Stone Cold Steve Austin is a legend among wrestling fans due to his role as a hard-drinking villain. He is now drawing praise from others, however, due to the manner in which he goes through everyday life. Many individuals on social media have even expressed surprise after learning that Austin is not racist.
“Stone Cold built an entire career off of a being a drunk angry redneck and we ain’t heard not one racist thing come out of his mouth yet. A legend,” one user on Twitter wrote recently. Others weighed in by explaining that Austin has been very anti-racist throughout his entire career.
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Throughout his career as Stone Cold, Austin made a name while crushing beers and beating up the opposition. However, he also developed a different reputation after former WWE star Ahmed Johnson alleged that Austin had sprayed racist terms on the wrestler’s car.
“That guy [Johnson] has said things about me that were untrue,” Austin said during a podcast interview with WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry. “Not a fan either. Thank you for attesting to [me not being a racist]. I’ve never been able to address that because I’ve never had the- never needed to. That’s a completely fabricated story and is complete horse s— and I’ve maintained my silence and this is the first time ever I’ve addressed it or talked about it.”
Austin has long been an advocate for equality, whether he is expressing support of gay marriage or firing back at racists. He has been very vocal about his beliefs for years on end, whether it has been on social media or on his podcast. Still, his outward persona has surprised many that expected him to be a drunk, racist redneck.
There were some users on social media that kept referencing a scene from The Longest Yard as evidence that Austin is actually racist. They were met with criticism from others that wanted to explain that this was actually a movie and that Austin actually had to follow the script.
There is also a potentially fake account that has gone viral on social media. The purported account involves a screenshot that allegedly showed Austin “firing back” at someone who said the Confederate Flag was a symbol of southern pride. The longtime wrestler responded with a long message about how that “heritage was built on the backs of slaves.” He also said that identifying with the Confederate Flag makes those people trash. The meme and text may be fake but it does seem to at least line up with some of the real man’s views.
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