7 Times Vince McMahon Wrongly Thought His Top WWE Stars Were Finished

2. Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin was not a happy man in spring 2002. Fed up with the creative direction of his character, Austin began sounding off on the company's writers in a series of controversial appearances. Austin was a man who was used to being treated as the biggest star in the company and suddenly he was not the centre of attention. In his opinion, the programmes he was being placed in flat-out sucked. It's hard to disagree with him. After an exceptional 2001, where he had blistering main event feuds with The Rock, Triple H and Kurt Angle, it had to be a blow to be shunted down the card and placed in meandering conflicts with The Big Show, Ric Flair and Scott Hall. Believing that Austin's star was on the downturn, Vince and the creative team were clearly trying to phase him down in favour of pushing young upstarts like, erm, Hulk Hogan, Triple H and The Undertaker. The straw that broke the camel's back was Stone Cold being asked to put over new rookie Brock Lesnar on Raw, with no buildup or any real reason. That's what Vince McMahon thought of Austin in spring 2002: he was a guy who was once a big star but was now going to be used to give the greenhorn a rub. Austin was rightfully furious at that notion and walked out. In his mind, he still had a lot to give as a main event talent. And he was right. Austin came back in February 2003 and had an engaging feud with longtime rival The Rock, culminating in an excellent match at WrestleMania XIX which is, to date, Austin's last. Since then, Austin has proven that he's a valuable member of the WWE roster whenever he shows up, whether it's to give someone a stunner or do a podcast on the WWE Network.