Steve Austin wasn’t always Stone Cold in the WWE. When he arrived in early 1996, Austin was gifted the Million Dollar Championship by Ted DiBiase as he was The Ringmaster. This persona was pushed aside quickly after a couple of months as he became Stone Cold Steve Austin by March. However, it seems like another star has claimed that he was originally offered a chance to be The Ringmaster.
On the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Bryan Clarke (also known from his WWE days as Adam Bomb) claimed that WWE considered offering him the gimmick instead. Eventually, Clarke chose the Adam Bomb gimmick over the Ringmaster and it was held off for some time until it was given to Austin.
“I remember trying out and getting hired. Then, they basically sent me home and said they were going to come up with something for me. They pitched a couple things to me and Adam Bomb was the one that I chose, but they also pitched me ‘The Ringmaster’ gimmick. They sent me two choices and I picked Adam Bomb. If I look, I could probably find it somewhere. People are like, ‘That’s b.s’ Look, they trademarked it in ’93. Check the trademarks. I don’t care if you believe me or not. I got tired of defending it, but those were the two gimmicks I was offered and I went with Adam Bomb because I just felt like I could do a lot more with it.”
Clarke was gone from the WWE by the time Austin made his debut, but according to him The Ringmaster gimmick had been in the works for some time. History could have been very different had Clarke accepted the gimmick, but it also could’ve expedited the arrival of Stone Cold Steve Austin instead.
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