Vince McMahon knows how valuable Steve Austin is to the WWE. Austin, a 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in the late '90s, was partyl responsible for the biggest boom period in wrestling history. Austin and Vince's on-screen rivalry was genius and ensured that the WWF was the promotion to watch, as it overtook WCW as the premier wrestling organisation in the world. Austin was a huge facto in that and Vince knew it. Which is why the real life Austin versus McMahon situation in 2002 is so puzzling. Surely Vince would do everything in his power to keep the man who had helped him at one point become a billionaire happy, right? Well, 2002 was a lot different to 1999 and Austin, while still a huge star, was not the be-all and end-all any more. Austin had been unhappy with his position and character direction for months as he had forgettable feuds with Chris Jericho, Scott Hall, The Big Show and Ric Flair while Hulk Hogan, Triple H and The Undertaker were the stars of the show. In an interview for internet show Byte This, Austin phoned in and slated the creative team and the direction of the company saying that it 'sucked' and had 'sucked for months'. The final straw came when Vince asked Austin to do the clean job for Brock Lesnar in a King of the Ring qualifier, with no hype or build-up. Austin knew that him and Brock could have done big business if the feud was built up properly and was insulted that he would be asked to lose in that manner. He famously 'took his ball and went home' by no-showing Raw and wasn't seen again until No Way Out 2003. Austin stood his ground against Vince and the creative team and did not return until he was mentally ready and after he and Vince had cleared the air. It could be argued that the real losers in this situation were the fans who still loved to see Austin perform. They were glad to see him back and all was forgiven.
