"My biggest regret"- The night former WWE Superstar rejected a match with Brock Lesnar
WWE legend Stone Cold recently expressed his desire to wrestle Brock Lesnar during WWE's latest rapid-fire Q&A session.
It's quite interesting that Austin would like to take on The Beast Incarnate in the ring, taking into account what happened 20 years ago.
Let's take a trip back to 2002 when WWE was trying to build new stars to replace the old guard.
Shortly before the June 10, 2002 episode of WWE RAW, Austin walked out on WWE and Vince McMahon. The reason? The Rattlesnake was scheduled to face then-rookie Brock Lesnar in a King of the Ring qualifying match that night.
What annoyed Austin was the fact that Lesnar was supposed to beat him in the match and advance in the tournament. The WWE veteran was aware that Lesnar was a formidable opponent and a freak of nature.
He wasn't happy with WWE pitting the two men on a regular episode of RAW without buildup and zero hype.
Austin has since spoken up about his decision to walk out on WWE in 2002. The WWE Hall of Famer has made it clear on various occasions that he regrets what he did back then.
“I disagreed with it [the match with Lesnar]. I never like to blow smoke up my a**, but guys like myself, like Hogan, and a few others, they don’t grow on trees. So you want to sacrifice what you’ve built up in me? And with no buildup? But that walk out was still total stupidity and hard-headedness on my part. I should have shown up, and that is my biggest regret in the business of pro wrestling.” said Austin. [H/T Sportscasting]
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Brock Lesnar ended up defeating another WWE veteran on RAW
As a result of Austin's walkout, Bubba Ray Dudley was fed to Brock Lesnar that night. Lesnar went on to defeat Rob Van Dam in the finals of the tournament to become the 2002 King of the Ring.
As per the stipulation, he won a shot at the WWE Undisputed Championship at SummerSlam 2002. Brock Lesnar defeated The Rock at The Biggest Party of the Summer to become the youngest WWE Champion ever.
As for Austin, he was back on WWE TV mere months later.
WWE threw shade on Austin on the night he walked out on the company. Fortunately for him, he was too valuable to WWE to be blackballed from the company over his big mistake.
Austin returned and kicked off a feud with The Rock as WrestleMania XIX loomed closer in early 2003. The two arch-rivals met in their third WrestleMania encounter, with Austin losing the bout.
The legendary outing was Austin's final one, as his injuries forced him to retire immediately after.
The Rattlesnake was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. He is regarded by many as the greatest superstar in WWE history.