During that time, he would go to the Sportatorium in Dallas to watch the Von Erichs wrestle. He was always a fan of the sport, watching Paul Boesch’s Houston Wrestling on television while growing up. One day after work, Steve saw an ad for a wrestling school run by Chris Adams. He decided to take a shot and five months later, in 1990, he had his first professional match for World Class Championship Wrestling. During his tenure in WCCW, Austin and Adams engaged in a bitter feud—with the student eventually toppling his teacher.

In 1991, "Stunning" Steve Austin was introduced to World Championship Wrestling and spent the next five years in the promotion. As a singles competitor, the Texan captured the organization’s TV Title in 1992 with a win over Barry Windham. One year later, he captured their U.S. Title on two occasions from Dustin Runnels and then Ricky Steamboat. But it was his pairing with the late Brian Pillman that earned Austin his greatest notoriety.

After a brief run in ECW, Steve Austin signed a deal with the World Wrestling Federation in 1995. Instead of letting the superstar tear ass through the ranks, he was given the moniker of the "Ring Master" and issued a mouthpiece in the form of Ted DiBiase. However, that didn't last long and the Texan proudly walked on his own.