Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18 1964) better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is an American retired professional wrestler media personality and actor. 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 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 the WCW World Tag Team Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship once each with Brian Pillman (as the Hollywood Blondes). After a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) Austin signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF now WWE) in 1995.