Vince McMahon held a meeting at Titan Towers in 1996 where he proposed killing the Stone Cold Steve Austin character and reverting him back to the Ringmaster gimmick, according to former WWE creative director David Sahadi. Sahadi revealed the story on Busted Open Radio. He said the meeting took place as fans were beginning to embrace Austin's anti-authority persona. McMahon wanted to turn him back into a character "wearing powder blue shorts" with "stubbly hair," undoing everything that was connecting with the audience. "Stone Cold is starting to come on the ascension, and the fans are cheering him," Sahadi said. "Vince said, 'Give the fans the finger, they'll hate you.' And no, they gave the finger back. It's like their way of saying, 'We love this guy.' And who wouldn't love Stone Cold? This blue collar guy that drinks beer and can tell his boss to flip off." Sahadi said when McMahon proposed the change, the room went silent. "I said nothing because I was in shock. Nobody spoke. I...