Steve Austin is a popular choice when discussing the greatest superstar in WWE history. The company reached new heights during the Attitude Era when Austin was the face of the franchise. Austin’s success helped WWE break records when it came to ratings, live attendance and buy rates at the time. Much like most other top tier stars, there were some controversial moments to follow Austin throughout his career.
We will look at some of the moments that aren’t necessarily the most beloved stories about Austin. They range from him having issues with his peers to flat out refusing to do things asked of him. Austin did things his way and it did lead to great results. WWE still finds huge success with Austin when bringing him back for the occasional Raw. Find out how controversial his career was with ten stories of the most controversial things Steve Austin has done in wrestling.
10 Refused to work with Jeff Jarrett
The star power of Steve Austin allowed him to influence the booking of his character. Austin dominated the main event picture from 1998 until 2000. WWE tried to create new stars to challenge him from the heel side with names like Mick Foley and Kane stepping up.
Jeff Jarrett was one of the mid-carders WWE wanted to move into a bigger position when his heel act was over. Austin had issues with Jarrett going back to a promo where Jarrett criticized Austin’s 3:16 promo. It led to Austin flat out refusing to work a WWE Championship program with Jarrett.
9 ECW promos mocking Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff fired Steve Austin from WCW during his time away from the company with an injury. The change in the roster would see names like Austin no longer valued since WCW was banking on the likes of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage to lead them forward.
Austin didn’t have much love for Bischoff for the handling of his release. A short run in ECW made Austin gain value in the wrestling world with his hilarious skits mocking Bischoff and the rest of WCW. Austin used the controversial method to score more confidence and work his way into a WWE contract.
8 Teased return for CM Punk match
Fans have badly wanted Steve Austin to come out of retirement since his final match at WrestleMania 19 in 2003. Austin had a great farewell against The Rock and retired due to the injury history involving his neck. One potential return match got fans overly excited.
WWE released an interview session between Austin and CM Punk hosted by Jim Ross to promote one of the WWE 2K games. Austin played up his character by engaging in trash talk and creating hostility with Punk. This was controversial since it was the first time he teased a return, but it never happened.
7 Didn't want to work with Marc Mero
Marc Mero was a bigger signing than Steve Austin in the mid-90s for WWE when trying to find their next big stars. WWE gave Mero the first guaranteed contract in company history, but he was a huge flop. Sable outshined him and even defeated him in matches once they split up on television.
Austin didn’t want to enter a feud with Mero despite his heel heat growing after his Sable feud. The rationality of not wanting someone that lost to a woman to feud with him over the WWE Championship saw Austin step in and reportedly turn down the angle.
6 Brian Pillman gun segment
The storyline between Brian Pillman and Steve Austin featured one of the most controversial moments in wrestling history. Austin was attempting to break into the home of an injured Pillman to attack him in front of his family.
Pillman had a gun and threatened to shoot Austin if he followed through on his threats. WWE cameras showed Austin breaking in but cut out the video with sounds of screams and a gun shot. The cheap tactic forced the company to issue an apology. Austin was on board and likely regretted the controversial moment.
5 Turned down Hulk Hogan dream match
Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan were the two biggest names in WWE history that dominated the 90s and 80s respectively. It is still surprising that they never worked together in a singles match. Most fans expected it during Hogan’s return to WWE in 1998, but The Rock faced him instead.
The bad blood between Austin and Hogan started back in WCW. Hogan’s friend Hacksaw Jim Duggan squashed Austin to end his United States Championship reign and WCW stopped pushing Austin altogether at the start of the Hulk era. Austin reportedly refused the match, but the two have made peace years later.
4 Creating gimmicks similar to The Sandman
Some diehard wrestling fans accused Steve Austin of stealing some of his gimmick from The Sandman in ECW. Austin worked with Sandman a few times during his short ECW run. The Sandman’s gimmick featured him drinking beer to the ring and destroying his opponents with weapons.
Austin had that same rugged appeal of a tougher wrestler. The drinking of beer following matches was a highly popular part of his act that was quite like Sandman. Austin did appear at the ECW One Night Stand reunion show, cut a promo putting over Sandman among others, and drank beer with the ECW stars.
3 Dean Ambrose interview
One of the more recent instances of Steve Austin having a controversial moment featured the WWE Network special of his podcast interview with Dean Ambrose. Austin had interesting podcasts with Triple H and Vince McMahon, but WWE started using their younger talent for the interview specials.
Ambrose was having his WWE Championship reign and this interview went so bad that it hurt his momentum. Austin and Ambrose didn’t connect with Ambrose being uncomfortable when Austin asked about his childhood. Both men have expressed regret about the interview miscommunication and Ambrose hopes to appear on Austin’s audio podcast soon.
2 Walked out of WWE
The most infamous controversial moment of Steve Austin’s career came in 2002 when he walked out of the company. WWE started using Austin in weaker storylines with feuds against Scott Hall and Big Show slowing him down. Austin was not happy when plans had him losing to Brock Lesnar on Raw.
The explanation of Austin was that he didn’t understand why they’d have him take such an important loss on television with no build rather than PPV to build up Brock. All the frustration from the months of lackluster use led to Austin walking out for a few months. WWE ripped him on television with wrestlers like Triple H and The Rock saying Austin “took his ball and went home.”
1 Held grudge with Owen Hart
Owen Hart was one of the most beloved wrestlers in the entire wrestling industry. Steve Austin was among the only people to ever have personal issues with him. The reasoning was there as a miscommunication led to Owen dropping Austin on his neck with an ugly injury occurring.
Austin missed some time during the start of the hottest run of his career and the injury did cut his career short in the long run. Owen reportedly never apologized to Austin which led to them having issues until the former passed away. Jim Ross revealed on his podcast that Owen was too embarrassed to apologize and the miscommunication caused the drama between them.