9. Guerrero and Benoit May Not Have Had A Chance
The saying goes that when Vince closes a door, he opens a window. Well, maybe the saying doesn't go exactly like that, but it stands to reason that in pro wrestling, there's not enough room for everyone. No matter how talented a guy is, no matter how much the fans love him, that guy is at the mercy of Vince McMahon's whims. Vince is going to feature the guy(s) who he deems the most lucrative, at the expense of wrestlers who may never get the chance to prove their star power. And who has been one of the most lucrative stars in the history of WWE? Steve Austin. When Vince himself inducted Austin into WWE's Hall of Fame in 2009, he called Steve "The greatest WWE superstar of all time", while he was likely doing a mental calculation of all the money Austin has made for him. Let's make the educated assumption that Austin would have played a main event role in the year(s) following his comeback in 2003. We need only look at John Cena's alarmingly quick return from his triceps injury to see how Vince pulls out his reliable artillery at the slightest sign of sagging ratings. WrestleMania XIX had the lowest Pay-Per-View buy rate of the modern era. But McMahon had little choice but to start featuring the younger, smaller, hungrier talent a big risk that paid off. From a fan's emotional standpoint, the main events at WrestleMania XX were very successful. Kurt Angle, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels could all be considered big names with drawing power (though none at the level of Steve Austin). But who were the two men who stood tallest at the end of that night, holding the most coveted titles? Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. It was a sweet moment for fans, who respected Benoit and Guerrero for their passion and dedication in the ring. It was clearly a sweet moment for Benoit and Guerrero, who spent years together plying their craft all over the world. They were close friends sharing a moment of great glory and acknowledgement. We'll never know if that moment would have happened, if Steve Austin had been able to compete that night. The chain of events for the prior year could have been completely different: he wouldn't have been made RAW GM, and he would have had influence on Stone Cold's direction in the ring. Would Vince have taken a chance on Benoit and Guerrero, if he had Steve Austin to feature in the main event?