The most significant event that occurred on wrestling PPV this month may not have been Taz's final appearance in ECW, Paul Wight winning the WWF title or the crowning of a new WCW champ. It may have been the "Austin gets hit by a car" angle that kept Stone Cold from participating at Survivor Series.

Okay, it was a hokey angle and it's not like a hit-and-run by an unknown (even to Vince McMahon?) assailant is anything new (how many times has Lawler done it in Memphis). However, the real-life situation that precipitated the angle certainly is something that could have last ramifications not only for the WWF, but also for the entire wrestling industry.

That situation is the apparently deteriorating physical condition of Steve Austin, mainly from the neck injuries stemming from the infamous match with Owen Hart at Summerslam 97. Just how bad may it be for Stone Cold? Some reports say it may be career threatening. (And all of those recent knee problems can't be helping matters any.)

If things really are as bad as some are making it out to be, just where does that leave Vince McMahon and the WWF? Just how secure, both financially and aesthetically, is the company without the Texas Rattlesnake?

On the surface, it would appear that losing Austin as an in-ring performer would be a major hit, but one that be overcome. Over the last couple months, it's not out of line to suggest that the Rock was "more popular" than Stone Cold. Austin was missing for some of that time due to his knee injuries and "out of sight, out of mind" is a slogan that can definitely sum of the reactions of many wrestling fans.

Some people even argued that with the Rock's sky high popularity (or at least his ability to get thousands · and thousands of people to chant various catchphrases), now would be a good time to pass the torch, with a face Rocky defeating a freshly turned heel Austin.

That, however, may be a tad simplistic. The Rock may have Pavlov's fans chanting his name, but does that really compete with the gigantic pops that accompany the mere hint of breaking glass coming over the TitanTron?

And it's easily to be popular at the height of a wave's crest. It's another thing to be the man largely responsible for turning around the fortunes of an entire company. And let's not forget that sales of Austin memorabilia eclipsed those of Hulk Hogan a decade earlier by margins that still seem hard to believe.

Sure, the Rock is People Magazine's Sexiest Wrestler and he's going to be on Voyager. But he still is really not a household name. His "Q" rating just cannot be anywhere near that of Austin. Not only has Austin been a recurring character on network TV, but he's been also invited to be on award shows. Hell, he's even done a milk ad.

And let's hope Copernicus and his flunkies in Atlanta aren't seeing one man's injury as a way to pass the WWF in the public eye and in the Nielsen books. The loss of Austin from the front lines of the wrestling war would probably have an overall effect on both companies. Those along for the fad mainly because of Austin may leave when he is forced out of the ring, regardless of how compelling WCW or the WWF may be at the time.

This is not to say that the business will collapse back into the dark ages of the early 1990s is Austin is unable to wrestle. McMahon could possibly create some compelling non-strenuous position for him, much in the way he did for Shawn Michaels when the Heartbreak Kid was put on the shelf. But it won't be the same.

If Wrestlemania rolls around next Spring and the main event does not feature a beer drinking, pickup driving, curse-stealing son-of-a-gun, the wrestling world cannot help but be a little less bright. Steven Williams may be a pretty good Jake Cage, but he's an amazing Stone Cold Steve Austin.