On June 15, 2002, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's then wife Debra McMichael called the cops to their San Antonio, Texas home; McMichael bruised from an apparent altercation with Austin. In August, Austin was arrested for domestic abuse, pleading no contest to charges levied against him in court in November of that year. The terms of the ruling from the case included a year's probation, $1,000 fine, and 80 hours of community service. Of course, by June 2002, Austin was also having serious issues with WWE creative which led to his multiple walkouts, and during the entirety of his issues with his wife, he was not seen on television as a member of the WWE roster. Intriguingly, after his November legal case was settled, he returned to build a "retirement" match versus The Rock at Wrestlemania XIX.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
