Steve Austin & WWE Were Turned Down By Major Beer Brand After Pitching Collaboration

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin's name is as synonymous with beer as it is the WWF Attitude Era, but he recently explained that he lost out on what could have been a huge collaboration with a popular beer brand due to how intense he, and his professional wrestling character, were back in the day. Austin appeared on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and spoke about what things could have been like for him, had he not walked out on WWE back in 2002.

"I drank every beer that there ever was," he said. "We pitched Coors Light many years ago when I was really on fire. I was way over the top and way too aggressive and they wouldn't touch me with a 10-foot pole. And then we were about to come out with 'Stone Cold' beer years ago, and we were just about to go to packaging, and that was about that time when Vince wanted me to do the favor for Brock [Lesnar] and I said, 'Man. F you.'"

Austin said he hated to rehash old details, but said that one of the things he really wished he could have done was work with Lesnar when McMahon asked him to lose to "The Beast Incarnate" on an episode of "WWE Raw," but Austin said it was just bad business, as it hadn't been promoted and wasn't on a pay-per-view. The "Stone Cold" brand beer may never have come to fruition, but in later years, the WWE Hall of Famer released his own brand, Broken Skull IPA, in 2015, and a lager in 2022, which have grown in popularity over the years.

"It's been fun and it keeps me busy and it's a passion project," Austin said. "It's not something I just slap my name on, celebrity-based type thing. I'm in it. I help with the hops selection and everything else."

Van Vliet asked "Stone Cold" if he was still drinking beer in addition to being in the business of it all, as over the last few years, online rumors started swirling that "The Texas Rattlesnake" had moved on to different beverages. The rumors were likely brought on by an old Buzzfeed video of Austin trying different fancy drinks, such as a birthday cake martini, and other photos circulating of Austin drinking red wine. Austin said the wine glass in the photos was his wife's, and he's aware of the meme.

"Yes, I still drink beer," he confirmed. "But, it's kind of like the old timers used to come up to you in the dressing room when you first start breaking in the business. 'Kid, you gotta pick your spots. You don't gotta take all those bumps.' So, yeah, these days, you don't need all those hangovers. You pick your spots."

He said since he's still watching what he eats and drinks, Friday nights are his "beer nights." He said he'll kick back and have some IPAs. When asked about the most amount of beer he ever had after a match, Austin brought up a story from a WWE tour in Japan where plenty of others were around to help him knock some back.

"I talked about this before, because the Dudleys were there, Stacy Keibler was there, and there was a whole bunch of people that were in the ring, so I just started tossing out beers," he explained. "I think we went over 100... Did they all get drank to completion? No."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.