“Stone Cold” Steve Austin has admitted that walking out of WWE in 2002 ranks among his biggest career regrets. The incident occurred on June 10, 2002, after Austin learned that he was slated to lose to rising star Brock Lesnar in a King of the Ring qualifying match. While he wasn’t opposed to putting Lesnar over, Austin was frustrated that the match was scheduled without any proper build-up. That creative decision, along with several others that had been piling up, led to Austin’s abrupt departure from the company.
Speaking recently on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Austin revealed that the fallout extended beyond the ring — it even cost him a potential beer deal. He said,
“Way back in the day, I was red hot as Stone Cold. We were doing some beer testing with a place up in northern New York, getting ready to launch Stone Cold beer. Then they booked that match with Brock on RAW, and I said, ‘F this.’ That blew the beer deal up.”
As a result, the legendary “Steveweiser” never made it to shelves — at least not back then. Austin eventually returned to WWE in February 2003.
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