5 Times that WWE Superstars no-showed an event when advertised
Despite being advertised to appear, a number of WWE Superstars have no-showed events in the past, with some even walking out on the company entirely.
Many of these performers made their decision at the last minute, forcing WWE to scramble to replace or rewrite the segments in which they were due to feature. Interestingly, some of these Superstars have yet to appear again in a WWE ring - meaning that their no-show had a significant impact on the direction of their careers.
The following article looks at five WWE Superstars who legitimately no-showed an event.
#5. Stone Cold Steve Austin no-showed an episode of Monday Night RAW and walked out on WWE
Stone Cold Steve Austin was one of the biggest stars of WWE's Attitude Era, but by 2002 the physical toll of his career - including a serious neck injury - had begun to catch up with him.
Brock Lesnar was earmarked by WWE as a Superstar with the potential to take over from Austin at the top of the card. Lesnar debuted the night after WrestleMania 18 and would go on to win The King Of The Ring tournament just a few months later.
Vince McMahon wanted Lesnar to book his place the tournament in the most impactful way possible - and so booked Lesnar to defeat Austin in an unadvertised qualifying match on the June 10 edition of RAW.
Austin was told of the plan over the phone and, shortly afterwards, made the decision to not show up to the television taping in Atlanta, Georgia. Explaining his thought process, Austin later told Sport Bible that he didn't feel that he should put Lesnar over in an unadvertised match on RAW, believing that a match between the two at least deserved some sort of build:
“And the time they wanted me to fly down to Atlanta for Monday Night Raw and put over Brock Lesnar. The night before, I was working in Columbus, Georgia, working with Ric Flair in a cage, so I was like a kid in a candy store working with the GOAT, so of course I didn’t show up."
Austin left WWE that night and McMahon was not able to convince him to make his return until early 2003. "Stone Cold" would retire from in-ring competition mere weeks after his comeback, meaning that Lesnar and Austin never did get the opportunity to square off in an official match.