promotion's programming on BeIN Sports Xtra, both through its FAST channel and across its over-the-air television station affiliates, on Friday nights. On October 11, 2022, MLW announced a partnership with streaming platform Pro Wrestling TV (PWTV), bringing

4402-424: A new media rights deal to stream their programming on DAZN . CEO Court Bauer also announced during the same month that reruns of MLW Underground TV would air on Bein Sports throughout the summer. In August 2020, MLW announced that Fusion TV tapings will resume in October of that year. On September 10, it was announced that MLW Fusion would move to Wednesday nights on fubo Sports Network . On October 10, it

IWA Puerto Rico/Caribbean Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

4544-693: A no-contest when Dude Love made an appearance. This led to a match between Dude Love and Austin at Unforgiven: In Your House , where Austin hit McMahon with a steel chair and went on to retain the title. The following month, Austin and Dude had a rematch at Over the Edge: In Your House for the WWF Championship. Austin managed to retain the championship despite McMahon acting as the self-appointed referee and his "Corporate Stooges" ( Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson ) as timekeeper and ring announcer, respectively. McMahon continued to do everything he could to dethrone Austin as champion and he finally scored

4686-416: A partner and decided to face the duo by himself. Late in the match, a debuting Dude Love came out to offer assistance. Austin accepted and the duo won the match and the titles, making Austin a two-time tag team champion. Austin continued his feud with the Hart family, becoming embroiled in a heated rivalry particularly with Owen, who pinned a distracted Austin and secured victory for The Hart Foundation in

4828-465: A partnership with Revolution Pro Wrestling . In June 2021, Wrestling Observer reported that MLW had ended its deal with DAZN. it was also reported that MLW had begun taping content in Los Angeles for a spinoff series that would "resemble Lucha Underground ", with plans to film vignettes in the summer and matches in the fall. It would later be revealed on August 4, 2021, that MLW had signed

4970-424: A prefix to his ring name) would be discarded in favor of his most famous ring name, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a match against Savio Vega . The new name was prompted by his English wife at the time, Jeanie, who told him to drink a cup of tea she had made for him before it became "stone cold". His new persona was partially inspired by serial killer "The Iceman" Richard Kuklinski . Austin wrestled Vega on Raw to

5112-647: A result, although Austin got revenge by kidnapping McMahon and dragging him to the middle of the ring at "gunpoint", which ended up being a toy gun with a scroll that read "Bang! 3:16." During that segment, McMahon also learned that Austin was later re-signed by his son, Shane McMahon . In the semifinals of the Survivor Series tournament to crown a new WWF Champion, Austin lost to Mankind after Shane double-crossed Austin. The next night on Raw , Judge Mills Lane ruled that The Rock had to defend his newly won WWF Championship against Austin that night, as stipulated in

5254-565: A role in selling the high-end lifestyle of The Dynasty, being taken to places with nudist beaches, “gorgeous women [or] luxurious beachside cabanas“ and having stable members debate whether it was “the more relevant title” in MLW opposite the National Openweight Championship. The group would also visit the Caribbean for less scrupulous reasons, such as purchasing Vega's childhood house at Puerto Rico to turn it into

5396-559: A six-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On April 21, MLW announced they had begun digitizing the 2003–2004 tape library, including the complete run of MLW Underground TV . On April 30, MLW announced a limited series titled MLW Anthology to air on Bein Sports starting May 16, 2020. Following the last episode of Fusion on May 9, 2020, a new digital spinoff series titled Pulp Fusion would launch on MLW's YouTube channel beginning on May 29, 2020. On June 9, 2020, MLW reached

5538-593: A tag team, as he was earmarked for a run with the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship with Harley Race as his manager. Initially billed under their individual personas, Pillman decided the pair needed their own finishing move, ring gear and team name, with traveling partner Scott Levy proposing The Hollywood Blonds, used in the 1970s by Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown. The pair adopted an "old-style movie camera hand gesture", and informed opponents they had experienced

5680-622: A titular match at Puerto Rico but was willing to make “defenses” in places such as “ St. Barth's or Bermuda ”. One such instance had him purportedly retain by defeating one Edwin González at Necker Island , a private island that is part of the British Virgin Islands . An unofficial defense took place at the MLW vs. AAA Super Series at Tijuana (Mexico being part of the larger Caribbean Basin ), where Holliday defeated Chessman to give his team an early advantage. The belt played

5822-481: A triple-threat match at Survivor Series on November 14, where Austin was run down by a car. The segment was to write him off television , with the neck injury suffered two years prior posing a real threat of early retirement, and was advised to undergo surgery. Austin would later describe this as "the worst storyline I was ever involved in". Austin made a one-off appearance at Backlash on April 30, 2000, attacking Triple H and Vince McMahon to help The Rock reclaim

IWA Puerto Rico/Caribbean Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

5964-689: A two-out-of-three-falls match to win the WCW United States Championship . At Clash of the Champions XXVIII in August 1994, Austin lost the Championship to Ricky Steamboat. He was scheduled to face Steamboat in a rematch at Fall Brawl '94: War Games in September 1994; however, Steamboat was unable to wrestle due to a legitimate back injury and Austin was awarded the championship by forfeit. His second reign with

6106-616: A working agreement between WCW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Austin wrestled four matches in Japan. He took part in the 1992 G1 Climax , defeating Arn Anderson in the first round before losing to Keiji Muto in the second round. He and Arn Anderson then defeated Raging Staff ( Super Strong Machine and Tatsutoshi Goto ) in a tag team bout held in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo . In his final bout, Austin challenged Masahiro Chono for

6248-456: A working agreement with Japanese-based promotion Pro Wrestling Noah , which would include a talent-exchange agreement and content collaboration between the two promotions. On August 8, MLW announced that they had reached a new deal with FITE TV to carry MLW pay-per-view events, with the first event being Saturday Night SuperFight. Four days later, MLW announced a working relationship with Mexican-based promotion The Crash Lucha Libre termed as

6390-638: Is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired professional wrestler . He is currently signed to WWE , as an ambassador. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) during the Attitude Era , an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Austin began his professional wrestling career in 1989, after playing college football at

6532-472: Is less than a year younger than Austin, leading Austin to theorize in his autobiography that their father may have left because he could not handle another child so soon. After finishing his education at Edna High School , he got a football scholarship to Wharton County Junior College followed by a full scholarship to the University of North Texas . He played originally as a linebacker before suffering

6674-419: The 1998 Royal Rumble , lastly eliminating The Rock. The next night on Raw , Austin interrupted Vince McMahon in his presentation of Mike Tyson , who was making a special appearance, over the objection of McMahon referring to Tyson as "the baddest man on the planet." Austin insulted Tyson by flipping him off , which led to Tyson shoving Austin much to McMahon's embarrassment, who began publicly to disapprove of

6816-538: The 1999 Royal Rumble . Austin's next appearance after this would be the January 4, 1999, edition of Raw , where he would come out to help Mankind defeat The Rock to become the WWF Champion by striking The Rock in the face with a steel chair and draping Mankind's body over him. Austin's next chance to exact revenge on Mr. McMahon came during the Royal Rumble match. On Raw , McMahon drew Austin's entry number with

6958-719: The Hollywood Blondes ). After a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Austin signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1995. In the WWF, Austin was repackaged as a short-tempered, brash and brazen anti-establishment antihero named "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, becoming the most popular wrestler of the Attitude Era off the back of his feud with company chairman Mr. McMahon . He won

7100-525: The IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship , which was designed and crafted by Reggie Parks in 1999, and in itself used the same basic template that this craftsman has used in the 1986 WWE Intercontinental Championship belt and other titles in his line. Like those belts, the Caribbean Heavyweight Championship had a main plate composed by three silver-colored rectangles of receding size. The central area of

7242-622: The MLW Women's Featherweight division. During the television premiere of Battle Riot III on July 24, 2021, MLW announced a new season of Fusion to air on "a new home" in the Fall, and a new, four-part mini-series titled MLW Fusion: Alpha . Initially announced to air in August, Fusion: Alpha was later announced as "a new season and series from MLW" to premiere on September 22 on MLW's YouTube channel, and would air on Saturdays and Mondays on Bein Sports. On December 7, 2021, MLW announced

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7384-675: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the "Battle Hold Arena" event at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama , losing by submission after Chono applied an STF . In September 1992, Austin formed a tag team known as the Hollywood Blonds with Brian Pillman , at the behest of lead booker Dusty Rhodes. Austin would later say that he was not excited about being placed into

7526-541: The Roberto Clemente Stadium in Carolina). During the final week of October 2020, the association between IWA-PR and MLW became a formal alliance. In the lead up to the announcement, Holliday complained twice about not being officially listed in the champions gallery, calling it “misrepresentation” and expressing his desire to “win over” and become “the face” of the region, ultimately threatening to melt

7668-564: The Royal Rumble , he was scripted to be among the final four wrestlers in the ring, which could have given him an early push ; however, The Ringmaster failed to hang onto the ropes after Fatu clotheslined him over and slipped out of the ring early. Austin soon thought the Ringmaster gimmick was weak and asked for a change. Having battled thinning hair for a few years, he decided to shave his head in early 1996. He later said in

7810-618: The University of North Texas . He signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 and adopted the persona of " Stunning " Steve Austin , a villainous in-ring technician, and he won the WCW World Television Championship and the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship twice each, alongside one reign with a double crown of the WCW World Tag Team Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship , with Brian Pillman (as

7952-794: The Von Erich family , Dusty Rhodes , and Ric Flair . Initially working under his real name, he was renamed Steve Austin by Memphis booker Dutch Mantell during the merger of WCCW and the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) into the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The name change occurred to avoid confusion with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , a well-known wrestler during that time. Austin later returned to Dallas, managed by Percy Pringle and accompanied by Jeannie Adams (Adams's ex-girlfriend and Austin's girlfriend at

8094-542: The WWE Network and Peacock . He collaborates with El Segundo Brewing on Broken Skull IPA and Broken Skull American Lager . He also hosted the reality competition series Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge (2014–2017) and Straight Up Steve Austin (2019–2021). Austin was born Steven James Anderson in Austin, Texas , on December 18, 1964. His parents, Beverly (née Harrison) and James Anderson, divorced when he

8236-758: The WWF Championship six times , the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice , the Million Dollar Championship once, and the WWF Tag Team Championship four times , making him the fifth WWF Triple Crown Champion . He is also a record three-time Royal Rumble winner, won the 1996 King of the Ring , and headlined multiple WWF pay-per-view events, including its flagship event WrestleMania four times ( 14 , 15 , 17 and 38 ). He

8378-401: The WWF Tag Team Championship . Despite being champions, the two constantly argued and ultimately faced each other in a match at King of the Ring , which ended in a double disqualification after both men attacked the referee. Michaels was later forced to vacate his championship due to an injury. Hart and Bulldog won a tournament to face Austin and a partner of his choice, but he refused to pick

8520-617: The professional wrestling industry. Many prominent professional wrestling figures have appeared on the network, including former WWE and WCW stars Kevin Sullivan , Jim Duggan , MVP , current WWE executive Bruce Prichard , former WCW and current AEW commentator Tony Schiavone , former WCW and WWE manager Jim Cornette , and former WCW President and WWE executive Eric Bischoff . In 2017, MLW announced that it would once again be promoting wrestling events. Tickets for their first event, MLW One-Shot , went on sale on July 21, 2017. In

8662-572: The "Super Power Group Declaration VI" event in the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Austin, Anderson, and Mike Enos lost to J-J-Jacks ( Akira Nogami and Takayuki Iizuka ) and Junji Hirata in a six-man tag team match . During the NJPW tour, Austin suffered a torn triceps . While rehabilitating, Austin was fired by WCW President Eric Bischoff on September 15, 1995. Bischoff did not see Austin as

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8804-412: The 'Taker , defeating him in a match to determine the next contender to The Undertaker's WWF Championship. Austin won when Hart was disqualified due to assistance from The British Bulldog . Austin faced Hart once again in a street fight on April 21 episode of Raw , injuring his opponent's leg with a steel chair during the bout. The match was ruled a no contest , but Austin proceeded to beat Hart while he

8946-487: The 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. At the end of 2023, MLW would cease airing weekly television programming. Beginning at One Shot on December 7, 2023, select matches would be taped during MLW's live events, and later air as part of television specials produced for Bein Sports and MLW's YouTube channel. In 2018, after the promotion was revived, MLW signed some talent to exclusive contracts. It also gave MLW power over

9088-601: The Butcher , [and] Gorilla Monsoon ” (though of these, only the third actually held that title, with the others holding different accolades within the World Wrestling Council ). The promotion claimed that “the San Juan Star , El Vocero and Claridad island newspapers have all chastised Holliday's actions”, this despite the first being defunct, the second no longer covering professional wrestling and

9230-792: The Champions XXIX , Austin was inactive while rehabilitating a knee injury, returning in February 1995. In April 1995, Austin took part in a tournament for the vacant United States Championship, defeating Jim Duggan via countout in the first round but losing to Randy Savage in the quarter-final. He wrestled what would be his final match with WCW on May 21, 1995, defeating Eddie Jackie in a bout that aired on WCW Main Event . In late May and June 1995, Austin again appeared with New Japan Pro-Wrestling as part of its "Fighting Spirit Legend" series, primarily teaming with Arn Anderson and Ron Simmons . At

9372-456: The McMahons won. The next night on Raw , Austin challenged and defeated The Undertaker to win his fourth WWF Championship. The two would compete in a "First Blood" match at Fully Loaded , with the stipulation that if Austin lost he would never compete for the WWF Championship again, but if Austin won, Vince would depart the company; Austin won after interference from X-Pac. Austin held on to

9514-529: The Renegades . The Caribbean Heavyweight Championship became a storyline element again in IWA-PR in November 2022, when Khriz Díaz won an opportunity and criticized that a title that represented Puerto Rico was being contested between foreigners. Vignettes were shown where the challenger traveled to Mexico pursuing Octagón Jr., following provocations in Impacto Total and social media. Sneaking backstage at

9656-527: The Ring 1996 Austin's rise to stardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring , where he won the tournament by defeating Jake "The Snake" Roberts . At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian , which inspired Austin to ad-lib a famous promo during his coronation, mocking Roberts' religious faith and proclaiming the now-iconic catchphrase "Austin 3:16" as derision of the Bible verse John 3:16 . At

9798-459: The Titans show, a co-promoted one with another Puerto Rican Wrestling promotion called EWO. On this show, the winner of the match was Cyrus who won a 8 Man "Lucha X" Match where he defeated 8 participants who were. Reintroduced as a regional third-party title (simply known as the “Caribbean Heavyweight Championship”) at Major League Wrestling in 2019, with Savio Vega billed as the current champion,

9940-647: The WCW World Television Championship to Barry Windham in a two-out-of-three-falls match on April 27, 1992, but regained the championship from Windham the following month. He enjoyed a second lengthy reign as champion, before losing the championship to Ricky Steamboat at Clash of the Champions XX in September 1992, while the Dangerous Alliance disbanded shortly thereafter. In August and September 1992, as part of

10082-603: The WWF Championship (Austin) and the Intercontinental Championship (Triple H) all at once. On the May 21 episode of Raw is War , Austin and Triple H defended their tag team championship against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit ; during the match, Triple H tore his quadriceps , and the team lost the match and the tag team championship in a highly acclaimed bout, with Jim Ross saying the quartet created "magic", while wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer awarded

10224-415: The WWF Championship until SummerSlam on August 22 when he lost it to Mankind in a triple threat match also featuring Triple H . in the two months that followed, Triple H would gain possession of the title. Austin would get his rematch at No Mercy on October 17 against Triple H, but Austin lost after The Rock accidentally struck him with a sledgehammer shot meant for Triple H. The three were advertised for

10366-407: The WWF Championship. After Austin's official return at Unforgiven on September 24, Commissioner Mick Foley led an investigation to find out who ran Austin over, with the culprit revealed to be Rikishi . At No Mercy on October 22, Austin faced Rikishi in a No Holds Barred match, during which Austin attempted to run Rikishi down in a truck, but was prevented from doing so by officials, and the match

10508-472: The WWF at the end of 1995 after Diesel and Jim Ross helped convince WWF's owner Vince McMahon to hire him. He debuted in WWF on December 18, 1995, which was broadcast on the January 8, 1996, episode of Raw . His debut saw him awarded the Million Dollar Championship by his manager, Ted DiBiase . Wrestling in his debut match on Raw he defeated Matt Hardy using the moniker "The Ringmaster". While making his first pay-per-view (PPV) appearance at

10650-409: The accolade was used to promote his arrival as part of Salina de la Renta ’s Promociones Dorado (which he later left by ripping his contract). The incumbent was immediately given an opportunity for the MLW National Openweight Championship against Alexander Hammerstone of The Dynasty in what was branded an opportunity to become a double titlist, but ultimately saw the latter retain by cheating. Vega

10792-564: The belt has the company acronym, “IWA”, inside a red oval that is surrounded by leaf motifs. There are two side square silver-colored side plates that depict wrestlers grappling. In April 2022, a new belt was commissioned as part of an initiative where IWA-PR revamped the design of all its titles. The new design was officially introduced on January 6, 2023, as part of Histeria Boricua. IWA-PR currently recognizes 18 individual Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (Former name) / IWA Puerto Rico Championship reigns (Current name). The inaugural champion

10934-466: The belt. As Austin had used his pickup truck to aid his victory, McMahon ordered him to defend the championship against The Rock the next night on Raw . In an act of defiance, Austin forfeited the championship to The Rock before tossing the belt into the Piscataqua River . After Bret Hart's controversial departure for WCW, Austin and Michaels were the top stars in the company. Austin won

11076-509: The belt. Vega responded by issuing a challenge to a Caribbean Strap Match (a type of contest that he made famous by defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog ) for the belt in Puerto Rico. Following another challenge, the self-proclaimed champion accepted to compete in the specialty match. On January 27, 2021, Holliday defeated Vega due to the intervention of referee Tim Donaghy , beginning his first official reign after 382 days of illegal possession. He then migrated to

11218-629: The centerpiece of the promotion's island event market expansion. In 2023, IWA rebranded the IWA PR/Caribbean Championship title as the IWA Puerto Rico Championship . The current champion is Pedro Portillo III, who is in his first reign. Championship was announced on October 13, 2008 via IWA's website but it was not until February 14, 2009 at " Noche de Campeones " in Bayamón, Puerto Rico that it

11360-517: The chair before pinning him to win the WWF Championship for the fifth time. After the match, Austin shook hands with McMahon, turning heel for the first time since 1997. During a steel cage match with The Rock in a rematch for the WWF Championship the following night on Raw is War , Triple H came down to the ring with a sledgehammer. After teasing siding with The Rock, Triple H instead aligned himself with Austin and McMahon, attacking The Rock and put him out of action. Austin further cemented his heel turn

11502-541: The championship ended just five minutes later when he lost to Steamboat's replacement, Jim Duggan , in a match that lasted 35 seconds. Austin unsuccessfully challenged Duggan for the championship at both Halloween Havoc in October 1994 and Clash of the Champions XXIX in November 1994. The influence of Hulk Hogan and the Hulkamania era was beginning to take hold in WCW, with vice president Eric Bischoff saying this

11644-769: The championship for five months. In the main event of Clash of the Champions XXIII in June 1993, the Blondes defended their championship against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in a two-out-of-three-falls, where despite losing the first two falls, retained the championship as the second fall had been determined by a disqualification caused by Barry Windham . At Clash of the Champions XXIV In August 1993, Austin and Pillman were scheduled to defend their championship against Anderson and Paul Roma but

11786-440: The conclusion of this same promo, he further ad-libbed the line, "And that’s the bottom line, cuz Stone Cold said so." This, too, went on to become an iconic catchphrase, as Austin would conclude almost all of his future promos with it. Years later, Austin would say of this moment, "It’s like I got two at-bats and hit two grand slams." Austin's win and rise to stardom proved to be an unexpected stroke of luck. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

11928-622: The debut of MLW Fusion in 2018 on beIN Sports USA , the promotion would once again resuming touring, returning to New York later that year. On September 18, 2018, MLW announced their debut in Chicago . On October 19, 2018, MLW announced that they would return to Florida to make their Miami debut. From Fall 2020 until 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , MLW would return to Gilt Nightclub in Florida to tape their programming behind closed doors . From July to December 2021, MLW programming

12070-470: The design features a geographical map of the Caribbean inside a gilded circle, flanked by the same design of six five-pointed stars grouped together. Above and under are three red-colored ribbons, with the upper one prominently reading “CARIBBEAN” and the inferior pair “HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION”. The lower part features two eight-pointed stars, an element that is also present in the Parks belts. The crown of

12212-671: The end of 2002, MLW began running two shows a month and, in 2003, multiple shows in a weekend were held in New York. The first time MLW left New York was December 20, 2002, for King Of Kings from the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida . The promotion primarily held events in Florida prior to closing its doors in 2004. MLW initially held shows in Florida since their revival in 2017. Soon after

12354-719: The event drew the highest attendance in MLW history, shattering the previous attendance record of 1,536 people for the June 20, 2003 event, Hybrid Hell , in Florida. On November 29, Bauer announced that Fusion would be broadcast live on beIN Sports on December 14. This coincided with their two-day television tapings in Miami: "Never Say Never" and "Zero Hour"; the live episode was an hour of "Zero Hour"'s events. MLW continued to air live Fusion specials throughout 2019, including SuperFight in February and Intimidation Games in March. The company brought former manager Jim Cornette on as

12496-449: The first-ever Raw to be broadcast from Madison Square Garden , McMahon told Austin he wasn't physically cleared to compete, and after several weeks of build-up, Austin delivered his Stone Cold Stunner to McMahon, causing the fans in attendance to go ballistic. Austin was then arrested as part of the storyline, and was sidelined until Survivor Series . However, in the interim, he made several appearances, one being at Badd Blood where he

12638-416: The following Thursday on SmackDown! , when, during an interview with Jim Ross about his actions at WrestleMania, he thought Ross was denouncing their friendship and then assaulted Ross. Austin and Triple H became a team known as The Two-Man Power Trip . Austin altered his character considerably over the next few months by becoming a whiny, temperamental prima donna who complained incessantly when he felt he

12780-415: The intention of screwing him over. Austin drew entry number one, while McMahon drew number two thanks to Commissioner Shawn Michaels. During the Royal Rumble match, Austin followed McMahon out of the ring and into the backstage area, only to be ambushed by members of The Corporation , and an injured Austin was taken to the hospital. Austin, however, returned in an ambulance and re-entered the match, delivering

12922-400: The match four-and-a-three-quarter stars out of a possible five in his Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Austin officially broke up The Power Trip on that week's SmackDown! , criticizing Triple H for his injury and for hitting him with the sledgehammer. He continued to align himself with McMahon and began feuding with Jericho and Benoit by himself, leading to a triple-threat match at King of

13064-453: The match when another referee made the count. Austin would lose the championship to The Undertaker at Over the Edge . Due to events revolving around Vince, Stephanie and Linda McMahon made Austin the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company as part of the storyline. Vince and Shane challenged Austin to a handicap ladder match at King of the Ring with the title of CEO on the line, which

13206-490: The match. After the match, Hart continued to hold the Sharpshooter on Austin, who, despite his wounds, refused any assistance back to the locker room, thus turning Hart heel and Austin babyface in a rare double-turn . Austin portrayed an anti-hero instead of a traditional babyface, and he didn't embrace the fans at first either. Austin eventually got his revenge on Hart in the main event of In Your House 14: Revenge of

13348-454: The network's programming and live feed to be carried on the service. However, due to a pre-existing exclusivity agreement with WWE, MLW programming was blacked out on Reelz's live feed on the service. On February 28, it was reported by Variety that MLW's deal with Reelz would conclude after 10 weeks. However, in a statement made to PWInsider, the network confirmed that "No decisions have been made by MLW or REELZ and we are both committed to

13490-421: The new contract Austin had signed two weeks earlier with Shane. The Undertaker interfered and hit Austin with a shovel, earning Austin a disqualification victory, meaning The Rock remained champion. At Rock Bottom: In Your House , Austin defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match after Kane performed a Tombstone Piledriver on The Undertaker which sent him into the grave. With this victory, Austin qualified for

13632-419: The next night on Raw to Sycho Sid due to Austin's interference, continuing their feud. At WrestleMania 13 , Hart defeated Austin in a highly acclaimed submission match with Ken Shamrock as a special referee. During the match, Austin had been cut, and was bleeding profusely from his face, but he refused to tap out when Hart locked in his Sharpshooter, and finally passed out from excessive blood loss, losing

13774-444: The now-defunct Lucha Libre promotion and television drama, Lucha Underground , into an angle involving IWA-PR. Talent formally associated with Lucha Underground were brought into MLW as part of the "Azteca Underground" stable. In April 2021, MLW announced a television deal with Vice TV . A block of MLW programming, including reruns of Fusion , began airing on Saturdays starting May 1. The agreement would further expand when it

13916-722: The performers' dates. Their wrestlers are allowed to perform for other promotions but have to prioritize MLW events. MLW's roster mainly consists of independent contractors who have also appeared in other promotions. MLW currently has working relationships with Revolution Pro Wrestling , New Japan Pro-Wrestling , Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . As of November 22, 2024 Stone Cold Steve Austin Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Steve Austin (born Steven James Williams ; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name " Stone Cold " Steve Austin ,

14058-617: The place where Austin developed his microphone skills. Austin has credited Heyman as the man who taught him how to cut a promo. Whipwreck, who was the ECW World Heavyweight Champion at the time, defeated Austin in an upset to retain the championship at November to Remember . The Sandman defeated Austin and Whipwreck in a triple threat match at December to Dismember for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Austin joined

14200-457: The platform to develop his future "Stone Cold" persona as well as a series of vignettes running down WCW in general and Bischoff in particular, most memorably in several promos that mocked his then-status as Nitro host by introducing Monday NyQuil , where he was joined by "Bongo" (a set of drums, meant to represent Steve "Mongo" McMichael ) in promoting the show "where the big boys play with each other." Several wrestlers have credited ECW as

14342-550: The premiere of MLW Fusion in April 2018. Following the closures and acquisitions of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as the WWE) in 2001, Major League Wrestling (MLW) was founded in 2002. Shortly after its founding, the promotion spent three months moving their headquarters from Philadelphia to New York . MLW styled itself as an alternative to WWE 's sports entertainment , following in

14484-473: The promotion highlighted many former ECW talents, such as Sabu , Terry Funk , Shane Douglas , and Steve Corino . This led to criticism of MLW for being an imitation of ECW in comparison to Ring of Honor , another Philadelphia-founded promotion that launched five months prior to MLW's formation. After shuttering in 2004 , Major League Wrestling would return in 2011 as a podcast network, initially focused on producing broadcast and digital content relating to

14626-696: The promotion's partnership with TrillerTV. On June 26, 2024, David Marquez (founder of Championship Wrestling and the United Wrestling Network ) was announced as MLW's new head of production. It was also announced that David Sahadi (who previously worked in TNA Wrestling ) has joined MLW's production crew. In the beginning, MLW would hold one show a month, originally from the Viking Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . By

14768-631: The promotion's programming library to the service. The partnership began on November 3, with the premiere of the Battle Riot IV event. MLW Fusion would return for a new season the following week on November 10. On January 20, 2023, MLW announced a new broadcast deal with Reelz in the United States, with a new weekly flagship show titled MLW Underground Wrestling premiering on February 7. In February, Reelz reached an agreement with NBCUniversal -owned streaming service Peacock for

14910-436: The prospect of Austin as his champion. Tyson was later announced as "the special enforcer" for the main event at WrestleMania XIV , and aligned himself with Michaels's stable D-Generation X (DX). This led to Austin's WWF Championship match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, which he won with help from Tyson, who turned on DX by making the deciding three-count against Michaels and later hit him with his knock-out punch. This

15052-408: The ropes, winning the match. This led to the first-ever PPV main event of Austin's WWF career at In Your House 13: Final Four , where he competed in a four corners elimination match against Hart, The Undertaker , and Vader for the vacant WWF Championship . Austin was eliminated early from the match after injuring his knee; Hart would win the match and the championship. Hart lost the championship

15194-471: The same year, MLW announced it would run more shows in Orlando in 2018. Given the success of their independent outings, MLW was able to secure a television deal with beIN Sports for a new program, titled MLW Fusion , which debuted on April 20, 2018, on beIN Sports USA . Their first episode featured Pentagon Jr. against Fenix as the main event. In July 2018, the inaugural Battle Riot would air as

15336-452: The sibling Fox broadcast network. The suit also alleges that WWE pressured Vice TV to withdraw from negotiations with MLW. In February 2023, the lawsuit was dismissed due to a lack of "sufficient facts to plausibly allege a relevant antitrust product market" and that their "allegations are insufficient to plausibly allege a relevant product market." MLW was given 21 days to file an amendment to their lawsuit. On July 5, 2022, MLW announced

15478-492: The signings of PCO and Richard Holliday as full-time members of the roster on October 18. It was also reported that Court Bauer and several MLW executives would travel to Monaco for Sportel, with intentions of making a big push internationally. Also announced was a project between MLW and Spiff TV. On November 8, 2018, MLW held a Fusion television taping, named Fightland , in Chicago at Cicero Stadium. Bauer claimed that

15620-440: The success Austin would have, and had advised him to ignore the advice given to him by producers and continue what he was doing as success required patience. "You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16 ... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!" Austin addressing Jake "The Snake" Roberts in his coronation promo at King of

15762-541: The ten-man Tag Team match main event of In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede , where Austin was partnered with Ken Shamrock, Goldust , and The Legion of Doom . At SummerSlam , Austin and Owen faced each other with the Intercontinental Championship on the line, with Owen adding a stipulation that Austin would have to kiss his buttocks if he lost. During the match, Owen botched a Tombstone Piledriver and dropped Austin on his head, resulting in

15904-558: The third never having done so. The claim that it was sanctioned by the “Sports Ministry of Puerto Rico” is equally fictional, since no such executive department exists and the Puerto Rico Department of Sports and Recreation only oversees promotions as a form of entertainment business. As of November 28, 2024. Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling ( MLW ) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York . The promotion

16046-564: The time) and feuded with Adams and his wife Toni . I was by no means an overnight success. What success I eventually did attain was the result of hard work. I always had a competitive nature. I learned the mechanics of wrestling really well and really fast. I learned how to have a good match, but I didn't have the right gimmick. —Austin discussing the lack of success he attained early in his career Austin debuted in World Championship Wrestling in May 1991. He

16188-439: The title in a match with “Caribbean Rules” at Battle Riot III . At Fightland , he won his first defense by besting former MLW World Heavyweight Champion Tom Lawlor in a casket match. Muertes retained over Holliday in a rematch. On March 31, 2022, he defended the title in a four-way match against eventual winner Octagón Jr. , El Dragón and El Hijo de L.A. Park . In his first defense, he retained over Matt Cross at Rise of

16330-511: The title was held concurrently along the Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship. In MLW, several fictional aspects were added to the background of the title. Despite using the belt and the acronym “IWA” being visible on camera, MLW confabulated it with the longevous WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship by claiming that it had “been won by the likes of Pedro Morales , Gilberto “Gypsy Joe” Meléndez , Abdullah

16472-454: The tradition of ECW. In 2003, MLW again moved their base of operations to Florida , and negotiated a deal with Sunshine Network to air a television series titled Underground TV , which ran between April 7, 2003, and February 14, 2004. The series was hosted by Joey Styles , later replaced by Kevin Kelly , and consisted of pre-taped matches from prior events. Furthering MLW's ties to ECW,

16614-580: The use of the IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Championship in MLW storylines. On August 18, 2019, MLW teased the formation of its women's division, later announcing its official launch on October 18, 2019. The division's first official match would be later held at MLW Blood and Thunder on November 9, 2019. On July 5, it was announced that MLW would hold its first pay-per-view event, Saturday Night SuperFight , which would be held on November 2. On July 26, MLW announced

16756-515: The way for WWF's shift to more mature programming. At Survivor Series, in a match to determine the number-one contender for the WWF Championship , Hart defeated Austin by using a turnbuckle to push himself backward while locked in the Million Dollar Dream. During the 1997 Royal Rumble match, Austin was originally eliminated by Hart but the officials did not see it; he snuck back into the ring and eliminated Hart by throwing him over

16898-420: The way, Austin set his sights on The Rock , who stole Austin's championship belt after Austin suffered a beating by his Nation of Domination stablemates. In the weeks to come, The Rock began declaring himself to be "the best damn Intercontinental Champion ever." The Rock kept possession of the championship belt until D-Generation X: In Your House , when Austin defeated him to retain the championship and regain

17040-426: The weeks leading up to WrestleMania, animosity grew between Austin and The Rock, stemming from Austin's wife, Debra , being assigned to be The Rock's manager by Mr. McMahon. The match at WrestleMania was made a no disqualification match. During the match, McMahon came to the ring, preventing The Rock from pinning Austin on two separate occasions and giving Austin a steel chair. Austin then hit The Rock several times with

17182-433: Was Never Say Never on July 8. It would be MLW's first live broadcast since the 2019 Saturday Night SuperFight pay-per-view event, which was also carried by FITE. On the August 24, 2023 episode of Fusion , MLW announced a new partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling would begin at Fury Road on September 3, 2023. On December 11, 2023, MLW and WWE reached a settlement in the former's antitrust lawsuit. MLW's lawsuit

17324-463: Was CQ the Ravishing. The longest reigning champion is Savio Vega, who held the title from June 15, 2019 to January 27, 2021 for a reign of 593 days; he is also the oldest titlist, earning the accolade at the age of 54 years and 309 days. So far, no wrestler has won the title more than once. Ash Rubynski is the shortest reigning champion with a reign that lasted a week. For a period of 162 days in 2011,

17466-498: Was Michaels's last match until 2002 as he had suffered two legitimate herniated discs and another completely crushed at the hands of The Undertaker in a casket match at the Royal Rumble . With Michaels's absence and Austin winning the WWF Championship, the "Austin Era" was ushered in. On Raw the following night, McMahon presented him with a new championship belt and warned Austin that he did not approve of his rebellious nature, desiring

17608-438: Was announced on September 17 that Vice would air MLW Fightland as a television special on October 7. On the April 21, episode of MLW Fusion , Bauer announced that MLW's "new season" would begin with their July 10, 2021 event at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia , later revealed to be Battle Riot III , and it would be their first event since the pandemic to have a live audience in attendance. On April 29, 2021, MLW announced

17750-437: Was around a year old. His mother moved to Edna, Texas , where Austin would spend most of his childhood, and she married Ken Williams in 1968. Austin adopted his stepfather's surname and legally changed his name to Steven James Williams, after he was legally adopted, though he would legally change it again to Steve Austin later in life. He has a younger sister named Jennifer and three brothers named Scott, Kevin, and Jeff. Kevin

17892-435: Was deemed a no contest; Austin was subsequently arrested. During a handicap match against Rikishi and Kurt Angle , Triple H came down with the apparent intention of teaming with Austin, only to hit Austin with a sledgehammer and reveal he had instructed Rikishi to run him over. At Survivor Series on November 19, Triple H aimed to run Austin down again during their match but his plot failed when Austin lifted Triple H's car with

18034-575: Was determined a champion. The Inaugural champion was GQ The Ravishing (Richard Rondón), he won a 15 Man Tornado Rumble Match by last eliminating Cruzz. The championship would be unified with the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship on February 26, 2011. On that match Xix Xavant defeated Romeo to unify the titles. The Caribbean Heavyweight Championship was brought back in 2012 for the IWA/EWO Clash of

18176-455: Was dismissed with prejudice on December 26, 2023. It would later be revealed in a 10-K filing of TKO Group Holdings , the holding company created by that year's merger of WWE and the UFC , that they had paid $ 20 million to MLW. In December 2023, SE Scoops reported that MLW was "overhauling" their front office. In January 2024, MLW would revamp their event schedule to air two events every month;

18318-623: Was forced to retire from in-ring competition in 2003 after multiple knee injuries and a serious neck injury at the 1997 SummerSlam event, making sporadic appearances ever since. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 , and returned for a one-off match against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022. Austin hosts the podcast The Steve Austin Show (2013–present), and the video podcast Broken Skull Sessions (2019–present) available on

18460-486: Was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as "Hybrid Wrestling", with its roster featuring a mix of different wrestling styles. The promotion originally ran live events until 2004, with these events seen on the television series, MLW Underground TV . MLW returned to promoting events in July 2017, and resumed weekly television programming with

18602-493: Was given epithets such as “legendary” and “ the king of the Caribbean”, being matched against young performers including the members of latter group and Promociones Dorado. On January 11, 2020, Richard Holliday took possession of the belt after winning a non-title match, self-proclaiming himself champion. As the disputed Caribbean Heavyweight Champion, Holliday was portrayed as a cowardly villain, who refused to participate in

18744-468: Was involved in the finish of a match between Owen and Faarooq for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Austin hit Faarooq with the Intercontinental Championship belt while the referee's back was turned, causing Hart to win the match and the title. Austin's motive was to keep Owen as champion, as demonstrated when he interfered in Hart's matches on Raw . Austin regained the Intercontinental Championship from Hart at Survivor Series . With Hart out of

18886-413: Was likely the reason Austin lost to Duggan, who had been a popular figure during that period of time. Around this time, Austin pitched a storyline idea to Bischoff in which it would be revealed that Austin was a family member of Hogan. The proposal was quickly turned down on account of Bischoff's belief that Hogan would not work with somebody such as Austin, who was not a proven name. Following Clash of

19028-542: Was living approximately 30 miles from the Dallas Sportatorium , a building he later described fondly as a "magnificent shithole of a building". It was here that World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) ran shows on a Friday night. Deciding to become a wrestler, Austin joined "Gentleman" Chris Adams ' school in the Dallas Sportatorium , where Adams also wrestled for WCCW. The first seminar cost Austin $ 45 (equivalent to $ 111 in 2023). Adams' training

19170-447: Was nicknamed "Stunning" Steve Austin, a name and gimmick he later said he could not commit to. Austin was originally paired with a valet named Vivacious Veronica but was later joined by Jeannie Adams, known as " Lady Blossom ". Just weeks after his debut, Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for his first WCW World Television Championship on June 3, 1991, and later that year joined Paul E. Dangerously 's Dangerous Alliance . Austin lost

19312-399: Was not getting respect. He also developed a strange infatuation with McMahon, going to great lengths to impress him, even going so far as to hug him and bring him presents. Austin and Triple H ran roughshod over all their opponents, until coming up against The Undertaker and Kane. After defeating them for the WWF Tag Team Championship at Backlash on April 29, they held the tag team titles,

19454-606: Was on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. At In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell , Austin had The Undertaker down with the Stone Cold Stunner but was distracted by Pillman, allowing The Undertaker to recover and perform a Tombstone Piledriver for the victory. On Raw , Austin partnered with the returning Shawn Michaels, as they both had a mutual enemy in the Harts. They defeated Owen Hart and The British Bulldog for

19596-628: Was originally scheduled to win the tournament, but plans changed as he was punished for taking part in the Curtain Call incident . "Austin 3:16" ultimately became one of the most popular catchphrases in wrestling history, and one of the best-selling T-shirts in WWE merchandise history. After defeating Yokozuna at SummerSlam , throughout August and September Austin spoke about Bret Hart , challenging him constantly and taunting him relentlessly, before Hart finally returned on Raw to challenge Austin to

19738-480: Was purely technical, teaching Austin the moves, but nothing relating to kayfabe . Austin would later describe Adams as a "conman" who "didn't try to smarten [him] up or teach [him] the real deal when it came to wrestling". His first lesson in that came from Tony Falk , the referee in his 1989 televised WCCW debut against Frogman LeBlanc, who called the spots to lead him to a pinfall and a $ 40 (equivalent to $ 98 in 2023) payday. Early influences on his career were

19880-424: Was revealed that Fusion would return on November 18 at 7pm EST and new episodes would also premiere on MLW's YouTube channel on the same night. In October 2020, MLW announced a "strategic alliance" with IWA-PR for the "celebration of inter-promotional events, direct support to the events of each of the companies and collaboration in other types of promotions". MLW would also began incorporating story elements from

20022-566: Was taped at the 2300 Arena from the promotion's home base in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion would resume a regular touring schedule later that year, beginning with their second joint show with The Crash Lucha Libre in December. Matches and segments from the 2022 Fightland event that were originally taped for Fusion were later repurposed for the promotion's new weekly series, MLW Underground Wrestling , which premiered on February 7, 2023 on Reelz . From late 2022, and throughout 2023, MLW would predominantly host events from

20164-641: Was the basis for everything that Stone Cold was to become. —Austin discussing his time in ECW Austin was contacted by Paul Heyman of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), who had previously managed him in WCW. Heyman hired him to do promos and in-ring interviews as he had not adequately recovered from his injury, paying Austin $ 500 (equivalent to $ 1,000 in 2023) a night. Changing his nickname to "Superstar", Austin debuted in ECW at Gangstas Paradise on September 18, 1995. While in ECW, Austin used

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