On the morning of June 10, 2002, the script for Monday Night Raw called for a defining moment in the rise of a rookie monster. In a King of the Ring qualifying match, “The Next Big Thing” Brock Lesnar was scheduled to defeat “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. On paper, it was a passing of the torch—the biggest star of the Attitude Era elevating the future face of the company. However, the match never happened. When the cameras rolled in the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Steve Austin was not in the building. He was on a plane back to San Antonio, Texas.

This singular decision sparked one of the most volatile public feuds in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It resulted in the company publicly burying its franchise player on live television, a merchandise crash, and a perio

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