10 Missed Opportunities In Steve Austin's WWE Career

9. Making More Guys In 1999

Because he's such a beloved figure, it's sometimes overlooked that, during his peak years, Austin could be quite selfish when it came to sharing the limelight. As the top dog during the company's hottest ever period, it's hard to totally blame Austin for being selective regarding who he was working programmes or doing jobs to. Still, Austin was such a big star and so incredibly over, that it is likely that some of the midcard talent that he was pencilled in to work programmes with would have gained a lot by working with him, and Austin's aura and drawing power would have remained intact. The Texas Rattlesnake was at his hottest in 1998-99 and, realising that others could be elevated by working with him, WWE were keen to give some of their talented midcarders the Austin rub. In 1999, it was pitched to Austin that he would work a series of PPV matches with Jeff Jarrett (September & October) and Billy Gunn (November and December). Austin vetoed both of those ideas, for various reasons. Regarding the Jarrett feud, it was well-known that Austin did not like The Chosen One dating back to the start of Austin's career in the Memphis territory: Jeff's Dad Jerry was booking his son on top while Austin was earning next to nothing and eating bags of raw potatoes to survive. With Billy Gunn, Austin didn't feel he was a main event level talent and couldn't pull his weight in a top-line programme. Plus, he was heading for major neck surgery and was eventually pulled from the November/December PPVs. Had Austin worked programmes and elevated the likes of Jarrett, Gunn and others, he might have been able to work programmes with them in the future and make some money (one of the reasons Jarrett left for WCW was because he knew he'd never make it to the next level with Austin around).