20 Most Horrifically Stupid Things That Ever Happened In WCW
5. The Firing Of Steve Austin
Much has been made of WCW's mismanagement of talent, and their propensity for getting rid of wrestlers whom WWE made into stars. Such a criticism is not unwarranted - Mick Foley, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Rey Mysterio were only some of the talented grapplers who were underutilized in WCW before going on to make quite a bit of money for their future employer. Even Dave Batista was turned away from WCW's Power Plant training facility by instructor DeWayne Bruce, who told the future WWE and World Heavyweight Champion he would never make it in wrestling.
However, no squandering of ability was as blatant as the firing of Steve Austin. Austin first joined WCW in 1991 and, despite being less than two years into his professional career, quickly became a rising star. Feuds with talent such as Barry Windham and Ricky Steamboat, a stint as part of the Dangerous Alliance, and two reigns as WCW Television Champion cemented his status as a player in the organization. He would later join Brian Pillman as the World Tag Team Champion Hollywood Blonds, then become the United States Champion.
It was clear that Austin was a future world champion, and there was talk of a feud between him and then-titleholder Ric Flair. In spring of 1994 though, Hulk Hogan joined WCW. He would defeat Ric Flair for the title in his first match and become the top dog of the promotion, both on and off-camera. Whether Hogan felt threatened by Austin or simply didn't have much regard for his work is unknown, but before long, the future 'Stone Cold' was dominated in a U.S. Title feud by 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan and relegated to working non-televised "dark" matches before pay-per-view events.
While rehabbing a triceps injury, Austin was fired from the company (via a FedEx package) by Vice President Eric Bischoff, who alleged that he simply wasn't marketable. Austin would hold onto his grudge against Bischoff and Hogan and, after a brief stint in ECW, head to WWE, which he would help turn into a billion-dollar company.