How WWE's Backstage Reacted To Stone Cold Steve Austin Walking Out In 2002
The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar reacted in very different ways...
On the latest episode of Bruce Prichard's 'Something To Wrestle With' podcast series, Prichard claimed that The Undertaker was left seething when Steve Austin 'took his ball and went home' in the Summer of 2002.
Prichard, a former WWE creative team member and backstage official, said that the overwhelming feeling behind the scenes from top stars like Undertaker was that Austin had "walked out on them".
Meanwhile, comparative rookie Brock Lesnar (who had been slated to face Austin in a King Of The Ring qualifier on Raw) was largely in the dark about Stone Cold's issues with WWE. Bruce reasons that Paul Heyman likely clued Brock in after the fact, but that Lesnar didn't truly understand what was going on at the time.
Stone Cold's meltdown at the creative team in May, '02 led to WWE's biggest star leaving before an episode of Raw the next month. After then publicly trashing storylines presented to him by company writers, Austin wouldn't be seen on WWE television again until February, 2003.
This left The Undertaker feeling jilted and upset that a fellow trusted WWE lieutenant had simply walked out and gone home.