WWE behind the scenes: How Stone Cold's Neck was broken and what happened behind the scenes

Stone Cold Steve Austin suffered partial paralysis in the same match he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship. But did he really break his neck?

Part Three: The backstage reaction

A little known fact is that in the WWE, unless the talent is preparing for their own match or doing an interview, they are expected to watch the in-ring action. So when Austin took the botched piledriver from Owen Hart, the reaction was immediate.

The other wrestlers were obviously concerned about Austin's health. Pro wrestlers are part of a brotherhood that transcends race, religion, and even which company they work for. But they were also worried that their greatest hope of defeating WCW in the Monday Night War was potentially out of commission for good.

Jim Ross sums up the locker room's feelings on that fateful night.

"A lot of concern. And it’s gonna sound bad if I don’t say this the right way, but you’ve gotta be first and foremost concerned about a man’s health. But at the same time, you’re looking at the guy that you see is going to be, unless injuries bite him in the a**, is going to be the biggest we’ve ever had. And now that may be over just as he got started. Took him seven years to get to WWE. Territories, missed booking, underutilized in WCW. We all remember all those stories. But you know, you just thought, ‘Well, this poor son of a b***h is not gonna live his dream.'”

The complications resulting from the botch move could ruin careers and there were plenty of superstars backstage who have on more than one occasion experienced similar issues.