10 Major WWE Superstars And Their Tipping Points

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin

"You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere. Talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16...Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!" words that flowed from a triumphant mouth, on the back of his 1996 King of the Ring victory over Jake the Snake Roberts who was then portraying a religious heel character.

Little did anyone know then that "Austin 3:16" would assume near-religious significance in WWE history, except perhaps the man himself. What followed this famous statement was fair warning to everyone in the locker-room that they were on Stone Cold's hit-list and that he would take everyone out in his quest for championship gold.

#2 The Rock

Dwayne Johnson, as hard as $82 Million makes for it to believe, once was near broke and devoid of a job. Just like he wasn't always the extremely popular, larger-than-life Hollywood-WWE hybrid that he is now.

When he started out in the WWE his ring name was Rocky Maivia, christened in respect of his grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia and was pushed as a clean babyface. Although initially cheering him for the athletic ability and enthusiasm that he displayed, the fans soon got tired of his squeaky clean babyface persona and turned on him.

"Die Rocky Die!" chants coupled with "Rocky Sucks!", rang across arenas as it increasingly became apparent that the Rocky Maivia character just wasn't catching on with the fans.

#3 Shawn Michaels

The Rockers, comprising of Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty, captured the fancy of many fans due to their high-flying and energetic in-ring style. After being accustomed to powerful and dominant tag teams such as The Road Warriors, The Rockers were considered by many to be a breath of fresh air.

The youthful exuberance of the duo was irresistible to most, and the chemistry they shared as tag team partners was equally apparent. But n the WWE, the concept of good chemistry usually indicates a good feud in the making, and it was only a matter of time before heartbreak ensued for the thousands of fans who had bought into the team of the Rockers.

Little snippets of discord had already been springing up between the partners for a fair period of time when, in an alarming and disbelief-inducing moment that was initially meant for reconciliation, Michaels superkicked Janetty and drove him head first through a glass window, thereby shattering it and the hearts of the viewing audience in the process.

#4 Bret Hart

The name Bret Hart has been registered in every wrestling fan's mind almost synonymously with the Montreal Screwjob, and with good reason. The Screwjob was a tipping point for the industry of wrestling, and certainly the WWE, as it led to the advent of the Attitude Era. With Hart leaving the WWE and jumping ship to WCW, newer and younger stars took his place and the WWE machine rolled on.

Earlier, Hart had been the top babyface in the company as he had symbolized exactly the WWE's need of the hour: in-ring excellence and a lower profile out of it than compared to a megastar like Hulk Hogan. We have to remember that this was on the back of the steroid scandal that had almost wrecked the WWE and Vince McMahon.

#5 Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho belongs to the distinct band of wrestlers who do not need victories to ensure continued investment and support from the audience. His credibility in the ring, on the mic and even as a bonafide rockstar have excused him from such trivialities.

Surely a future WWE Hall of Famer, Jericho's career in the WWE has been littered with achievements that have not been replicated till now. Apart from holding the Intercontinental Title a record nine times, Jericho also enjoys the honour of going down in WWE lore as the first ever Undisputed Champion who unified the WWE and then WCW titles, that too by defeating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin on the same night.

Jericho has always been very "over" with the fans, and the trend was set as early as his debut in the WWE. Not only did Jericho cause a stir by interrupting The Rock's rhetoric, he also introduced us to his enduring catch-phrase "Raw is Jericho", the continued use of which serves as testament to the impact that his debut created.

#6 Seth Rollins

Despite the obvious logic in the accusatory "You sold out!" chants that are customarily directed at him, perhaps Rollins does have a point when he says that he simply "bought in."

Either way, it was Rollins' actions that led to the break-up of The Shield and afforded each of them a run as a singles competitor. His chair attack from behind while the unsuspecting Ambrose and Reigns were engaging Triple H on the mic sent shockwaves through the WWE Universe, while at the same time ensuried that both his and the WWE's futures were being secured.

#7 CM Punk

CM Punk versus Stone Cold Steve Austin was considered to be a dream match and in all probability will remain so due to Punk's acrimonious parting with the company and Austin's advancing years.

But one of the major reasons why this match was considered to be a dream match was the anti-authority sentiment shared and displayed by both wrestlers. It was thought that there lay a natural dynamic and storyline to exploit between the two controversial personas, and the interview they did with JR can now be considered one of the best build-ups to a match that never transpired.

The event that led to Punk being established and categorized as "anti-authority" was undeniably the shoot promo that he cut on WWE's machinations in 2011. And although conspiracy theories about it being a "worked" shoot arose later, we can concur that despite the innate irony in the situation, the shoot promo was indeed the tipping point in his WWE career.

#8 John Cena

Having wrested the WWE Title from JBL at Wrestlemania 21 in what was a rather uninspiring bout, a Cena-JBL rematch at Judgement Day was not a prospect that one would have normally looked forward to in anticipation but for the "I Quit" stipulation attached to it. The match itself had been decided upon after a convoluted elimination process had been implemented to determine the number 1 contender for Cena's WWE Title, in which JBL had come through.

What both men lacked in in-ring technicality, they more than made up with some intense psychology interwoven into the storytelling of the match, which was in itself completely overshadowed by the blood and gore aspect of the encounter. John Cena eventually triumphed and retained his title but the effort that it took a severely bloodied Cena was not lost on the audience.

The temporal perspective that one affords this match places it at the beginning of Cena's stardom. Although now, having endured the entirety of the PG era, one can observe the stark contrast in nature between how John Cena's reign as the top babyface started and how it then played out. However if the "I Quit" match that Cena had with JBL was any indication to go by, one can only imagine how John Cena the persona might have turned out if not for the happenstance of the PG era.

#9 Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan is known as "The Immortal One" for a reason that was well reinforced during his Wrestlemania 18 showdown with The Rock.

Although the Hulkster was a heel, the audience reaction that he engendered eventually resulted in The Rock turning heel simply to accommodate the inordinate amount of support that Hogan was receiving. Richly deserved that too, owing to how inter-related the fortunes of Hulk Hogan and the WWE were in the late 80s.

What transpired at Wrestlemania 3, in front of 93000 people, is an event that is etched in the mind of every wrestling fan. Until then, even the thought of someone picking up Andre the Giant was written off as outlandish.

Hulk Hogan, on the other hand, picked up Andre over his head and body-slammed him. It was truly a slam that was heard throughout the world in that it helped establish Hulk Hogan as a global star and WWE as a global phenomenon.

#10 Randy Orton

Certain wrestling matches you walk into as a relative rookie, knowing that you will walk out a gladiator. Facing the Hardcore Legend in a no holds barred hardcore match is one of them.

The full arsenal of weapons was used in the match as Randy Orton and Cactus Jack put each other through a gruelling test of pain tolerance and endurance in their Intercontinental Title face-off at Backlash 2004.

The bad blood between the two had been brewing for months, and met its final consummation in a bloody match that left the audience cringing due to the brutality of it all. By the end of the match, any lingering doubts as to whether the young and dashing Orton belonged to the ‘big league' had been answered in graphic detail.

In what is still regarded as one of his best matches, there was almost a universal chorus of affirmation that Randy Orton had made the step up to the big league. 11 years and 12 World Titles later, we can certainly attest to the veracity of the claim.