The mechanical properties of steels depend significantly on structural parameters such as grain size, dislocation density, as well as on grain-boundary type, presence of dispersed precipitates, etc. The most effective industrial method for fabrication of rolled steel for various purposes is thermomechanical treatment, which involves a combination of plastic deformations at elevated temperatures, pauses between deformations, and controlled cooling in various combinations. By adjusting the parameters of the thermomechanical treatment mode, it is possible to obtain structures of different types formed because of specific recovery processes in hot-deformed austenite. This approach allows for the control of steel properties over a wide range through microstructural design. At present, the nature of recovery processes in hot-deformed austenite, which are responsible for the formation of the structure in thermomechanically-hardened steels, has been thoroughly studied. These processes are successfully utilized in practice to obtain high-strength metal products. However, their rational application in the context of softening thermomechanical treatment of steel wire rod is studied insufficiently and remains largely unclear. This article provides a review of available scientific and technical publications concerning work hardening, recovery, grain-boundary migration, and grain nucleation and growth associated with dynamic, metadynamic, and static recrystallization of steels. It also examines the influence of austenite grain size, temperature, and strain rate on these processes during high-speed hot rolling of steel products and post-deformation cooling of rolled products under industrial conditions. The authors develop further ideas regarding the fundamental principles of softening thermomechanical treatment of steel wire rod in the flow of state-of-the-art technological lines. The main concept of this treatment is based on creating a specific structural state of hot-deformed austenite before transformation of it. This state is characterized by a fine grain size due to the development of dynamic recrystallization, as well as a minimum dislocation density and their rearrangement into cell walls due to the subsequent occurrence of static return and metadynamic recrystallization. The transformation of fine-grained metastable austenite during this thermomechanical treatment scheme begins at higher temperatures compared to the coarse-grained state. In the case of low-carbon alloy steels, this transformation is accompanied by: formation of a larger fraction of structurally free ferrite; a lower degree of microdeformation in its crystalline structure; a decrease in solid-solution hardening due to reduced carbon concentration in ferrite; a lower probability of forming bainitic and martensitic structures during the air-cooling of the wire rod on the conveyor of the Stelmor® line. This concept serves as the main prerequisite for addressing the important scientific and applied problem — the plasticization of low-carbon alloy steel wire rod, specifically for welding purposes, which is subsequently subjected to cold plastic deformation (by drawing) at high degrees of deformation.