June 24, 2002 Observer Newsletter: Details on Steve Austin quitting, plus tons of news

The departure of Steve Williams (Stone Cold Steve Austin) took a unique turn as WWE attempted to use him for one last Raw rating on 6/17, coming off the heels of Austin making national publicity for allegedly beating wife Debra in the early morning on 6/15 at their home in San Antonio.

Over a five-year-period, no character in the history of the pro wrestling industry has generated more revenue than Steve Austin has done the past five years. That period includes a year he was just starting to heat up in 1997, and another ten months lost after neck surgery. He was the key character (well, on the WWF side, the key reason was the incompetence of the opposition) in turning the corner of a losing wrestling war. More importantly, he was the most important cog in the wheel, between drawing more revenue over a one year period than any wrestler in history ever had at the box office, on PPV, and in merchandising, taking the company from an $83 million per year business that was in financial disarray to a business that peaked at $456 million in revenue one year ago and was valued at more than $1 billion on the New York Stock Exchange.

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