Who gave WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin his wrestling name? A look at "Stone Cold" before he became a star

Former TNA creative team member Dutch Mantel updated his blog with an excerpt from his forthcoming book "The World According to Dutch." The third part of the series focuses on Steve Austin (a/k/a Steve Williams) before he became a star.

I introduced myself as Dutch. He introduced himself as Steve Williams. As I was looking at the way he presented himself, I could see there was a bit of a natural cockiness surrounding him. I asked him what name he wanted to wrestle under.

He replied, "I just told you. Steve Williams." Let it be said now that Steve, in natural conversation, talks exactly like he talks on interviews. He's a bit brusque and short which can be taken for a tad of hostility, especially down south, unless you know Steve. Since I didn't know Steve and we were both down south, he could have passed the test on being just a bit hostile.

I informed Mr. Williams in my kindest, sweetest voice that he couldn't be Steve Williams and he immediately asked, "Why the hell not!!" Again, this was the Deep South and I could have put up with the answer if he had just left the 'hell' out of his reply. But he didn't. I could see right away that we were getting off on the wrong foot. I answered his reply with one equally as short but still one that was diplomatic in nature but also made my case.

"Well for one f'n reason, for your information, it's probably due to the fact that there's already a Steve Williams in the business, as in DR. DEATH STEVE WILLIAMS....and there can't be two Steve Williams in the same f'n business at the same f'n time. That would be like having two Willie Nelsons." To read the full excerpt, visit TheWorldAccordingToDutch.blogspot.com.

Powell's POV: There's much more to Dutch's story on Austin, including how he ended up getting the last name. Another gem of a story from Dutch. In case you missed it, scroll down once you're finished with Dutch's Austin story and you'll find excerpts on Undertaker and Kane before they were stars on his blog site.