10 Times Backstage Politics Ruined WCW

5. Hogan's Influence & Roster Changes Send Steve Austin Packing

Hindsight is 20/20, and all that, but someone would've had to be brave to back Jim Duggan over Steve Austin even in 1994. No, Austin hadn't morphed into the biggest star in the biz quite yet, but he was clearly one of the brightest diamonds in WCW's upper-midcard scene and had a bright future. So, naturally, Hulk Hogan swamped the roster with all of his old buddies from the 1980s WWF instead.

Brother got to brothering, dude.

Austin didn't really want to drop his United States Title to 'Hacksaw', and he definitely didn't fancy trying to squeeze a lengthy match out of the 80s relic. That's why WCW ended up putting Duggan over Steve in around 35 seconds. They'd work a longer rematch come Halloween Havoc that ended via disqualification, but it was clear that Austin was already keen to look elsewhere - he just wasn't in a power position to do that in '94.

Eric Bischoff made the decision easier by firing Austin via FedEx when he was dealing with an injury in 1995, which set wheels in motion for a whirlwind stay in ECW before Steve landed in the WWF. Meanwhile, Hogan's roster reshuffling pushed career midcarder Brutus Beefcake (as The Butcher) into the main event of Starrcade.

For reference, that'd be like Seth Rollins deciding that his old protege Nathan Frazer from Fraxiom should headline WrestleMania with him. The clear difference being that at least Rollins and Frazer would deliver a stunning match. Ed Leslie and Hulk couldn't, and they were never going to.