10 Biggest Stone Cold Steve Austin "What Ifs" In WWE
2. What If Triple H won King of The Ring?
Stone Cold's launchpad in WWE was his iconic Austin 3:16 promo at King Of The Ring, but many people forget that he was actually the backup choice to win the tournament. Instead Hunter Hearst Helmsley was supposed to take the push, keeping the main event scene within the reaches of the Kliq. Triple H would end up losing it though, taking all the heat from management for participating in Madison Square Garden's infamous curtain call, where he and Shawn Michaels broke kayfabe to hug it out with Hall and Nash before they left for WCW.
Austin still might have been a fan favourite to the WWE's hardcore audience, but he needed that mainstream pay-per-view moment on one of the big 5 shows to give him the momentum he would later use to win the 1997 Royal Rumble.
Triple H getting the push could have led to him never abandoning his snobbish Connecticut blue blood, which could potentially mean never joining DX, which he did to rehabilitate his character. Perhaps instead of Austin being the one to dethrone Michaels, the baton gets passed within the Kliq to Triple H.
It's fair to say the foundation of the wrestling world changed with Austin being picked as the guy with Triple H getting punished that year.