Guest Caliban Posted June 13, 2002 Report Posted June 13, 2002 On March 18, 2002, the day after WrestleMania, without company approval and without notice, Stone Cold Steve Austin walked off the job and failed to appear at WWE’s Raw show in Montreal. Stone Cold Steve Austin was advised by WWE management that this was unprofessional and unacceptable. After a two week hiatus, Austin returned to work. On Monday, June 10, 2002, Stone Cold Steve Austin again failed to appear for the scheduled Raw event in Atlanta, instead choosing to return home to San Antonio without notice and without company approval. Although Steve was unhappy with his character’s creative direction, Steve made the personal and unprofessional decision not to report to work to address his concerns. Therefore, Stone Cold Steve Austin is no longer an active member of WWE’s talent roster. That's from WWE.com. Here's the link to it: www.wwe.com/news/headlines/1146818 The way it's worded... it has to be a work. Surely?
Guest jimmy no nose Posted June 13, 2002 Report Posted June 13, 2002 How do you want them to word it? That's what happened.
Guest Caliban Posted June 13, 2002 Report Posted June 13, 2002 It sounds to me like they're telling too much of the truth, if that is indeed the truth. When Hall was fired for being drunk, WWE.com didn't say "We let Hall go because of his drinking problems outside the ring". When Hennig was fired, WWE.com didn't say "After a brawl with Brock Lesnar on a flight from England..." etc. It just seems really fishy to me. I guess we'll find out in time. But for now I'm skeptical.
Guest Ash Ketchum Posted June 13, 2002 Report Posted June 13, 2002 Is he REALLY gone? Guess it's time for this...
Guest Posted June 13, 2002 Report Posted June 13, 2002 I dunno. I think he'll be back, its just gonna be awhile. Notice the careful wording. They didn't say he was no longer a part of the WWE, they simply said he was no longer an "active" member of the talent roster. Shit, like that means anything. When Flair "benched" him, he was ALSO not an active member of the talent roster. He'll be back in a month. Original shoot, now its a work. He'll be back.
Guest The Vanilla Midget Posted June 13, 2002 Report Posted June 13, 2002 totally a work, the wwe wouldnt be mentioning it this soon unless it was a work. if it was a shoot, they would have tried for longer than a week to get him back before admitting defeat on wwe.com.
Guest Posted June 13, 2002 Report Posted June 13, 2002 Plus, if it were a shoot, they would have given him the "Company Catchphrase" of, "We wish him well in his future endeavors." Even Double J, Perfect, and Scotch Hall got that.
Guest The Vanilla Midget Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 it'll all be a lot clearer after the Hoss Report tomorrow. tho JR could work us all by gawd~!
Guest Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Another reason to think this may be a work. Vince was shooting his mouth off on "This Bytes" last Friday about something major is about to happen, its gonna be pick, things are about to get real good, very soon. I wonder if this is his trick he's got up his sleeve....
Guest Repo Man jr Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Hmmmm, Byte This + Confidential + WWE.com = Work! Especially the Confidential part.
Guest Cataclysm911 Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Hmmmm, Byte This + Confidential + WWE.com = Work! Especially the Confidential part. Why work the internet fans? I thought that we didn't matter to Vince? My guess is that it was Paul Heyman's idea, if in fact that is how it turns out.
Guest bps "The Truth" 21 Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 I firmly beleive that this is a shoot that will be turned into a work. I think he walked out for real...and if and when he returns...they'll make an angle out of it.
Guest The Vanilla Midget Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 he'll return. he wouldnt appear on confidential if he wasnt. (tho it remains to be seen whether he will appear)
Guest RetroRob215 Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 I think the WWE is just trying to profit off of a bad situation. I still believe this is a shoot.
Guest Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 I completely believe that the original incident that occured was an absolute shoot. It does seem likely though, that they may have come to an agreement and are turning this into a work. However, the general belief by all the true insiders, is that this is a complete shoot. Note however, that they did not say he has been released from his contract, so most likely he is still technically employed. There's no question that the WWE is simply trying to profit off of this, because let's face it, it's a big story. They're not going to quietly sweep this under the rug, especially now that they have the new Confidential show. Austin will probably be back. But if he's not back within 2 months, then we'll pretty much know for sure
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 If this is a work, what happens if Austin doesn't like the direction of his character again?
Guest Repo Man jr Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Maybe he's pissed off that they don't book him to sing and play the guitar very much any more.
Guest Choken One Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 If he is truly gone...I'd expect this to make some headlines across america...The WWF/WCW merger made news...The firing of the biggest superstar in Wrestling history other then Hulk Hogan...is huge. Or is it not? Oh, Well...Shoot into a work. Austin got pissed...Vince offers him creative control...WWE goes down the toilet ala Hogan/WCW. However, Rock gets away in time to be the next Jean Claude Van Damme.
Guest Austin3164life Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Well it's obvious that there's no in-between to this situation. It's either one big shoot where Austin is actually quitting the company due to big differences between himself and the booking/writing staff, or this is just an extremely elaborated and suspensful work to get net fans buzzing (and thus to spread this to the more casual marks). My opinion is that it's real. When Austin walked off last time, it was obvious that he was not so much pissed off at management (he said in his interview a while ago he was "dissapointed"). This time it seems they really steemed Austin. This could be Vince not trying to have another Montreal-esque confrontation. Only time will tell. For some reason, I still think Austin might be really quitting, but we'll see......
Guest Imarkout4chrisdaniels Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Of course WWE.com was not going to say Austin is gone from the company. He is "no longer an active talent on the roster" or something like that. I think Vince would rather pay his downside guarantee than lose him to another company that Austin could give a huge momentum swing. Austin appearing on the first NWA-TNA ppv, coming out during the gauntlet match as a surprise entrant, winning the title, and burying the WWE and Vince in a huge shoot interview. That would get some interest in that promotion, huh?
Guest Jobber of the Week Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Okay, for those who don't know... Getting "benched" is a storyline thing entirely. Being "dropped off the active roster" means they no longer trust the guy to be reliable, so they've indefinitely sent him home, possibly waiting for his attitude to improve or possibly... "...has been released. We wish him well blah blah blah" means the guy is out of a job, is not getting checks, and What? shirts will be price slashed soon at a merch outlet near you. This is a really bad choice right now with the NWA starting up. I think it's more of the situation they were doing with Bagwell. They took him off the roster but sat and paid him not to go to any other feds. When he ran off and did a MECW show for even less money than McMahon was paying him, he stopped sending out checks and officially abandoned the guy for good.
Guest Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 For the record, I still think this is all shoot. Everything they are doing on TV right now relating to this is basically because I think they owe the fans an explanation of what is going on. Austin is one of the biggest superstars in history. You can't have him disappear with no explanation. Also, I think if Austin left WWE completely (and thus was eligible to show up on NWA: TNA), I don't think he would sign elsewhere, especially with the NWA. Two reasons: 1. It is run by the Jarretts and if you need an explanation of the animosity between Jeff Jarrett and Steve Austin, go elsewhere. 2. I think Austin is at an age where, with his money and accumulated injuries, I think he'd get out of the business completely. I really think he could just walk away right now. He seems pissed off enough with the business in general to just pack it up for good.
Guest Choken One Posted June 14, 2002 Report Posted June 14, 2002 Exactly. Austin is 36-38 years old, he does not the rights to "Stone Cold"...so that means he can't keep the gimmick. He is the fourth richest performer in Wrestling after Hogan, Rock and Flair. He enjoyed doing Nash Bridges and he may wind up getting a USA cop show or something like that. If this is the truth...he's gone for good.
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