10 Monumental Happenings On Post-WrestleMania Raws
6. Steve Austin Retires (2003)
It was Eric Bischoff — the man who had famously ended Steve Austin’s WCW tenure in 1995 — who was responsible for calling time on Austin’s WWE career, at least in the story line.
On March 31, 2003, in his guise as Raw General Manager, Bischoff disclosed the news to the public that only a select few in wrestling were aware of: Austin was suffering from such extensive spinal degeneration that his career as a pro wrestler was over. At the time, many onlookers believed it was typical pro wrestling exaggeration or fabrication — but Bischoff on Raw that evening read aloud information from Austin’s genuine medical records.
Austin had lost to The Rock at WrestleMania XIX the previous evening from Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. While this couldn’t hold a candle to their tour de force at WrestleMania X-Seven two years earlier, the match was a remarkable piece of work, considering Austin’s physical condition.
Austin’s match with The Rock at ’Mania XIX on March 30, 2003 was his last. In recent years, he has stated many times that he will not wrestle again. Austin neither wishes to nor has any reason to return to the ring.