Steve Austin's fall from grace in 2002

[Elky]

Austin was back on top of the wrestling world when he returned in 2000, but just two years later he was a borderline midcarder before eventually taking his ball and going home over a disagreement with jobbing to Lesnar on a random Raw and the direction his character was going.

Granted his neck injury was seriously starting to catch up to him, could Austin have been salvaged in 2002?

[Y 2 Jake]

It was downhill for him when he came back in 2000. His injuries had caught up with him, they had nothing new for him and he had The Rock nearly as his equal to contend with.

[Wildcat66]

I think Steve Austin could've been redeemed during 2002, but only he had moved to a more part time role so he can heal his neck. As the face of the company, his time was up by that point. But he could've at least kept a prominent role in the company, wrestling every now and then when heels need to get their asses whipped or he can put over a rising star (on PPV mind you).

[Spidercanrana]

His domestic life was very public around that time too.

[Jack-Hammer]

I doubt it. It's possible, but pretty unlikely. Austin's body was breaking down quickly, he had issues with his neck stemming from the botched Tombstone he received from Owen Hart, both of his knees were shot, his personal life was tabloid fodder, accusations were springing up etc.. If Austin could have settled into some sort of part time role, come back as something of a special attraction for something like WrestleMania and SummerSlam, giving his body time to heal up or have any sort of surgeries that needed to be done, I think he could have extended his career for several more years. However, a lot of that could depend on the wrestlers he was going up against in these matches and Austin himself would never really be the same inside the ring. Austin knew how to tell a story and had great psychology, but his ace in the hole as Stone Cold Steve Austin had always been his promos as the irreverent, blue collar Texas redneck.