26 Years Ago Today, Stone Cold Steve Austin Drove A Zamboni And Attacked Vince McMahon
On this day 26 years ago, Stone Cold Steve Austin had one of his most iconic moments when he hijacked a zamboni, drove it through the Detroit Red Wing's Joe Louis Arena, climbed on top of it before he then proceeded to launch off it and pummel Vince McMahon. Oh, and then he was arrested in the wrestling ring!
The legendary moment is bringing wrestling fans both old and new together on social media as even those who weren't born yet are familiar with Austin's zamboni.
And rightfully so - just look at this WILD set of events that transpired on September 28th, 1998, while the WWE and WCW were in the middle of their competitive ‘Monday Night Wars,' with each promotion trying to outdue and out shock the other.
WWE'S ATTITUDE ERA WAS WIL
As a wrestling fan at the time, many times I watched WWE on Monday night's while being on my [landline] phone with my buddies and we all waited for what Stone Cold Steve Austin was going to do next as he continued to terrorize Mr. McMahon. But to bring out a damn ZAMBONI of all things? Just absolute brilliance from the hilarious randomness of it that made it so awesome.
And how about Austin's running leap off the top of the zamboni, clearing the wrestling ropes AND the officers in front of him and taking out McMahon? Absolute flawless execution by the Texas Rattlesnake, but it could have turned disastrous pretty easily.
WWE's Executive Director Bruce Prichard recounted how Stone Cold almost ran him over with the Zamboni because he couldn't see where he was going because arena officials had put up curtains in the backstage to separate areas. Well, Austin being Austin and the hell-raiser himself just decided to plow right through them.
"If you look real closely, you’ll see before Steve goes out into the audience and goes through the last bit of curtains where there’s a table and one person standing behind that table, that’s me. Almost getting killed by the Zamboni because Steve couldn’t see where he was going and almost ran me into the wall, ran me over with the Zamboni. But instead, it just pinned me against the wall," Prichard recounted on his Something to Wrestle podcast.
NETFLIX MR. MCMAHON CAME OUT THIS WEEK
The anniversary of Austin's zamboni attack couldn't come at a more relevant time as Netflix has released their highly anticipated multi-episode Mr. McMahon docuseries.
For those wondering, I have watched 3 episodes of the series so far, and it definitely is eye-opening but also extremely interesting as it goes through the various wrestling eras both on and behind the scenes of Vince McMahon's rise to greatness and eventual turmoil.
There are plenty of Stone Cold Steve Austin moments in it as well as the Austin vs McMahon feud and was one of the most important storylines that would propel the WWE to become a global juggernaut - zamboni and all.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE WWE MOMENTS? TWEET ME: @TheGunzShow with your thoughts!