7 Wrestlers Who Quit WWE Over Angles

By 2002, the Attitude era had just about run its course, and though he was still unequivocally the company's most popular star, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin was starting to become 'Ice Cold' Steve Austin. As far as Vince McMahon was concerned, The Rattlesnake's days of supporting the company on his back were nearing their end, and it was time to groom the next generation of talent.

Typically, he had one particularly beefy South Dakotan farmhand in mind: a certain Brock Lesnar.

McMahon's suggestion that his previous Golden Boy lose a King of the Ring qualifier to the gurning greenhorn was not met with the professional response he'd hoped. Rather, Austin threw one of the all-time great wrestling strops - paraphrasing the now infamous line from Vince - packing his proverbial ball and heading home.

Austin refused to return for the 10 June episode of Raw, citing terrible creative for his unscheduled sick day. It'd take another six months for the two parties' issues to be resolved; the fact 'Stone Cold's merchandise continued to fly off the shelves even in his absence highlighted that he wasn't ready to be replaced just yet.