What if Stone Cold was forced to retire after Summerslam 1997?

In summer 1997, the WWF were lagging behind considerably in the ratings; their flagship show Wrestlemania had done the worst buyrate it had ever done in history; a lowly 237,000 buys.

The company was struggling financially and had pinned its hopes on a man who had connected with the audience in a way very few ever have. That man was Stone Cold Steve Austin.

On August 3rd, 1997, Austin was booked to defeat Intercontinental Champion, Owen Hart and embark on a long reign to set up his inevitable crowning as World Champion in 1998 at Wrestlemania.

However, a huge bump in the road came during this encounter, when Hart, in an uncharacteristic display of recklessness, dropped his entire body weight as well as Austin's down on Austin's head in a botched Tombstone Piledriver spot.

Austin was paralysed for several minutes, unable to move, whilst the referee and Hart bought him time. Eventually, Austin was able to move sufficiently to roll Hart up unconvincingly for the pin.

Stone Cold was injured, badly injured. Immediately after the match, he was told by numerous doctors to retire immediately or risk permanent paralysis.

The WWF, panicked at losing it's hottest act, before he was given the opportunity to reign as the company's figurehead, pulled him from the ring and sent him to as many doctors as possible until they found one who would allow him to eventually return to active competition. Austin would come back, win the World title at Wrestlemania and earn record money and turn the WWF from an organisation losing cash into a worldwide financial juggernaut.

However, if Austin hadn't returned, what would have become of him and the company he worked for?

#4 No Austin-McMahon feud

No classic Austin-McMahon moments if Austin had retired in 1997

The greatest feud in wrestling history would never have happened. There is a fair argument to suggest that there also would have been no Montreal Screwjob had Austin retired following Summerslam 1997.

McMahon had no other future main-eventers lined up after Austin and likely would have had no other choice other than to keep Bret Hart on the payroll. Which would mean, not only would we have no Austin, the Mr. McMahon character would have no impetus for being created either.

No Austin vs. McMahon means no beer truck, no bedpan, no zamboni and no other hugely memorable moments that thrilled WWF fans in 1998-99. What could the WWF have possibly produced that could top that in terms of entertainment value significantly enough to still win the ratings war with WCW?

It is unlikely that Austin would have remained in a non-wrestling role as his character really didn't suit being an authority figure (though he did play one, when his career really did end in 2003) or a manager or commentator. Austin most likely would have stayed at home.

#3 No Stone Cold Steve Austin on wrestling's Mount Rushmore

Stone Cold would never have been a World Champion or a major star

Had Stone Cold's career ended on August 3rd, 1997, he would have ended his WWF career, less than two years after it began, with a screwy Royal Rumble win, a King of the Ring title and a one day reign as Intercontinental Champion.

These are accolades which most wrestlers would love to have but they would not have led to Austin being revered as one of the greatest of all time, rather he would be held in a similar regard to legendary mid-carders such as Ricky Steamboat or Rick Rude.

He would not be remembered as the greatest wrestling star of all time and would be nowhere near the great Mount Rushmore of wrestling debate.

#2 WWF/E would go out of business

Vince McMahon - Likely to have been forced out of business

The WWF would not have been able to afford to sign away any of WCW's major stars such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Kevin Nash or Scott Hall.

Without the traction of a major star, or feud in Austin vs McMahon, the WWF would never have recovered in the ratings war, the Attitude Era would likely not have occurred on the same scale without Austin as it's driving force and fans would continue to watch WCW's programming instead.

The WWF was losing money in 1997. Had they continued to lose money in 1998 and beyond, with no Austin bringing the dollars in, the likely outcome would have been no more WWF.

The Rock would still have become a star, though without Austin as a foil, he wouldn't have been as successful and with no Austin on the payroll, Vince McMahon may have been forced to keep hold of Bret Hart, preventing Montreal from occurring, which would definitely have neuteured the Attitude Era, given Hart was so opposed to it, and McMahon would have had to appease one of his only remaining stars.

In a heartbreaking twist of fate when you think about it, had Hart remained with the company, he has gone on record to say he would never have allowed Owen to participate in the entrance at Over The Edge 1999 that killed him when he fell 70 feet to his death after his planned entrance from the ceiling went wrong. Had Owen actually ended Austin's career, he could still be alive today.

#1 There would be no mainstream American wrestling on television

WCW would still have been cancelled in 2001

Without Stone Cold as it's star, there would not have been the Austin-McMahon feud which did more for the company in assisting it in vanquishing WCW as it's competition than anything else.

With the WWF likely to go out of business, that would have left WCW as the only game in town.

However, Austin's exit from the WWF wouldn't likely have changed the course of history too much in how WCW was run during their 1999-2001 demise, as that was based almost entirely of their own in-house factors, and an ageing roster.

The AOL/Time Warner merger would likely have still gone ahead and WCW would still have been booted off cable television by Jamie Kellner. WCW was still garnering decent ratings, though they had dropped significantly since their 1996-98 peak. If there was a will to keep WCW on the air, it would have happened.

Former WCW boss, Eric Bischoff's attempt to purchase the company may have gone ahead without the WWF in existence, but so damaged was the brand name, it's unlikely this would have been successful even without any competition. Bischoff proved in his tenure with Impact Wrestling in 2010 that he had not learned from his mistakes.

In a terrifying prospect for fans of professional wrestling, WCW's inevitable demise would have left no mainstream wrestling promotion in the United States.

Jeff Jarrett would still have set up TNA/Impact Wrestling but they and never have had the budget to become a global force on the scale of WWE or WCW and could not have afforded the Triple H's, Undertaker and Kane's of this world.

Any fan of professional wrestling would likely have had to watch New Japan or All Japan, which is likely where many of the major American wrestling stars would have ended up.

In 2018, no one would know the names of John Cena, Randy Orton or Batista. It is incredible to think how one botched wrestling move could have changed the course of wrestling history so significantly that it would almost have ceased to exist.