John Bradshaw Layfield Reflects On Steve Austin's 2002 WWE Walkout: 'I Was Shocked'

One of the biggest behind-the-scenes dramas in WWE as it was coming out of its infamous Attitude Era was the walkout of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on the company he helped launched into the mainstream. Austin walked out of Vince McMahon's company after learning he was going to lose a King of the Ring qualifying match to Brock Lesnar, but has since clarified he didn't want to waste the big match on free television with no build. On a recent episode of "Something to Wrestle," John Bradshaw Layfield looked back on the time, and said he was shocked that Austin walked out that night and did not come back.

"I didn't believe that Steve was gone and going to be gone," he said. "You gotta understand, we got there in '95, and business was so bad, and all of a sudden, we're selling out everywhere. That's the guy that did it. And all of a sudden, he's gone? You think he's coming back, absolutely, he's our guy. He is our guy. So yeah, I was shocked that it didn't happen."

JBL said that he would have taken any odds that the conflict would have been fixed between McMahon and Austin within a week or two, or even a few months, at most. He said that McMahon made up with "almost everybody" when it came to business, regardless of his personal feelings.

Austin would return to WWE in 2003 for his final full-time year in the ring. He was brought back thanks to a postcard from "Good Ol' JR," Jim Ross, who was head of talent relations at the time.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Something to Wrestle" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.