Steve Austin ended up the biggest pro wrestling draw ever as the WWF's badass Texas Rattlesnake. In WCW however he was just a blonde haired guy who rarely got chance to speak on the microphone. He got to wrestle a fair bit and was obviously a skilled young worker, but WCW didn't see money in him. His firing has ended up the stuff of legend. Having ran with WCW from 1991 to 1995, Steve was at home recuperating from a triceps injury, when a telephone call from Eric Bischoff came through. He was fired. Austin has since stated he found this disrespectful and a cowardly thing to do, Bischoff meanwhile claimed that Steve didn't turn up for a TV taping and had a bad attitude. The WCW boss also pointed out that one time he rang Austin's house it was answered by the Rattlesnake's wife. She said Steve wasn't in, at the same time as Eric could hear him swearing in the background. Did Bischoff have a valid reason for letting the star go? Vince McMahon himself has stated that Austin was "the most demanding pro wrestler I ever worked with." But let's get real. Austin was the greatest star attraction of all time. Even if Bischoff did have a case to get rid of him, even if we do have the benefit of hindsight which WCW didn't have, you can't get away from the fact that WCW fired what would end up being the biggest money making wrestling commodity ever. All things considered, they were blind to potential talent, not smart enough to consider the future. WCW went out of business in March 2001, purchased by Vince McMahon's WWF.
