To cap off a night full of wrestling legends, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin ended WWE Raw Reunion by doing what he does best, downing beers. Professional wrestling history is full of big name talents, but few made such a mark on the industry that they're in the conversation for greatest performer of all time. For those who grew up watching the WWF in the 1980s, their first choice would probably be Hulk Hogan. For those who watched the NWA in the same decade, their choice would probably be Ric Flair. When it comes to the 1990s Attitude Era though, nobody was a bigger star than Austin.
"Stone Cold" raised hell every week on Monday Night Raw, stunning anyone and everyone who crossed his path, stomping mudholes and walking them dry, all with middle fingers in the air and beer in hand. Austin's character allowed fans to live vicariously through him, a man who had spent years struggling to climb the wrestling ranks beforehand, and was a real-life foul-mouthed Texan. Whereas the fan in the crowd couldn't get away with destroying property, kicking their boss's ass, and saying what they really thought, "Stone Cold" could and usually did.
These days, Austin is usually too busy with his other show business endeavors to appear on WWE programming, but when he does, it's always a treat. WWE Raw Reunion was no different, which saw Austin end the night by toasting Monday Night Raw, and the entire world, all surrounded by WWE's past and present performers. Some highlights from the segment are below, in both video and gif form. Also included is a backstage bit where Austin says he'll return for future reunion shows.
To the shock of no one, "Stone Cold" received the biggest ovation of the night, even eclipsing the reaction to John Cena's surprise appearance that started the show. While the ship seems to have long since sailed on the idea of Austin ever wrestling another match, it's noticeable that at 54-years-old, he still very much looks like "Stone cold" Steve Austin, and not like an old guy pretending to be him. He still clearly takes fitness seriously.
Austin ended a WWE Raw Reunion special that also saw countless other greats take part. Hogan and Flair both attended, as did Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. Also turning up were people like Eric Bischoff, Christian, Booker T, Kurt Angle, and Mick Foley. Overall, it was a pretty fun show, although it doesn't really seem like many long-term storylines will emerge from what happened.