Do you guys think WWE dropped the ball on Steve Austin?
 

I mean I know he was big, but he could've been bigger.

I didn't watch wrestling from 1997-2003 but I feel like I know what I'm talking about.

:D

lol

I want to believe that they could have kept him healthy and he'd still be wrestling now.

Lolwuht

lol nice

OB4M

I have a question. Could be unpopular/controversial, but I'm asking it.

D'Lo Brown is blamed by a lot of people for what happened to Droz.

Why is Owen Hart not generally given the blame for the neck problems that certainly shortened Austin's career? Is it because of his untimely death, or because he is such an IWC darling, or both?

Is Owen Hart an internet darling only because of his untimely death?

It's because he was the best wrestler in the Hart Family Screech.

I don't think so, he unquestionably had loads of talent, and I think he would only have increased in popularity from that point if his accident hadn't happened. He had near the skill of Bret and a lot more charisma. If he had lived on he would have left a huge footprint on the remainder of the Attitude Era.

I didn't start watching regularly until after he'd died, so I never really saw how good he was.

Thinking about it, it could be both. A recent CM Punk botch video posted in another thread makes me lean toward the latter, though.

I forget who posted the video, but I know CSL commented about how Punk didn't get the "what a dick" reactions (or the Randy Orton treatment as it were), because of how beloved he is. Sure Randy Orton is loved here too, but not to the extent of Punk. I think the fact that Orton has shown some unprofessionalism on more than one occasion helped Punk in this case, too.

I think that logic can apply here, but the sympathy vote is most likely a factor as well.

But isn't Owen Hart generally given the blame for Austin's neck problems? I thought it was pretty much accepted that it was Owen's fault. I think even Austin has said this on more than one occasion.

WWE dropped the ball with Rocky Maivia...he was a great indy wrestler and they just did not know how to use his talents.

Yeah and they never really did anything with Sterling Golden. That guy could have been the best Superstar of all time, smh what a waste.

I am the only man on the planet who disliked Stone Cold Steve Austin in his heyday.

I enjoyed him in his program with Bret, and then disliked him until his heel turn where he was all hugging Vince and stuff.

What?

STUNNER

YES.

Most people won't accept this as true, but it is.

Did that D-Lo/Droz video ever make it to the internet? I remember looking for it before but having no luck.

Kinda odd that they never had any problems replaying the Owen/Austin fuck up, but the Droz one is a huge no-no coz it crippled him.

Didn't that happen on Smackdown? If so, that's probably why, cause Smackdown is taped, so they probably edited it. Summerslam is live.

Yeah the Droz thing was taped and never aired.

The Austin thing kinda lent itself to his reputation as a badass. So playing it a bunch actually helped him.

Yeah, it helped fuel the whole "Toughest SOB" thing.

Orton's an odd internet crush anyway. The IWC gets on and off his bandwagon like every six months. He can do no wrong for a while, then he can do no right. so there's bleed through.

Though seriously, I think it's pretty accepted that Austin's injury was due to Hart and that his wrestling limitations were Owen's fault. I'm not sure that was a problem in the long run, though. It might have kept him in the game longer, but character got him over, not technical skills.

People are less likely to blame Owen for something that didn't end someone's career or play a part in it. Doesn't hurt that everyone short of a certain Austrian painter gone wrong is more beloved in death, but the circumstances aren't quite the same as Droz (career ended).

I mean, Punk could probably rape several small children in the middle of the ring and not only be forgiven, but likely beloved for it, but I don't think this just boils down to smark hypocrisy or post-mortem fandom.

Who's D'Lo blamed by, out of curiosity, because pretty much everything I've ever seen about the incident basically chalks it up to an accident. Even Droz said the same thing, no?

If only Jim Crockett knew how to push Ric Flair in the '80s...

The second Austin and Pillman split it went all downhill from there. Such a shame.

They REALLY dropped the ball on this guy named John Cena. Seriously, the prototype gimmick was so over, he had so much potential. Whats he up to now anyway?

from 1996 on wards Austin was on his peak, his merchandising was at an all time high. he was getting massive pops. and was in feuds with Bret, Undertaker, and HHH along with DX. and the Nation. But coming up to the 2000 era. It suddenly dropped it seemed that they were running out of ideas for Steve. Personally the one that ruined it all was having Austin turning Heel!!... While at the time it might have looked like a good idea due to his new theme music by Disturbed it wasn't. All this joining forces thing with McMahon was pathetic. making Austin look like a dick by constantly hugging Vince etc. So I'd say yes they did.

It would have been better without all of the WHAT chants.

...Actually, I think Austin kinda dropped the ball himself towards the end, when he left the company after refusing to lose to Lesnar, being angry at what Creative had for him, etc. He should've been a little more professional about it.

What? :D

LOL, uknow...there are ways to do things...jumping on a plane and going home without telling anyone, when you're suppossed to be somewhere else working for the company, isn't the way to do things...Austin was awesome, but the WWE got behind him and pushed him HARD and gave him opportunities to succeed, and for him to do that, wasn't right.

What? :D

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...LOL Santino fell down "saluting".

I think it's because Austin came back and resumed his superstar status whereas Droz can't move anything from the neck down for the rest of his life. If Owen had put Austin in that position I believe that he would be viewed a lot differently.


As far as Austin taking his ball and leaving because creative only had shit for him... I kinda say that's business. Sure WWE pushed him to the moon, but Austin made them a lot of money in exchange. It's not like Austin left without giving back or making the WWE millions of dollars in merchandising and ticket sales. Plus by that point Austin was pretty banged up and not what he used to be anyways.

I came here to say that but I was beaten to it (twice). Dunno how it was even a question to begin with.

Why isn't Benoit an internet darling because of his untimely death?