8 Signings That DESTROYED Wrestling Promotions
5. Stone Cold Steve Austin (2000)
There are many ways to destroy a wrestling promotion, and it's especially important to note this ahead of talking about Stone Cold Steve Austin returning during a WWE creative and commercial peak in September 2000.
'The Rattlesnake' was one of the biggest stars in company and industry history and will rightly only ever be remembered as the man that almost single-handedly reversed the dire fortunes of the market leader during their spell as the challenger brand in 1996. Austin was the vibe the organisation desperately needed, and from match types down to promo styles and even colour schemes and pay-per-view themes, the company writ large basically became a house decorated in the style of its biggest star. Then, two years after avoiding a lengthy spell on the sidelines in order to have that exact run, he finally took time off to have desperately-needed neck surgery. When he returned less than 12 months later, even somebody with his notoriously good instincts couldn't have forecasted just how much could have changed.
Building upon the rock solid foundations laid by 'The Rattlesnake', WWE had moved from strength to strength without him, and featured an exponentially hotter, more talented and vibrant midcard in the process. Austin's position was back alongside The Rock and Triple H in main events as it had been the night he was ran down by a car to explain his write-off, but the heels and babyfaces in the chasing pack were more dynamic and well regarded by audiences than they'd ever been before. The atmosphere was almost...nice. The moody, grizzled Austin generated pops but also killed the buzz, gobbling up everybody else's good time with Stunners aplenty and throttling the momentum of heels and babyfaces that were typically permitted to patrol the TV shows without concern for his brooding presence.
He eventually spotted the problem himself, but his solution was, in hindsight, a drastic over-correction. Believing his babyface run to be spent, Austin drove the agenda for his WrestleMania X-Seven heel turn, and with it helped expedite the end of the company's commercial boom.