10 Bizarre Wrestling Epics That Didn’t Live Up To The Hype

5. Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs Eric Bischoff (WWE No Way Out 2003)

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The second of two sort-of dream matches on WWE's loaded last stop on the road to WrestleMania XIX, Stone Cold Steve Austin's return to the company paid off the first of several times Vince McMahon used his television show to humiliate Eric Bischoff for the years he knocked his product into a cocked hat.

"Hat" being the operative verb in this case - Austin's return was soundtracked by a maddening Jim Ross, returning to the booth after a dispute with Bischoff centred around his quest to re-hire 'The Rattlesnake'.

Clearly mindful that this shouldn't be considered a true return match, Stone Cold didn't even wear his actual gear. Sporting his jhorts over the knee braces long before John Cena made the style choice inadvertently iconic, Austin didn't so much wrestle 'Easy E' as he did bully him in front of a braying hoard.

The match hadn't been promoted efficiently. Jim Ross wasn't commentating properly. Stone Cold couldn't wrestle proficiently. Something felt deeply wrong about the entire situation - something that wouldn't truly emerge until Austin's panicked hospital trip 24 hours before the year's 'Show Of Shows'.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett