10 Most Shocking Stone Cold Steve Austin Controversies

8. The Paranoia of Stone Cold Steve Austin

To any outsider looking in, Steve Austin must have been the happiest man on the planet during his run on the top. Unfortunately, many sources claim that during The Attitude Era, Austin was intensely protective of his spot and constantly looking over his shoulder. Not long after Steve Austin became the face of the WWF, it was obvious that up-and-comers like Triple H and The Rock were hot on his heels. There were rumors at the time that Triple H was supposed to win his first WWF Championship from Austin at SummerSlam 1999 but Austin refused to lose to The Game. There's no concrete evidence for this, but it's oddly suspicious that Mankind was added into the match, won the title, then immediately lost it to Triple H the next night on Raw. If true, it's certainly somewhat understandable. Austin was a star with a bright future in WCW until Hulk Hogan and friends arrived in 1994, and he'd worked for ten years to get to where he was in late-nineties WWF. Wrestling is a fickle business where tastes can change in a heartbeat, while he may have gone about it the wrong way, you can't blame someone for looking out for their livelihood.