10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 2002 Facts
9. Austin Was Meant To Face Eddie Guerrero At The PPV
The aforementioned use of Guerrero as a foil for Austin was meant to lead to King of the Ring, where Austin would be given his first relatively young and fresh opponent to work with since Chris Jericho months earlier. Guerrero at the time had aligned with Flair, Arn Anderson, and Chris Benoit as almost a loose revival of The Four Horsemen, with Austin as the modern day Dusty Rhodes trying to fight off the jackals.
Austin's swift exit had left quite a huge hole in the designs. As a result, Flair was hastily turned babyface after losing his share of WWE back to McMahon. He was then stuck in a sudden feud with Guerrero that led to a rather disappointing match between the two at King of the Ring. Since Flair had been playing the heel for two months previous, the crowd found it hard to get invested, even if it was the timeless "Nature Boy" working before them.