What’s the story?
Former WWE executive and current Impact Wrestling personality Bruce Prichard revealed details of ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin vs Brock Lesnar – a major feud that was supposed to take place around the time Austin parted ways with the WWE owing to a disagreement back in 2002.
On a recent edition of Something To Wrestle With, Prichard spoke about the Austin-Lesnar feud that fans never got to witness, besides speaking about the reason behind it not coming to fruition and Vince McMahon’s idea for said feud.
In case you didn’t know...
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin walked out on WWE back in 2002 owing to creative differences with the company, besides the injury issues that were plaguing his career – something that Austin has explained in excruciating detail in the years that followed.
As per several professional wrestling industry insiders, Vince McMahon wanted to replace Austin with Brock Lesnar, with The Beast being a young prospect in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, Austin disagreed with McMahon’s decision to have him put over Lesnar, owing to which the Rattlesnake parted ways with WWE.
The heart of the matter
Regardless, Austin and WWE would later mend fences with one another, and the Attitude Era icon would make sporadic appearances for the promotion in non-wrestling spots, and continues to do to this very day.
Former WWE backstage exec Bruce Prichard opened up on the aforementioned fiasco that took place back in the day.
“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,” said Prichard.
“(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.”
Although Austin would later come back to the WWE, fans never really got to witness a complete feud involving The Beast Incarnate and The Texas Rattlesnake, nor did the Austin-Guerrero feud really come to fruition.
What’s next?
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin presently stars in several Hollywood movies and makes sporadic appearances in the WWE, albeit not as an in-ring competitor.
Author’s take
Austin is a legend and regardless of the real-life dispute between him and Vince McMahon, once the dust settled they did move on from the infamous 2002 Austin-Lesnar fiasco.
Although when you look at it purely from a fan’s perspective, it would have been truly incredible to see Austin and Lesnar mix it up inside the squared-circle.
