Austin's heel run

[Gavschenko]

I watched the latest stone cold dvd last night and he mentions he thinks his heel run didnt work and i always see alot of members of this forum said it didnt work but why.Night in and night out he got booed out of the building of what i've been watching of the 2001 year recently, people say fans didnt want to boo him but i beg to differ as ive seen him booed out of the building and getting heat isnt that what makes a good heel and we all wanted to see angle kick his ass at Summerslam and Unforgiven.

During his heel run he got to show that he's the best of all time that he can do something other than just playing a tough guy his segments with vince were gold hugging vince after torrie said he looks handsome, i cant find the clip on youtube i seen it recently on the action dvd.His heel run also got started the famous what? chants. With watching the raw's and smackdown's i dont see anything to suggest that his heel run was terrible?

:What do you think about his heel run i'd like to hear your'e thoughts.

 

[Mantis]

I've also noticed that his 2001 heel turn gets mentioned for the decline in business post-WM17. But other factors, such as HHH/Benoit being injured for the year, the Rock going to Hollywood, and the somewhat underwhelming Invasion deserve more of the blame.

I for one, enjoyed it and he got pretty good heat during that time. Maybe not Bash at the Beach '96-level heat, but still mostly the reaction he was trying to get. It wasn't the best bad guy run of all time, but he got to show much more range as a performer and it was always entertaining.

 

[Austin420]

I believe WM 17 and the whole year of 2001 was the best year in wrestling history. Stone Cold proved that he could turn heel and partner up with vince and still be the biggest star they ever had. Even though people booed him(I didnt cause I love Austin) he still drew the most attention and heat. The two man power trip vs undertaker and kane at Backlash ranks as one of the best matches of all time. Also, without Stone Cold the alliance would have been whack. And if you look at it Stone Cold didnt really change other than hug vince every once in a while lol, Austin still was a badass on the mic and got under peoples skin just like he did as a face. The WWF needed Austin to turn heel so they could put over kurt angle and chris jericho. All in all, wrestling is about change and it took alot of guts to turn Austin heel but god dammit i'm glad they did. Attitude ERA 4 Life!!!

 

[2Sweet_4Life]

I hated Austin as a heel- But the way I was meant to. I grew up watching him and he was my favourite as he was for most fans my age (it was always Austin or Rock for people's favourite wrestler). I really wanted to see Kane & Taker to beat the 2 man power trip and I seem to remember going crazy when Benoit & Y2J beat them on Raw (Best tag match ever on Raw) as I hated Austin so much. His run as a heel was extremely successful IMO as he got a lot of heat but there was a few in the crowd who actually liked him MORE for being a heel.

I think his heel persona was kind of ruined in the invasion angle as I couldn't understand why he was on wCw and didn't draw a lot of heat as it was the time of the What? chants.

I seem to remember him doing a segment with JR were he beat the crap out him after Vince ordered him too which drew a lot of heat.

 

[Eyebrows]

I think his heel run just gets compared to his face run which, let's face it, couldn't be beat. People wanted Austin to go back to his anti-hero, sticking it to the man persona. That being said, as a 12 year old mark I was absolutely livid both when Austin beat The Rock at Mania and when Austin switched to the Alliance, so the execution was fine in my book.

Judged on it's own merits, though, I don't think his heel run was a bad idea but if I remember rightly he played the cowardly heel? At least at the start, correct me if I'm wrong though. I don't think people bought into that after watching him be a badass for so many years.

They were also in short supply of legit, main event level heels at that time, especially after turning Benoit, and HHH getting injured. They essentially just had Angle. Until the Invasion came in full swing I don't really see who else they could have elevated.

Some of the segments with Angle/Austin vying for Vince's affection were comedy goal and that heel run helped to put over Benoit, Jericho, Angle and RVD. So not all bad.

 

[SaveUsCMPunk]

Both the Invasion Angle and Austin's 2001 heel run receive too much criticism. At the time when I first saw Austin like this as a whiny, cowardly heel, it was like stepping into an alternate universe. I wanted to see Jericho, Benoit, Undertaker, Kane and Angle kick his ass. I was surprised he held the title as long as he did because title reigns were 4 months top back then, mostly. Austin did a great job as a heel during his short heel run. He provided us with some entertaining moments that will live forever. (Austin Appreciation Night, singing to Vince, hugging Vince, taunting Angle with an epic promo before tossing his medals in the river, leading the Alliance with "Leadership by Example.") His he had some great catchphrases during this time: "My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin. I am the World Wrestling Federation Champion." "I don't deserve this!" (WTF at first but later it was pretty damn funny.) "You mealy-mouthed bastard!" "Look at me! Don't eyeball me! Look at me!" "Look at ya! You're pathetic!" "I like ya. Not that much, but I like ya." "I like ya. You mean the world to me. Really." "I appreciate that you appreciate me." Well, not all of those were catchphrases but Stone Cold was must see and must listen to in 2001. His heel turn also introduced "What?" as a catchphrase. Annoying to some, but can anyone say they haven't used "What?" to intentionally annoy someone after this? His performance as a heel in 2001 just proves how much of a legend he is. Sure, maybe people did cheer for him even though he did dastardly deeds, but I was booing him at the time. I still find it interesting how he went from being a heel at Survivor Series 2001 to a face the next night on Raw. God, I wish it was 2001 still. Great, yet underrated (and underappreciated) year.

 

[thebarber]

Austin's comedy routine during his heel run really took away his aura, in my opinion. As HHH and Benoit were out, he had to carry the main event scene with Angle pretty much the second half of 2001. I think if he was utilised as a hard ass heel, he could have been even better, or stayed face and used to ward off the WCW invasion. Having him on Team WCW was such a slap in the face to any fan who knows about Austins history. The entire invasion was shitful overall, as it was WWE guys in all of the top spots on both sides of the so-called invasion.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I still don't really understand that, knowing The Rock was leaving temporarily, why they would turn Stone Cold heel anyways? Now they have zero top faces. Plus Triple H gets injured, but he was a heel as well. So Taker, Kane, Jericho, Angle and Benoit had to pick up the slack as top faces in the company. And they did an admirable job. But Austin WAS the top face. He spent the last three years kicking everyone's ass, people loved to watch it, and WWE made a ton of money off it. Without Rocky, I just thought it was a silly idea to turn him heel.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I still don't really understand that, knowing The Rock was leaving temporarily, why they would turn Stone Cold heel anyways? Now they have zero top faces. Plus Triple H gets injured, but he was a heel as well. So Taker, Kane, Jericho, Angle and Benoit had to pick up the slack as top faces in the company. And they did an admirable job. But Austin WAS the top face. He spent the last three years kicking everyone's ass, people loved to watch it, and WWE made a ton of money off it. Without Rocky, I just thought it was a silly idea to turn him heel.

Allegedly, the plan was to eventually turn Triple H face to go against Austin at Summerslam. Then he blew out his quad.

I kind of have to agree, here. I've been watching all of the shows from 01 recently and while maybe they didn't want to boo Austin in Texas that first week, he was getting crazy heat shortly thereafter.

They had to have him do some dastardly shit to get that heat too. Beating up JR, destroying the Hardys and Lita, etc.

 

[HBsam31]

I remember him attacking Lita. It was pretty hardcore. Like has been said, the had to go the route of him doing really bad things to get the heel heat. I actually liked that Stone Cold. I agree with The Barber that it was the comedy stuff that really took the luster out of Austin. Some of it was funny, but I would have rather seen him as a real tough heel than the comedy stuff. Overall i enjoyed his heel run though, and I think it gets unfairly criticized.

 

[SSJPhenom]

I think at first it worked as it was supposed to work.

When Austin turned heel at the end of WM 17 it was a low blow to all of the fans that were watching. While he aligned himself with VKM, he got as much heat as any heel had gotten. He played a great heel character. Remember when he aligned himself with HHH for that short partnership? They were legitimately the top two heels in the business at that point in time.

Where it feel apart at, IMO, is when Austin turned on the WWF and joined the Alliance. I think that part of it was a massive fail. That's when he started doing the what chant and his interview and promo segments started to become extremely funny and entertaining and the fans started to love him again.

So the Austin heel character worked after WM 17 up until he joined the Alliance and that's where it all fell apart, IMO.

 

[Lancer]

I think that Steve Austin's heel run in 2001 was half bad, half good.

Bad: It was bad because it felt forced. First, he joined sides with a man (Vince) whom he hated and reviled; we were all witnesses to the hell they put each other through the previous few years. And then all of a sudden we were supposed to buy they were friends/associates? I even didn't buy it and back then I was a total mark. And the heel turn happened in Houston, Texas of all places-a state where he will always be cheered regardless. The Wrestlemania 17 crowd seemed to give a more confused reaction, as opposed to the huge boos WWF officials might have been expecting.

Second, later they stuck him in the WCW/ECW Alliance, a team full of nobodies (at least to casual WWF fans). They had a hard time getting over as a threat (be it booking, lack of star power, whatever the case was). Austin was probably meant to give them more credibility, but the union seemed to hurt Austin more than help the Alliance. Anyone else remember the lame speeches he would give to them? Of course they were comical, but how did Austin get over as a badass heel, and the Alliance as a threat, when they were comedy relief? And the hugging and singing segments with Vince were awful.

Third: The genesis of "What?" Enough said.

Fourth: Debra's cookies.

Good: It showed Austin had range to his character. Also, newer faces of the company were being built up, regardless of the presence of the Alliance or not. Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, and Booker T to a lesser extent were all prepped further for the main event with Stone Cold stepping back as the top dog.

In the end, though, I'm not convinced the heel run was entirely thought through...

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

Everything about the early parts of the heel run were just so out of character for him. The goofy comedy stuff. Looking back at it now, it's awesome because we were seeing the return of that goofy side of Austin that we seen in ECW which was hilarious in that setting. In the WWE setting though were everything is goofy, it was just out of character for him.

From what I've seen, I think he was an outstanding heel around October of 2001 when he was more dangerous and violent. It was like the character returned to his 96-97 roots.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Austin when he turned heel in 2001 at WrestleMania 17 his heel turn was so unexpected that no one saw it coming and when he turned a part of me was shocked and angry especially as an 11-year-old but the more I think about it now I realize that Austin's heel run was actually a success for the most part especially during the whole Alliance/WWF angle but nothing beats Austin's heel run in 96/97 when he first came on to the scene

 

[harrythem]

I loved Austin's heel work in 2001. To me it's still the best example of wrestling comedy ever. He still tore it up between the ropes but the backstage stuff with Angle and Vince still makes me laugh to this day, as does his little sing-songs with The Rock (Magaritaville is still my fave). It gets a bad wrap but, to me, that's more to cover for other stuff...kinda like "The self-destruction of The Ultimate Warrior" does its best to ignore the mistakes WWE/WCW made with him and blame it on the man himself.