Sunday, June 16, 2002

OK, We've got a lot to get to and a short time to get there...so let's get started



First, an end to hostiliies has been called in the Pearl Jam-Creed wars. Willie is right, we'd argue for years and nothing would be resolved, although I will dispute the asertion that you have to average the first three albums. I think it's only fair to average all studio albums. but It was fun while it lasted.



Now the Steve Austin situation.....Where do I start? Steve walked out on RAW, a few hours before it went live because he had problems with the plans for him that night, reported to be a match with Brock Lesner. This, on top of his major problems with the direction of his character and the company in general that he's talked about many times, including on WWE's own Internet show Byte this! was enough for Austin to book a flight home for him and wife Debra. He booked the tickets in such a way that the WWE would not know that he was gone. The only reason he was found out was that President of WWE talent relations Jim Ross called Austin on his cell phone as he was boarding the plane. It was only then that anyone from WWE knew that Austin was going to "no-show"

This is not the first time that Austin has walked out. The night after Wrestlemania, Austin walked out, again due to creative problems. This caused the rewriting of a major storyline (The Draft) that put the company behind the eight ball at a time when they needed all thier ducks in a row. After two weeks, Austin came back and his absence was chalked up to "burn out"


On wednesday, this was posted on WWE.com:

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.



About 10min after it was posted, the story was making the rounds on Internet sites. to be clear, Steve Williams (Austin's real name) has NOT been released from his contract so he's not going to NWA:TNA or anywhere else. This would not be the last we would hear on the subject.

Last night, on WWE confidential, an exclusive interview was aired with Vince Mcmahan and Jim Ross, who gave the company side and proceeded to bury Austin's character (and his career) by calling him a child and a coward. Vince also stated while he would never say never, he can't see a situation where he could trust Austin to come back.



Not long before Confidential aired a report was posted on the Wrestling Observer site that San antonio Police had been called to Williams house, by Debra, who was sporting some bumps and bruses, saying that Steve had slapped her around and she didn't know what to do because he is "Stone Cold". After a while the announcment was taken down, giving internet watchers some hope that the observer was just taken in by a hoex. A few hours later it was reported by other sites and then confrimed by the Pro Wrestling Torch website.



The reaction online has been swift and almost with one voice, no matter what people think of Austin the wrestler, People are calling this the most dramatic personal and professional freefall that most people have ever seen. Some poeple have compared it to Bret Hart and Montreal..but in my opinion, this is worse for the simple reasen that austin brought this entierely on himself.



As much as I'm tired of Hart talking about Montreal, it's true that Vince screwed Bret, was he right to do so..that's a different rant. But here, Austin left because he didn't like where his job is heading. If you have a problem you do one of two things, buckle down and take it or complain. Ausitn has in the past to Vince and it has brought some of the best storylines in history (both creatively and moneywise). Austin became bitter that the young crew was making it's way up and he was slowing down.

With the troubles that Nash, X-pac and some others have been causing lately, maybe it's time to do like the Aftermath of Montreal, clean out the top of the card and start over from step one..it worked before...Right?

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