Why “Stone Cold” Steve Austin Left WWE in 2002

Former WWE Executive and current Impact Wrestling employee, Bruce Prichard shed light on “Stone Cold” Steve Austin‘s departure from WWE in 2002. Although Austin would return, this exit was seen as him storming out of the company’s doors for good.

On a recent episode of Something to Wrestle With, Prichard opened up on the subject. For those lacking context, in 2002, WWE was building towards a Brock Lesnar/Austin feud. Lesnar was rightfully seen as the company’s future and WWE thought it would be best if he were to beat Austin on his meteoric rise.

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Austin thought differently.

“That was the whole b**ch behind the entire match. There were those of us who wanted to build to it and build to an eventual Austin/Lesnar angle and getting money out of that match. So we wanted to go there—Vince didn’t want to go there yet.”

Prichard continued:

“(Vince) just wanted to get that one match done and move forward. But let Steve go off with Eddie (Guerrero) and continue to build Brock. So it was… there were two camps. There were those who wanted that match, and then Vince that didn’t.”

The complicated matter would only worsen by Austin’s feisty reluctance to allow Lesnar to walk over him. It would be unfair to Austin to say he quit over not wanting to lose to Lesnar. It’s been well documented that Austin was in declining health and had been angling towards a retirement for years. The beef over Lesnar pushed him to the edge.

All turned out well in the end, though. Austin got to keep his health (and his pride) and Brock Lesnar would go on to be the 21st century’s most impactful employee of WWE.

For those unfamiliar with Prichard, he used to be on camera talent for WWE in the 80’s as Brother Love. He would flip to a more behind the scenes/creative gig and contribute to some of WWE’s best years. If you’re into podcasts, Something to Wrestle With is one of the best out there today. Give them a listen, gang.

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