10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Stone Cold Steve Austin

WWE has been through multiple eras, and each one has been defined by a single superstar. The Attitude Era had a number of top guys, but no one stood out more than "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who originally joined the WWE in 1995. Austin's tenure with the company lasted nearly a decade before he was forced to retire, and he was involved in many memorable feuds and segments. That being said, there are a number of things about Austin that WWE would like fans to forget.

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Austin was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, and rightfully so, as he is a 6-time World Champion who won the Royal Rumble match a record three times. He's appeared sporadically over the past decade, but he stepped back into the ring at this year's WrestleMania, where he defeated Kevin Owens in a surprisingly well-done No Holds Barred match.

10 Hitting Lita With A Steel Chair Multiple Times

Austin and Lita had a very in-depth conversation on his Broken Skull Sessions podcast, but they shied away from a chair shot segment on Raw. Austin turned heel at WrestleMania 17, and he was eventually paired with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

The duo faced the Hardy Boys, and when the match was over, they gave them a thorough beating. They turned their sights on Lita next, and after Triple H hit her with a pedigree, Austin used a steel chair on her. He hit her in the stomach and on the back several times.

9 His Time As The Ringmaster

There will always be terrible gimmicks in wrestling, and Austin had to deal with one when he first arrived in WWE. When he was in WCW, he was known as "Stunning" Steve Austin, but WWE decided to introduce him as the Ringmaster, with Ted DiBiase as his manager.

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WWE used the Ringmaster name at the beginning, but it they started calling him Steve Austin shortly after because it was clear fans were not interested with the idea. They have acknowledged his time as the Ringmaster in the past, but no one is patting themselves on the back for giving Austin a bad gimmick. Having DiBiase was also pointless, because Austin was already a good talker.

8 His Use Of The Middle Finger

Many wrestling fans consider WWE's PG era to be lackluster, especially when it is compared to the unedited version of the Attitude Era. Austin flourished during this era, as he was involved in a number of infamous segments and high-profile feuds.

During this era, Austin would give the middle finger whenever he could, and it became part of his entrance. PG WWE cannot have this offensive gesture on TV anymore, which is why Austin no longer flips the bird in the ring, and if he does, WWE usually turns the camera away or blurs it out.

7 Austin 3:16 Would Have Never Happened Without Jake Roberts

Austin 3:16 is a phrase every wrestling fan knows, and it ultimately launched Austin's career, but it would have likely never happened without Jake Roberts. Austin cut the infamous promo after winning the1996 King of the Ring tournament, and the "Austin 3:16" line was entirely improvised.

At the time, Roberts had a religious gimmick and Austin knew he needed to mention the John 3:16 Bible verse in some way. WWE has never really credited Roberts with helping to create Austin's character, and that credit will likely never come as long as he is with AEW.

6 The Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler Match At WrestleMania

Austin has had a legendary career, but even he has had a number of embarrassing moments. His most embarrassing moment arguably came at WrestleMania 27 when he served as the special guest referee for the match between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

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The feud between the commentary duo went on for months, and Vince McMahon believed that it was worthy of being on the card of the company's biggest event of the year. Even though Austin was involved, the match was not entertaining, and it went on for almost 15 minutes. He dished out a few stunners afterwards, but even that could not save the poorly executed match.

5 The Arn Anderson Segment

There was a time when Austin feuded with Ric Flair, which sounds like a great idea, but it turned out to be one of the worst rivalries in Austin's career. At the time, Flair was WWE's ruling authority figure, and Austin took it upon himself to make his life as miserable as possible.

Arn Anderson was Flair's right-hand man, and in a backstage segment, Austin attacked him to get at Flair. The attack happened in the locker room, and it included Austin urinating on him. Needless to say, this is a disgusting visual that WWE does not want to talk about.

4 The Brian Pillman Incident

Austin and Brain Pillman were tag team partners in WCW, and they ended up feuding in the late 90s when they were in WWE. It all started when Austin destroyed his knee during an in-ring segment, and it became far more personal when Austin went after Pillman in his home.

On the November 4th episode of Raw in 1996, Pillman conducted an interview from his house, where he pulled out a gun. Austin came to the house and beat up a few of Pillman's friends, and Pillman made it very clear that he planned on shooting him. The segment ended in a way that made people think the gun was actually used. This is one of the only times WWE has ever apologized for a segment.

3 The Feud With Eddie Guerrero That Never Happened

Eddie Guerrero had a lot of great matches over the course of his career, but none of those matches were against Austin. The two never had a real feud, and WWE tried to give that to the fans in 2002 when Eddie returned to the company. Austin was arguably WWE's top star at the time, and they thought it would be good for him to work with Eddie.

They were involved in a bar segment which capitalized on Austin's love of drinking and Eddie's drinking problem, and it ended with Austin getting knocked out. The segment was supposed to lead to a match, but the match never happened because Austin walked away from WWE.

2 The 2002 Walk Out

Not many people remember this, but Austin actually walked out of WWE in 2002, and at the time, it was the biggest story in professional wrestling. WWE has not mentioned this incident as years have past, but it was brought up during an in-ring segment where The Rock called him out for it.

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Austin had been the top guy in WWE for years at this point, and he apparently left because WWE wanted him to put Brock Lesnar over. At the time, Lesnar had only been on the main roster for a few months, and WWE wanted to build him up. Austin was not thrilled with the idea because of all the work he had put in, but he did return in 2003.

1 His Domestic Abuse Charges

Several wrestlers have been managed by their wives, and in the early 2000s, Austin was managed by his wife and former WWE valet Debra Marshall. They married in 2000 and got divorced three years later following a very problematic marriage which included an assault charge.

The incident occurred in the summer of 2002, where Debra told police that Austin had assaulted her during an argument. Austin pleaded no contest, and he was placed on probation for one year. He was also asked to pay a $1,000 fine, and given 80 hours of community service.