When Austin feuded against Vince McMahon, the first thing you have to realize is that Austin was the centerpiece. They didn't just toy with the idea of whether he was or wasn't or should be or shouldn't be. He got very over, they gave him the title, and they ran with him. A lot has been said about that feud between Austin and McMahon. It was the common worker standing up to his boss and getting the better of him. Austin frequently got the better of Vince McMahon, and his family. There was even that segment where Austin laid out the whole family. It was fun and the fans enjoyed it.
What you have had recently is CM Punk and Daniel Bryan having issues with authority figures, and all of it does not seem to be just a pure storyline. While Austin became the top star of the company during his time, neither CM Punk nor Daniel Bryan have been pushed as the centerpiece. That has still been mostly John Cena. Both of these guys have gotten very over, have had some title reigns here and there, but the WWE has not been running with either one well enough to please the fans, especially in the case of Daniel Bryan. And are these two really owning the authority figures as much as Austin did Vince McMahon. Not really. Go back to when John Cena was the one that ended John Laurinaitis as GM. That should have been CM Punk's storyline. He fit better in that based on the big angle he had the summer prior to that. And what about The Authority? I am not going to say they are untouchable, but they are when compared to how much abuse Vince McMahon took back in the day. You have fans going crazy for Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, while John Cena, the centerpiece for all these years, and Randy Orton, the storyline "face" of the company, are not connecting with the fans like that. And while the fans are so hot over what is happening, it is not because they are so entertained. They are pissed off.
Let me just focus on Daniel Bryan for a moment. He has gotten extremely over. The WWE's mistreatment of him is what has really agitated these fans. If they had just given Daniel Bryan a legitimate run with the WWE title for 2 or 3 months at the end of last year, I don't think the fans would be so upset. Yes, a lot of these fans seem crazy and demanding, but if the WWE had not toyed with them as they have, I don't think they would be like this. The fans want to see Daniel Bryan succeed, the WWE screws him out of title reigns, they run this storyline where they say he is not good enough, they have him lose the feud to Randy Orton, send him down to a feud against The Wyatts, then have him lose even that feud, and how much are the fans supposed to put up with? Not only is the WWE not treating Daniel Bryan properly, they are pretty much telling those fans crazy for him that what they want doesn't matter. And this isn't a storyline about authority figures screwing someone over. This is the company actually mistreating an over worker. They can blend it into the storyline to make it seem more trivial, but they are playing with fire.
Back when Austin was the top guy, my favorite wrestlers were actually Kane and Mankind. Kane won the World title and held it for a day. Mankind also had a 1-day reign, as well as some other short reigns before he retired from the WWE. Did I get upset over this? No. I didn't cry. I didn't rage. It didn't bother me so much. Short title reigns are nothing unheard of. But could you imagine if Austin was struggling to connect properly with the fans and it was Kane or Mick Foley that were doing it? And what if the WWE continued to shove Austin down the fans' throats, while mistreating Kane and Mick Foley? That is pretty much what you have going on recently. The centerpiece is not working out. The fans are crazy about guys that the company wants to be stars, but doesn't want to push better. The company would rather rely on their own favorites. When the company's favorites matches the fans' favorites, things go smoothly. When they don't, you have the current failure of the status quo.
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