21 Years Of WWE SmackDown Mistakes

20. 2000 - Steve Austin Spoils Everything

WWE's 24-carat-gold creative and commercial era came to a soul-crushing conclusion in late 2000, with Stone Cold Steve Austin's violent return a particularly dispiriting reminder that the fun of the prior summer had to stop sooner or later.

Joyous months of banter backed up by blistering action from the likes of The Rock, Kurt Angle, Edge, Christian, Too Cool and co were literally beaten half to death by Austin as he wreaked havoc on the whole roster before and after the reveal of Rikishi's "attempted vehicular homicide".