Steve Austin gave a speech to WWE talent at SummerSlam that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Austin's three main points were that the talent dressed like slobs in public and they need to dress and carry themselves like professionals. He went on to say that the company has no superstars and it's time for someone to step up. Austin told the story of how he came up with his own gimmick and became a top guy.

One wrestler noted that Austin was out of touch with what the current wrestlers are making (salary wise) and what the current conditions are. Some were also shocked that Austin has became a puppet for McMahon. Some guys feel that Austin was acting the way he was because he is dealing with the guilt of his movie flopping.