When Paul Heyman featured on the Stone Cold Steve Austin WWE Network podcast earlier this year, it kicked off a major fallout over WrestleMania 32. The issue was, Austin went into character mode, cutting a promo on how he would kick Brock Lesnar's ass at WrestleMania 32. That resulted in many fans believing the match was on, why else would Austin cut such a promo? But the match wasn't on, Austin has just been playing with Heyman. Still, the world buzzed, anticipating that the biggest star in history was about to work for the first time in twelve years. It was the only main event big enough for Mania 32, that's what the fans concluded. Vince McMahon was furious. Austin had raised expectations for WrestleMania 32 to something that WWE couldn't actually present. The feeling was that the company would look bad when they inevitably delivered a main event that didn't feature Austin. McMahon was so angry that he even got in touch with Austin to personally tell him off. No doubt about it, the whole thing hurt Mania, with many less aware fans still believing Austin versus Lesnar is happening. Austin cursed Mania by giving fans such unrealistic hopes.
