I remember when he first told that story and I thought "Damn Steve, are you trying to write a bigger check for Jeannie?"

If there's no incentive, why be "inspired"? It used to be, that guys worked hard and got themselves over and were rewarded, that's no longer the case. Now when you get over, they bury you to "test you out" and sometimes forget about you (Drew McIntyre, Zeke, MVP, etc, blah, blah) so what's the point? Austin came up with the whole SCSA gimmick (needs to break bread with the Sandman too) but he still didn't get a push until Bret came back and started talking him up.
Someone is going to have to start beating them again or Vince is going to have to retire/die for there to be any change in WWE longterm.