10 Most Notorious Stone Cold Steve Austin Urban Legends

4. He Left In 2002 Because He Didn't Want To Lose To Brock Lesnar

Story: It's the moment in his career that has been discussed and dissected more than any other: his 2002 walkout. In June of 2002, Austin left WWE. They wanted him to lose to Brock Lesnar in an unannounced match on Raw as part of the King of the Ring tournament. Austin didn't like it, so he told WWE he wasn't going to the show. He flew back to Texas. He's talked about it in a lot of places, but here's a good summary of his mindset from when he was on Chris Jericho's podcast earlier this year: "Jim Ross told me creative and he told me that they wanted Brock to beat me. And I€™m thinking, okay hold it. I€™m drawing stupid money right now. Obviously WWE had spent a lot of money getting me into this position. I busted my ass getting myself in this position. Guys that draw stupid money don€™t just happen overnight. So now all of a sudden you want me to do a job for a guy, now I love Brock Lesnar and he€™s a monster, and as soon as he walked in the door everybody saw massive potential in the guy, but for me to do a job for him without any kind of buildup? A match but no two or three weeks talking about it? A pay per view match is what it was." He was right. However, it really hurt his reputation because everybody in WWE had to do what they were told. It was sending the wrong message when a top guy just went home because of something he didn't like. Why People Believe It: He really didn't put over that many guys simply because as WWE's top guy, he rarely lost clean. People that don't like him probably think that he left because he refused to lose a match rather than the creative issues he always talks about. Should We Believe It: No. His issue wasn't with Lesnar personally. It was about how they wanted to do the match and the creative direction in WWE at that time. Austin would have been willing to do it if they built the match up with several months of build. It actually sounds like a great idea because Austin losing to Lesnar would have done wonders for Lesnar's career in 2002, which was his first year on the main roster. Instead, the match never happened. He has said many times that leaving the company at that point was his biggest regret in wrestling. This is what he also said on the Jericho podcast: "I should have showed up like a man, come up with a solution. Could have been a different solution, could have been just don€™t even do the match, but show up and talk to Vince face to face, solve the problem in some way or fashion, and get through it like a grown man." He's right. They should have been able to find a better solution, but he was just too worn out at that time. Give him credit for owning up to his mistake.