10 Wrestlers Who Hated Working For WCW

1. Steve Austin

Steve Austin Wcw
WWE.com

Eric Bischoff had enough evidence to support his call. Or, infamously, his Fed-Ex.

Over the phone to Austin's wife was supposedly where 'Easy E' heard 'Stunning Steve' yelling some less-than-complimentary things about him, all while recovering from an injury that was just one of several things seemingly stopping him rising to the top of WCW.

This was a man that clearly didn't give a f*ck anymore, and Bischoff made the understandable choice (through lousy means) of cutting him. But the turmoil had muddied the messaging. Austin gave more of a f*ck than ever before, but he'd lost hope in ever breaking through in a company that carried the justifiable perception of being Hulk Hogan's plaything.

He rocked up in ECW in mid-1995, absolutely blistering Bischoff, Hogan, Dusty Rhodes and others for how he'd been handled, lambasting them as short-sided buffoons during a run so electric that he was picked up by WWE just months later.

The repurposed biliousness would eventually make Vince McMahon a billionaire, with the company also dining out on merch-machine Austin once being told by a stressed Eric that he "wasn't marketable". Bischoff wasn't wrong in 1995, but electing not to locate the megastar lurking within the mechanic was a costly failing.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett