At the end of WrestleMania XIV, Stone Cold Steve Austin had achieved his dream of becoming the WWE Champion. As a result, a new era was started within the company. The so-called Austin Era came about because of necessity. Bret Hart had left months earlier following the Montreal Screwjob, and after Mania, Shawn Michaels retired from in-ring competition due to his back injury. Austin was the new king, but there werent many others around on his level. The WWE had to quickly establish other wrestlers as main-event stars, and they did. While Austin took his feud with Mr. McMahon to new heights, the company continued to feature the already established Undertaker in a main-event role. Concurrently, The Rock and Mankind were built up and graduated to the top of the card. During Austins nearly year-long sabbatical, Triple H entered the fray and title picture, as did Chris Jericho. Despite having the hottest star in wrestlings history at the top, the WWE continued to invest in other talents and look toward the future. However, in todays current climate, the company has been too keen to rely on their established stars -- John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, etc. While CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were able to reach the heights of the main event, both of their subsequent departures left the WWE scrambling. They had failed to continue to build new stars within the company. Now, WWE is attempting to establish guys like Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins -- and thats great. However, they mustnt stop there. They must learn from their past and continue to build stars who will be at the ready to claim a top spot when the time is right.
Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.
