AUSTIN SETTLES COURT CASE, CAN'T DRINK BUT MAY BE CLOSER TO WWE RETURN
by Dave Scherer Updated: 11/25/2002 6:49:16 PM
The Associated Press and Reuters reported today that Steve Austin pleaded No Contest to the assault charges that were pending against him in Bexar County (TX) court stemming from the June incident where he was charged with assaulting his wife Debra during a domestic dispute.
As a result of the plea, Austin was given a $1,000 fine, one year's probation, forced to perform 80 hours of community service and told to undergo domestic violence counseling. If he satisfies all of those obligations, no guilty charge will be entered on his record. Reuters also reported that as part of the plea, Austin will be prohibited from drinking alcohol for the year, which may be the harshest penalty of all to him.
Reuters quoted Austin as saying after the hearing, "It's been a chaotic few months. I'm not a regular in the court system, so I'm glad to get it behind me. This has been a drag."
One of the things that has been holding Austin back from a return to WWE has been this court case. Now that it's settled, Austin's return seems more likely to occur. Reuters quoted Austin as saying, "I made my first personal appearance recently in Richmond, Virginia and there were five thousand people there, so I feel I still have a lot of drawing power."
Quote:Reuters also reported that as part of the plea, Austin will be prohibited from drinking alcohol for the year, which may be the harshest penalty of all to him.
Oh dear, this can only end badly... :disappointed:
I fixed the topic for you... How does one screw up cut and paste? :clueless:
especially a pro like teenweek
Quote:One of the things that has been holding Austin back from a return to WWE has been this court case. Now that it's settled, Austin's return seems more likely to occur.
A couple months after he was gone from the WWE I would of said this so never gonna happen. After that speech the Rock gave on Raw that night, and the other wrestlers talking about how he left them. But after the ratings are going further and further down I wouldn't doubt a return at maybe Wrestlemania.
i was expecting something else from this thread.
I HOPE HES NOT LACTOSE INTOLERANT!!!!
Well the rock has stated he can return to the WWE but he chooses not to. He is not happy with the story lines, some people need to remember where they came from. Greasy curly headed rocky maivia probably didn't care much about story lines when he started.
I am upset with how austin left, much like the rock he started taking things for granted. But sometimes people need a smack in the face and I think this was his wake up call. No matter how much I loathe how he treated the company and mainly the fans, I would wanna see him back I miss him.
i miss s.cold
Where did you here that, Gonzy??? My understanding is the Rock has been slated to be out until about the time of the Royal Rumble, and slated for Wrestlemania.
Stone Cold will be back. Perhaps for RAWs 10 year anniversary in Jan (couple weeks before Royal Rumble).
Austin will be back...hopefully he waits until the ratings tank even more, so he can milk as much out of Vince as possible. It would serve him right for running Austin out of the company in the first place.
Rock's under contract for like 4 more movies, any return he makes will be brief. He's pretty much done as a full time wrestler - WWE paydays are chump change compared to what he's getting now.
2003 will be the year of Austin's return, Goldberg's return, and if Vince has any brains, Bob Muthafuckin Sapp! Remember that name, he will be a major star...
Personally I'd like to see Kaos in the WWE
But Austin will be back, Vince is stupid enough to sign him back
Quote:Rock's under contract for like 4 more movies, any return he makes will be brief. He's pretty much done as a full time wrestler - WWE paydays are chump change compared to what he's getting now.
WWE gets a piece of the action. Scorpion King made mucho bucks, and WWE got a piece of that. And with their deal with Viacom, it gets even more lucrative. Rock is doing these movies with Vince's blessing.
Quote:Vince is stupid enough to sign him back
Why would Vince be stupid to sign him back. Notice all those empty seats during Raw?
Quote:WWE gets a piece of the action. Scorpion King made mucho bucks, and WWE got a piece of that. And with their deal with Viacom, it gets even more lucrative. Rock is doing these movies with Vince's blessing.
Of course, but Rock doesn't need Vince. In the long run, he'd probably be best off cutting ties with the carney. The point is, why would he wrestle for relative peanuts when he's already struck gold?
Quote:Why would Vince be stupid to sign him back
Because Austin would be at best an overpaid ratings spike, nothing more....Vince needs to stop investing in the here and now and focus on the future.
I disagree. I think Austin will continue to be a draw. The WWE needs someone like him.. They just need to make sure he passes that torch on to the next mega superstar when the time comes.
I'm sure the person who threw a tantrum because the storylines didn't go his way will be more than happy to lay down for someone
Yeah, b/c no one else has ever thrown a tantrum...or gone home
(HBK)
They need box-office draw, and Austin is box-office draw. There has been a severe lack of monster faces, and only HBK fits bills, and he's more of a baby-face really. When (not if...when) AUSTIN comes back, rating will go thru the roof...and to capitalize, they will try to get storylines to suck those old fans back in.
New is worthless unless you hook them in. If Brock didn't knock off big guys like Hogan, Rock, etc...you think he'd have the same popularity. Yes, Austin balked at putting Brock over....had marital troubles, and prob a alcohol problem, and this means he shouldn't be brought back??? There is fan interest, there is advertiser interest, there is stockholder interest in him being there....
It's really a no-brainer.
Yes, and several superstars were let go because of (compared to SCSA) minor problems. That sort of treatment gets you heat backstage, look at the NWO, we're down to what, 1 of them left on the roster? Why would you hire someone who has demonstrated to you that he is unwilling to bend if you don't meet his demands?
Sure Austin would be a ratings spike, emphasis on spike. SCSA is not the future of the wwe. Look at the signing of Hogan, a legend far greater than SCSA, pushed to all holy Hell, and what did it do for them? Are they out of their slump? No, Austin will be no different. So what would you do? Hire the man who might get you some ratings for a few months or get that young gun from the indy's who, with the right storyline, will be the big star of tomorrow. Or Hell, bring up some more talent from OVW.
No one person is going to get the wwe out of this slump, good planning, good storylines, that will slowly bring them back. People who stopped watching might watch when Austin returns, maybe they will stick around for a while, until they realise that nothing has really changed, and what will they do? Stop watching.
I see all these people with plans to save the wwe, I saw people who said, oh, when Triple H comes back, everything will be fine again...WRONG...Oh wait, no, I know, let's put the belt on Undertaker, that should generate some interest...WRONG...Let's put the belt on Jericho, he deserves it...Yes he got a bad rap but again, these were all ideas I saw floating around that were going to "save" the wwe...NWO...Surely a force as powerful as the NWO can help the ratings....sure they can, for about what, 3 weeks? Now HBK, bring back HBK, he will be the savior of the wwe, he will bring back fans. I'm not positive on the ratings, but I'm pretty sure they are far from where they used to be.
So what exactly is going to save the wwe? Austin? I've heard it all before, Austin will not save the wwe, sure there will be that spike, just like when Rock came back, but it will disappear again.
I like to call Daniel Snyder the Vince McMahon of football. Why? Because he has this delusion that bringing in the older, but still popular athletes will somehow bring them success. Until Vince sees that this slump is here to stay and is something that can't be fixed by bringing back the people who were good during wrestlings high point.
the wwe is not in a slump...ratings are not down...for fucks sake...what show, week in and week out two times a week for 2 hours has more than 4 million people watching it? and then one sunday a month, has at least 1 million of those 4 million people shelling out $35 to watch a 3 hour show. god Damn, that isn't a slump...sure its not like it was 3 or 4 years ago, with ratings of 5 or 6 but dammit, how many advertisers or television stations wouldn't want that?