10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 2002 Facts

10. Lesnar Was Supposed To Face Austin In A Qualifier

Stone Cold had grown intensely dissatisfied with his role in WWE by 2002, feeling he was being fed heaping spoonfuls of nothing but lousy creative. By all accounts, the generally-stubborn and insistent Austin had grown to be almost impossible to work with, due to his tendency to stand up for his personal brand. He hated being wasted in inferior stories.

Austin was set to take part in a qualifying match for the King of the Ring tournament with Lesnar that would've seen evil boss Ric Flair book new Austin enemy Eddie Guerrero as a guest referee. Guerrero would've screwed Austin over, allowing Lesnar to win.

A hesitant Austin apprehensively agreed to the plan, but then booked a flight home early on that Monday, walking out on WWE for the second time in less than three months. Austin later said that it was short-sighted to waste the match with Lesnar, which had marquee ambitions, on free TV like that.