Steve Austin broke out as WWE's top star in 1998 and his popularity continued well into the following year. Unfortunately for Austin and the company, though, he continued to suffer lingering effects from a 1997 neck injury that hadn't been properly treated. At the 1999 Survivor Series, a storyline involving vehicular assault was crafted to take Austin out of action, and he went for spinal fusion surgery shortly thereafter. Austin was interviewed by Jim Ross on a special Super Bowl edition of Halftime Heat in January of 2000, and the hard collar he wore made it clear that he was not going to be a part of WrestleMania 2000. Indeed, it would be another eight months before Austin returned to action. WrestleMania 2000 wasn't hurt by anyone's absence - with The Rock as the company's top star and Triple H as the heel WWE Champion, the event drew a then-record buyrate. If anything, it heralded that a new era was upon the company and, with The Rock at the helm, greater heights were in sight.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
