10 Amazing WWE SummerSlam Plans You Won't Believe Almost Happened

8. The Rock To Get His Revenge On WWF Champion Steve Austin - SummerSlam 2001

The original fallout from Stone Cold Steve Austin winning the WWF title from The Rock at WrestleMania 17 was for the Rattlesnake to become the dominant heel in the WWF, leading to a rematch at SummerSlam 2001 when The Rock returned from filming his blockbuster movie, The Scorpion King. The Brahma Bull would win the match, getting revenge on Austin who screwed him out of the title six months prior. However when The Rock returned to the WWF on July 30th 2001, the landscape of the company had changed dramatically. Because of the WWF's acquisition of WCW (and the fact they failed to convince a network to give them a timeslot without the likes of Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair or Sting being acquired) and the dramatic fall of WWF's ratings throughout the summer, WWF Creative introduced the WCW/ECW Invasion storyline which pitched Shane and Stephanie McMahon and Paul Heyman attempting to take over their father's company with mostly midcard performers and Stone Cold Steve Austin as a WWF defector. With the WWF vs. WCW/ECW Alliance storyline in progress, plans for The Rock to return to WWF to face Austin were changed, shelved for another day. Instead SummerSlam 2001 saw Kurt Angle challenge Steve Austin for the WWF title and Booker T defend the WCW title against The Rock in the main event. Of course Rock vs Austin eventually happened again at WrestleMania 19 when The Rock finally defeated Austin in a WrestleMania match.