10 Wrestlers Who Retired Too Young

10. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin. Arguably wrestling's biggest ever star. Wrestling made the transition from cartoon-like entertainment aimed towards children in the 1980s and early 90s, to adult-themed, culture shock television in the late 90s and early 2000s, and the catalyst to this was Stone Cold. The beer-swilling, middle-finger brandishing everyman, except he wasn't an everyman because he actually kicked people asses. Stone Cold was wrestling's Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm: he did and said the things we all wished we could do and say. Except, unlike Larry, Stone Cold not only got away with it, but it won him world championships.

Austin left the WWE in June 2002 after no-showing a Raw episode, claiming differences in opinion about his character. He returned in time for one more match with The Rock at Wrestlemania 19, which turned out to be his final match. The neck injuries that had plagued Austin's career had become too much. Austin though, having only recently made amends with Vince McMahon and the WWE, was clearly not ready to give up the wrestling business altogether. He hung around in various on-screen "backstage" roles, like the Co-General Manager of Raw and the "Sheriff of Raw", which basically allowed him to storm out to the ring with his theme music playing, hit the Stone Cold Stunner on people, drink a few beers and storm off.

It was certainly fun to watch, and it certainly looked like Austin was having fun doing it, but it was hard to shake the feeling of what might have been. The space he left in the main event was filled by deserving wrestlers. John Cena, Edge, Brock Lesnar (briefly) and the emergence of the Evolution stable all rose to prominence after Stone Cold had laced up his boots for the last time. It's hard, though, to not wish for proper feuds with Stone Cold vs each of these. John Cena for one, would definitely have benefitted from a torch-passing match with Stone Cold. As would the audience.