3. Turning Heel at WrestleMania 17

Between 99 & 2000 Austin took time off for neck surgery being written off after being hit by a car (Remember that? It was Rikish. He did it for the Rock. God that was terrible.) When he came back he didn’t have the same momentum as he had before he left with The Rock stepping up as the top face. This led one of the most iconic Mania main events of all time at Mania X7.

Desperate to be the champ once again Austin turned heel and allied himself with Vince McMahon. A decision that even Austin himself has said was a bad idea but you have to admire him for taking a risk. What makes this such a good moment is JR’s commentary once again “Stone Cold has sold his soul to Satan himself”.

2. Taking His Ball & Going home

After an ill-advised heel turn, a face turn, another ill-advised heel turn and underwhelming match at WrestleMania 18 Austin walked out on the company. The straw that broke the camels back: Being asked to lose in 10 minutes to Brock Lesnar on RAW. Not that he was against putting over the younger guy rather he felt it should be on PPV with a build.

Austin had had enough so he took his ball and went home. In the weeks that followed several superstars criticised Austin for walking out on TV. It was strange to see the guy who had been the face of the company suddenly become persona non grata. If this had been the last we’d seen of him, it would have been a sad end to such a great career. Austin has admitted that it was an unprofessional for him to do that and thanks to JR he and Vince were able to open talks again.

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