WWE legend goes viral after Napa wine tasting

Professional wrestler 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin surprised an organic Napa producer when he swung by for a tasting and snuggles with the winery's "solid ass cat". Texas-born Steve Austin (real name Stephen James Anderson) is known for his character's bad-tempered demeanour and famous catchphrase "Because Stone Cold said so...." But the WWE fan favourite seems to have mellowed if his recent visit to Napa Valley is anything to go by. Austin shared a photo with his 6.9 million Instagram followers of him chilling at Failla Winery, with the winery's resident cat snoozing on his lap. "Hanging out with Mr. Tubbs @faillawines in St Helena today," he posted on 10 April. "Mr. Tubbs was a rescue. And he is a Solid Ass Cat." The Wrestle Mania star preceded to share a further six photos of Mr. Tubbs mooching around the winery, adding that he admired the feline's "very concerned" face. The posts have so far racked up almost 90,000 likes, and have sparked passionate entreaties from fans for a new reality TV series.

Solid Ass Cat

Commenting underneath the photo, Austin fan @juliesteffey wrote: "I would really like to see Stone Cold introducing us to more solid ass cats. Can this be a regular thing?" Another fan, @docScott31, pleaded with the Discovery Channel to give Austin his own reality show. "@discovery FFS make a reality show with Steve and his cats." Seconding this motion was @wweretrostars, who added: "Stone Cold's love of cats is one of the biggest missed opportunities going right now. I need a YouTube show at the very least..." "Solid Ass Cats with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Book it!" weighed in @seabeh. One follower was keen to develop the reality format further, enquiring: "Can he also rate our cats too, from solid to solid ass?" enquired @ktingletingler.

Pancho and Macho

Pancho and Macho are the names of Stone Cold Steve Austin's own two cats, whom he regularly shares updates about on his social channels. Following Austin's post at Failla Wines, one fan jokingly threatened to shop his dalliance with Mr. Tubbs to the pair, which Stone Cold couldn't leave unchallenged. "I promise not to dime you out to Pancho and Macho," wrote @nevadacerakote, to which Austin responded: "Hey man, be cool now!!"

Stone Cold booze

Four-legged friends aside, Austin's choice of winery suggests he appreciates purity and freshness in his wines. Planted in 1997, Failla's Estate Vineyard is organic and biodynamic, as well as being dry-farmed, and sits at 1000-1400 ft altitude. Its 11 acres (4.5ha) under vine include Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and due to the vineyard site being located just 2.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, Failla's wines are considered to be cool-climate. Failla's current wine releases sit between US$25 and US$35 per bottle, and a tasting at the winery would have set Stone Cold back anywhere from US$65 to $150 (cat petting comes free). A Lodge Tasting costs $65 per person (waived when four bottles purchased), while a Cave Tasting is $95 and a Library Tasting, where guests can "immerse themselves in the opulence of rare and aged treasures from our private cellar", is priced at $150.

Broken Skull beer

Austin's visit to Failla is not the first time he has forged an allegiance with a drinks producer. In 2014 Stone Cold slam-dunked his way into the beer world, launching Broken Skull IPA in collaboration with California's El Segundo Brewing. "When the good folks at Perrault Farms and Yakima Chief Hops invited me up to sample their hops during their annual harvest, it inspired me to make a new IPA," Austin said at the time. "The hops in the beer were selected by yours truly." The incredible success of Broken Skull allowed the brewer to expand its capacity and range (adding a Broken Skull Lager), and the partnership continues to this day. When Austin starred in WrestleMania live shows in 2022, crushing cans of Broken Skull in his fist became a key part of his act. As was drinking the beer after the shows. El Segundo owner Rob Croxall told Brewbound that Austin "received 10 cases of Broken Skull Lager for WrestleMania on Saturday and then asked for more on Sunday.... There’s at least 240 beers that he got through somehow”. For his part, Austin claimed the volume of beers he went through during WrestleMania was “not to gratuitously advertise them but because I genuinely had cottonmouth”. Austin first signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1995 and is considered to be part of the 'Mount Rushmore' of wrestlers alongside The Rock, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and John Cena. He was forced to retire from in-ring competition in 2003 after multiple injuries and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. And that's the bottom line. Because Stone Cold said so....