10 Ways WWE Must Revert To Old Habits To Pop A Rating

10. Stone Cold, Red Hot

Stone Cold Steve Austin, by almost every metric, was the most commercially successful WWE Superstar ever. Adjustments for inflation elevate his figures over Hulk Hogan's somewhat unfairly, but in terms of ticket sales, buyrates and merchandise, there were few that even came close to drawing every last penny from the pockets of wrestling fans quite like 'The Rattlesnake' in his pomp.

He was also the spine of WWE's late-90s renaissance, driving forth a babyface persona that extolled the ethos of what would become known as the Attitude Era and propel the company to heights unseen.

This was never more evident than in June 1999, when Austin dethroned The Undertaker to win his third WWE Title at the climax of a typically chaotic edition of Monday Night Raw. The quarter that housed the match drew a 9.5 rating, equating to approximately 10.7 million viewers as the most-watched match in the history of the show. It was the highest Monday Night cable rating for pro wrestling ever, slightly above the much-vaunted 'This Is Your Life' segment between Mick Foley and The Rock later that year.

A relatively rare commodity in the modern era, a semi-regular return to WWE outside of his sound-proof podcast set would see countless viewers cast more than a glance back over the product they'd long abandoned.