Stone Cold Steve Austin was smart enough to say no to a match with Hulk Hogan when the New World Order arrived a month before WrestleMania in 2002, but 'The Rattlesnake' perhaps hadn't considered the realities of settling for second place.
His clash with Scott Hall was buried in the middle of the show - something else he was none-too-pleased about - predictably wasn't on par with his iconic prior two appearances on the show against The Rock, with their rivalry itself feeling tertiary compared to the other nWo match and the tepid title topliner.
'The Bad Guy' was in relatively good nick, at least, but the chemistry was as absent as Austin's enthusiasm. They never really stood a chance.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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
