This Day in Wrestling History

Hulk Hogan signs with World Championship Wrestling after leaving the World Wrestling Federation.
June 11, 1994

Steve Austin walked out of a Raw taping in Atlanta and did not appear on the show. Without clearing it with anyone in management, he booked a ticket home for himself and wife Debra and left Atlanta after working the Raw house shows the previous weekend. Originally, he was scheduled to face Brock Lesnar on the show. Apparently, no one in WWE management communicated with Austin as to what he was going to do on Raw until Jim Ross called him the day before and told him. Austin then chose to walk out and go home, feeling that him losing to Lesnar with no prior buildup between the two didn't make sense from a business perspective. Due to Austin's leaving, the whole show had to be rewritten since it was to have focused on Austin beating Ric Flair the previous week and having Flair become his assistant. Austin's absence caused major rewrites and a totally new direction on the show. WWE changed things up and booked a Vince McMahon vs. Ric Flair match on the spot where Vince McMahon "won control" of Raw and Smackdown. Vince had no plans on wrestling before arriving at the show to find out that Austin was gone. It also put Flair in the confusing position of being a heel to Austin one week and a face to Vince the next. WWE later released a statement on Austin's leaving, saying "On Monday, June 10, 2002, Stone Cold Steve Austin again failed to appear for the scheduled Raw event in Atlanta, instead choosing to return home to San Antonio without notice and without company approval." The story went on to say that they understand that Austin wasn't happy with his character's direction, but what he did was unprofessional. They finished with this line: "Therefore, Stone Cold Steve Austin is no longer an active member of WWE's talent roster." He would return to the company by the end of the year.
June 11, 2002