10 Wrestlers Who HATED Losing
3. Steve Austin
In which the rank hypocrisy reveals itself, and so what, because it was OK for Steve Austin to not lose.
He didn't hang around, desperately clinging to his fading star at the expense of emerging talent. A serious neck injury prematurely ended a career so formidable in its drawing power that it made no sense to dull it in a bid to get a midcard act over.
Austin outdrew Hogan's revolutionary run as a household name two years after he was deemed a mere good hand in the dark days of Mantaur, Isaac Yankem, and the general civic centre miasma. A stubbornness, a belief, and a very strong argument underpinned Austin's flex. He was the man. After his maiden WWF Heavyweight Title win, Vince McMahon toyed with the idea of installing Marc Mero as his first challenger. The two men put on a banger at King Of The Ring 1996, but their trajectories had oscillated wildly in the two years since. After taking a Sable Bomb, Marc Mero punched only a ticket to midcard purgatory. Jeff Jarrett was also bantered off by the Rattlesnake, who didn't see a headliner in him. He saw only the memories of his dad paying him in potatoes, and didn't even deem him worthy of an ironic, pay-per-view receipt. Austin - perhaps annoyed in advance of Triple H's "Austin-uhhhh" gloating promo - also sidestepped doing the job to the Game at SummerSlam 1999.
He hated losing - in a manner that was of no benefit to the big picture he painted.