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Steve Austin held a great deal of power in the Attitude Era as the face of WWE. Few wrestlers ever held as much power as Austin, and no one used it as much outside of Hulk Hogan. WWE witnessed Austin making it quite clear when he didn’t want to work with certain talents when they pitched it.
Hogan and Jeff Jarrett were two of the more talked about stories of Austin refusing certain ideas for. However, another story like that surfaced when WWE wanted to elevate Marc Mero into a bigger role. The angle of Mero turning heel and ending his relationship with Sable ended that hope. Austin was adamant about not wanting to work with Mero for his own reasons.
WWE Wanted To Push Marc Mero As A Top Heel
The WWE Championship win of Steve Austin in 1998 required new heels to feud with. Mick Foley and Kane were the first two noteworthy names to have title programs against Austin. However, WWE hoped that new mid-card stars would move up the card like Austin did the two years prior to his run. Austin gaining that level of star power as the face of WWE allowed him to turn down certain ideas around 1998.
Marc Mero emerged as someone viable for Austin to face after he turned heel. WWE initially wanted to make Mero and Sable a great face act when Marc’s wife started working there as well. Fans ended up wanting to see Sable more on her own as a beloved face character, which cause a split between the pair. Vince McMahon pivoted from his goals of Mero getting pushed as a face into a new heel character.
Austin was starting to move past the same trio of rivals of Kane, Undertaker, and Foley and needed new heels. WWE wanted to prioritize Mero as one of the up-and-coming heels once he moved past the Sable feud. Austin could have essentially made Mero just by having compelling matches and promos with him, but that obviously never happened.
Steve Austin Refused To Face Marc Mero After He Was Buried By Sable
Steve Austin became aware of his status and expressed when he didn’t want to work with someone. Jeff Jarrett was the first name shut down by Austin when he returned to the company, as he didn’t enjoy Jarrett insulting him in a promo. Marc Mero never had any personal drama with Austin, making it feel even more bizarre when the stories leaked about the match refusal.
The Sable vs Mero feud featured a few rare moments of that era when a female talent got the better of a male wrestler. WWE booked Sable to hit her Sable Bomb finisher and get the upper hand on Mero after their breakup. Even though Mero ultimately won their bigger matches, some other wrestlers felt he lost all credibility selling for a female wrestler.
This likely would not even feel like a big deal today, but it was a huge step out of the ordinary in the 90s. Austin thought it would hurt him to have competitive matches with someone that Sable was powerbombing just a few months before. WWE valued Austin’s demands over a lukewarm program they were back and forth on.
Marc Mero's WWE Career Went Downhill After The Sable Feud
WWE basically lost all faith in Marc Mero when Steve Austin didn’t want to work with him, since that role was his ceiling in the company. Mero’s greatest success would have been stepping up into a top heel role to face top faces like Austin. Jim Ross revealed the following about Austin flat out refusing to work with Mero:
"He didn’t wanna work with Marc Mero,” Ross said. “He didn’t give me a specific reason, he just felt it wasn’t right. That’s all he said."
WWE valued Austin’s opinion and happiness as the biggest draw in the company. Ross and Vince McMahon canceled the plans for an Austin vs Mero program. The Rock and Triple H becoming bigger stars gave Austin some better opponents to keep his title run going stronger than ever.
Unfortunately, Mero was the one that suffered for this decision in the short and long term. WWE struggled to find any role for Mero after the Sable feud beyond a presence in the Brawl for All tournament. The negative mark on his record of Austin not wanting to work with him ruined any chances Mero had of moving into a bigger role. WWE’s one chance offered to Mero to move up the ladder featured Austin shutting it down due to his Sable feud.