10 Lamest Wrestling Authority Figures

1. WWE Raw Sheriff Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin Eric Bischoff
WWE

Triple H got most of his kicks flattening as many foes as possible during his reign of terror over Monday Night Raw between 2002 and 2005, but few were as deserving of his scorn as 'Sheriff' Stone Cold Steve Austin.

'The Game' positively p*ssed himself at 'The Rattlesnake's toy badge during a early-2004 promo war between the two - and rightfully so! An idea as lazy as most of the creative during that period, Austin's genuinely evocative exit at the Survivor Series just weeks earlier was undone by his rabble-rousing return at the end of a dramatic Monday Night Raw pitting Shawn Michaels against hid former DX partner for the latter's World Heavyweight Title.

Adding the use of an ATV in his entrance as well again decking folk without reprise whenever he felt like it, Stone Cold already-tired gimmick was driven even further into the ground. Truthfully, the return seemed as much to placate him as much as it did a fanbase largely tired with his bullish authority figure act. Within four more ineffective months of his return, he was gone for good as a permanent performer.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. 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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.