10 Times Vince McMahon Was Dead Wrong

10. Austin Vs. Brock In 2002

By 2002, the Attitude Era was all but over and, similar to 2015, Vince McMahon was in need of building new stars and the highly rated, All-American, NCAA Division-I Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Brock Lesnar was at the top of his list. In 2002, everyone with significant star power was used to put Lesnar over, as the two-time NCAA All-American was given clean, decisive victories over icons like The Rock, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan. Stone Cold Steve Austin was scheduled to be the first major victim of Lesnar en route to crowning Brock the 2002 King of the Ring. Austin, who had been the company's top draw since 1997, was going through some personal difficulties and had also become unhappy with his position in the company. After wrestling Scott Hall, The Big Show and Ric Flair in midcard matches on PPVs during the spring, Austin was penciled in to face Brock Lesnar in an unannounced King of the Ring Qualifying Match on Raw. Having already been unhappy and in need of a break, the thrown-together Lesnar match was the straw that broke the camel's back. Austin quit the company, walking out with no notice. By no means was Austin innocent in this situation, but Vince McMahon was unquestionably foolish here. Lesnar would defeat The Rock to become the youngest WWE Champion in history at the main event of SummerSlam 2002. Nothing short of that level of promotion should have even been considered for a match with a star like Austin. Instead, Vince wanted to not only give the first meeting of these two away on free television with no hype, but he wanted Austin to put the rookie over clean. It's one thing for Lesnar to defeat Austin in the main event of WrestleMania, SummerSlam or even a lesser PPV main event if built properly, but Vince's plan was incredibly stupid, short-sighted and couldn't have been more wrong.