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I go back to what I said before about WWE being so eager to find "the next Hogan" that they're willing to overlook all the Pipers and Jake Roberts' that they have all over their roster. They want to manufacture that next big breakout pop culture phenomenon, and when something bucks the trend of what they think that should be, they tend not to get on board with it and either attempt to stifle it or completely change it... which is sad because they used to be better about capitalizing on the next hot thing.
It's like having a large pile of money on a table, and people keep throwing more onto the pile, but it is all foreign currency. You can easily take that pile of cash to the bank and keep what it translates to, but instead you just leave it there and walk away looking for another pile because it isn't the greenbacks you recognize instantly.
Austin is a funny example, considering how huge he became, but he was one of those guys that Vince didn't see that in initally (much like Cena, and of course DB). When it got over, though, WWE ran with it. Compare that to Daniel Bryan. When Bryan started getting over, they took the opposite philosophy of "Wait... why the fuck do you like *him*? You're not supposed to like him!" and didn't jump on that train nearly as fast as they did with Stone Cold. I mean, imagine if in the midst of all the Austin 3:16 signs and KotR victory, they decided to just not feature him all that well, have him get his ass kicked a lot, then decide he needs to start wearing a J.O.B. Squad t-shirt awhile? We wouldn't be remembering him so fondly about now, and neither would those listed metrics during what actually became Austin's heyday.
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