10 Wrestling Stipulations WWE Never Followed Through

9. Stone Cold Steve Austin Is Fired Again (Survivor Series 2003)

Stone Cold Steve Austin The Undertaker
WWE Network

Never the most earnest in his love of the audience at the peak of his run, Steve Austin let his guard down a bit at the Survivor Series in 2003 when he supposedly bid a fond farewell to his career in the same place he started.

In a goodbye speech doubling as a love letter to Dallas, he noted the significance of strolling out of that town specifically. Because this was all by force - Austin's Survivor Series team had lost to Eric Bischoff's, and the troublemaking babyface co-General Manager was on his way thanks to WWE actually making good on one of the biggest selling points of that year's pay-per-view.

lol-but-we-didn't-say-he-couldn't-be-SHERIFF

To circle back, the aforementioned win-or-be-fired stipulation came about because Austin ran roughshod on Raw making generous use of a "hit-if-you're-provoked" rule that saw most midcard heels given Stunners without recourse. His return with the plastic badge a few weeks later gave him more power with none of the worries he'd had to assemble a team to fight for back in November. His quad bike got a pop too, sigh.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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