Few wrestlers will ever be able to experience a fraction of Steve Austin’s success as arguably the greatest superstar in WWE history. Stints in WCW, ECW, and WWE saw Austin thriving as a great all-around talent capable of thriving in many different ways. However, there are some things that even the biggest Austin fans have trouble processing.

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No wrestler is perfect, nor will they have their entire career story viewed completely accurately after retirement. Austin’s fans have not been able to accept certain criticisms or variables within his career. WWE was the main place where he worked, but this applies everywhere. Each of the following harsh realities should be accepted by Stone Cold’s fan base.

10 There Was No Good Option For Driver Running Him Over

One of the most criticized storylines in WWE history featured Rikishi being revealed as the driver who ran over Steve Austin with a car. Austin was written off television for almost a full year with this angle setting up an important story for his eventual return.

RELATED: 5 Wrestlers Steve Austin Made Look Legit (& 5 He Made Look Like A Joke)

Rikishi being the pick for a shocking heel turn felt out of place and hurt the overall storyline. WWE ended up changing course with Triple H claiming he hired Rikishi to save the angle. However, there was no great choice over Rikishi to make it a tough task. Triple H would have been too predictable, and rumored alternatives like Taz didn’t make logical sense either.

9 Had A Disappointing End To Full-Time In-Ring Career

The worst thing about Steve Austin’s WWE career was the end being so disappointing. Austin walked out in 2002 due to being booked horribly that entire year up to the end. Feuds with Ric Flair, Big Show and the New World Order all missed the mark to hurt Austin’s name value.

His return in 2003 had a great start, but his neck injury forced him into retirement after just two months. Part of the reason that Austin came out of retirement to face Kevin Owens was to give his career stronger closure after it ended in such a weird manner.

8 WCW Didn't Waste Him

Many fans have bashed WCW throughout the years for not knowing how to book someone who became the biggest star in wrestling history. The end of the WCW run deserves blame since Eric Bischoff slowed down Austin’s push and fired him while injured.

However, the overall WCW tenure shouldn’t be viewed as a failure. Austin had a great mid-card run as an entertaining heel having strong United States Championship reigns and exciting matches with Ricky Steamboat. Even the tag team run with Brian Pillman as the Hollywood Blonds showed how talented Austin was.

7 He Needed ECW Run Before Thriving In WWE

The belief of most fans is that WCW dropped the ball with Steve Austin and Vince McMahon made him a star in WWE. However, Austin spent some time in ECW as someone that Paul Heyman believed in after he left WCW and was still injured.

ECW allowed Austin to showcase his personality with some cutting-edge segments mocking WCW. Austin needed this time to grow and thrive in new areas of wrestling. The WWE success of Austin likely would not have been as historic without the ECW time.

6 2001 Heel Run Was Creatively Successful

WWE turning Steve Austin heel in 2001 was viewed as a huge failure since it was a regretful decision. The financial impact of Austin changing character played a role in WWE’s unstoppable momentum starting to slow down after the company purchased WCW.

However, Austin did some great work that was highly successful on the creative side. A short-lived tag team with Triple H, a feud with Kurt Angle, and his generally hilarious comedy side all thrived during the heel stint. Austin did some of the best work of his career, even though fans obviously preferred to see him as a babyface.

5 Feud With Vince McMahon Started To Hurt WWE

The rivalry between Steve Austin and Vince McMahon could be argued as the greatest storyline in WWE history. Austin got over even more as an anti-authority babyface character that refused to follow rules and had the audience on his side every step of the year.

RELATED: 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About The Steve Austin Vs. Vince McMahon WWE Rivalry

WWE saw fans invested in this angle for about a year before it started to jump the shark. Storylines to branch out from it like Vince being the Higher Power to con Austin or Austin gaining 50% ownership of WWE showed it growing stale. WWE went back to this idea too many times to ruin the appeal.

4 Creating The What? Chant Was A Mistake

Steve Austin has admitted that he regrets coming up with the “What?” chant of fans chanting it after each line of his. The idea was formulated with Austin talking to his wristwatch and repeatedly asking “What?” in hilarious fashion as a paranoid heel.

A face turn saw Austin using it with the audience as he became the most interactive promo in the business. Fans have chanted this for over two decades now and use it to troll the wrestlers cutting promos. Austin clearly would not have done this if knew the long-term impact it had.

3 Tag Team Run With Triple H Didn't Have Proper Ending

WWE created arguably the best heel duo ever when Triple H and Steve Austin became the Two-Man Power Trip. Even though they didn’t have a long run, there’s never been a pairing that dominated as effectively as Austin and Triple H did in such a short time.

Triple H suffered his torn quad injury during their tag run to end it after a couple of months. Austin remained a sadistic heel and mocked Triple H for his injury causing them to lose the tag titles. WWE never paid this off as Austin turned face a few months before Triple H’s return with no payoff there.

2 Was More Like Hulk Hogan Backstage Than Any Other Face Of Company

The tension between Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin saw Austin not wanting to work with Hogan. However, they had a lot more in common than most fans realized. Hogan often gets blamed for flexing his influence and using it to impact the creative side of things.

Austin doesn’t get portrayed as a politician like Hogan was, but he used that same power whenever he felt fit. Names like Jeff Jarrett, Marc Mero, and Chyna were booked to feud with Austin until he shut those ideas down. Austin used his power more than any face of WWE outside of Hogan in this context.

1 The Rock Passed Him As The Face Of WWE

Steve Austin and The Rock are both considered the faces of the Attitude Era for good reason. WWE made Austin the face of the company in 1998 and kept that status until he took time off to recover from his next injury for most of 2000.

Rock stepped up and became the top face after going back and forth between babyface and heel roles in the main event picture. An epic rivalry with Triple H saw Rock thriving as the face of WWE in 2000. Part of the reason WWE turned Austin heel in 2001 against Rock was that Rock was getting bigger ovations most weeks when Stone Cold returned.