8 Times Wrestlers Refused To Work With Each Other
7. Stone Cold Steve Austin & Brock Lesnar
In his newly-taken place as Monday Night Raw's top star by default in the summer of 2002, Triple H was a big fan of dropping the "took his ball and went home line" when discussing Stone Cold Steve Austin's decision to walk out of WWE shortly before losing a King Of The Ring Qualifying match to Brock Lesnar on the June 10th Raw.
Dense hypocrisy from 'The Game' as usual of course - his implication that he was more than enough in Austin's absence was laughable, and when it came to doing the honours for the 'Next Big Thing', Hunter wouldn't even do it at a WrestleMania when both men were a full decade and change older.
The "Austin won't put Lesnar over" story became entrenched in its own lore while the day itself was still in progress. In the hours between the match being proposed and Raw airing, Austin, for the second time since WrestleMania X8, decided he was done with WWE once and for all. He flew home instead of to the building, flatly rejecting this and any other creative alternative. 'The Rattlesnake' didn't believe his character should aspire to qualify for the King Of The Ring one six-year industry-altering run after the last time he won it, nor should he enter it only to lose to Brock Lesnar in an unadvertised first time match between the two. The rationale was clear enough, but by then he'd burned his good will and leverage to such an extent that Vince McMahon and his inner circle were less content to listen to reason.