10 Times WWE Cruelly Teased What We Really Wanted
6. The Real Rattlesnake Returns...For A Bit
It's fair to say that the execution of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's highly controversial heel run post-deal with the devil at WrestleMania X-Seven didn't go entirely to plan. Instead of 'The Texas Rattlesnake' becoming a despised figure that fans rallied against, crowds still defiantly cheered on the WWE Champion in hopes of seeing "the old Stone Cold" return to their screens some day.
That day then finally appeared to manifest itself during the go-home Raw is War for the upcoming Invasion PPV as Austin returned to his stun-first, talk later attitude of the past, blitzing The Alliance before agreeing to captain Team WWE at the incoming event. Yet, just as fans sat back to enjoy the mighty badass whoop the invaders' asses in the main event of that show, Austin would turn on his teammates, join The Alliance, and leave those in attendance feeling like fools for believing their beer-drinking hero had returned for good.
In truth, Vince McMahon merely wanted to give fans a reason to tune into the eventual-highest grossing non-WrestleMania event in the company's history, and the promise of a face Austin was the perfect bait.