10 Times WWE Made MASSIVE Changes That You Didn’t Even See
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock Vanish Without Trace
How can one address the total disappearance of two of the biggest stars in the company, even if their time appeared fleeting?
Put simply? Don't.
Acting again with the nonchalance shown in the early-1990s towards Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior and with it the tacit reminder that no Superstar was bigger than the brand (even if, objectively at least one of these proved to be), Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were erased from discussion in 2004.
Shortly after WrestleMania, 'The Rattlesnake' and Vince McMahon got into a bit of a dispute over the rights to Austin's 'Stone Cold' nickname outside of WWE, putting paid to his role the ATV-cruising Monday Night Raw "Sheriff" with virtually no fanfare. 'The Great One's contract ran out later that year and talent relations - at this point being haphazardly handled by John Laurinaitis - allegedly forgot to bother negotiating any sort of part-time renewal.
Austin was back on sporadic cameo duty from 2005, but WWE lost out on the in-person version of 'The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment' until 2011.