10 Stretches Of Punishments WWE Stars Had To Endure To Be Forgiven
3. Steve Austin
Crime: Refusing to job to Brock Lesnar.
Time Served: 8 months.
A growing dissatisfaction with his general creative direction led to 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin attacking the company on their Byte This! web series, with its impact such that WWE were forced to apologise for the rant, conceding that he wasn't part of any ongoing storyline.
Austin was never placated, and it all came to a head when he walked out on the 10 June 2002 episode of Raw. Though he'd been pencilled in for a feud with Brock Lesnar, 'Stone Cold' refused to lose to 'The Next Big Thing,' claiming the hot-shotted defeat wouldn't just make him look weak, but fail to benefit his opponent the way defeating an Attitude Era icon should. A quick resolution wasn't forthcoming, either: Austin's storylines were cancelled, the company buried him on air, and for all intents and purposes, he was out of WWE.
Vanishing from the public eye completely, Austin would eventually meet with Vince McMahon in December 2002, but didn't return until early 2003. It came at a cost, too: the Chairman tried to fine Austin $650,000 for his transgressions, though this was negotiated down to $250,000.