#1.) ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s tenure in WWE was actually much shorter than many people realize. He joined WWE in 1995 and rose to the top around 3 years later, where he became the franchise player of WWE. There’s not much we can say about Steve Austin that hasn’t been said, but he’s considered to be among the all-time greats for a very good reason.
His run on the top itself was extremely short, only being from 1998-2003. In that time, a good part of 2002 was spent away and he had an extensive injury as well. All of the injuries eventually caught up to him and in 2003, he officially retired. When asked later on how long he would have continued had it not been for the injury, Austin stated that he probably would have stayed until WrestleMania 25.
