Pt 4: The Controversial - Stone Cold Steve Austin Heel Turn

[DJ-LyRiX]

You know which one I'm talking about. At Wrestlemania X-Seven, Stone Cold aligned with Mr McMahon to take out the Rock and win the WWF Championship.

Watching the match as I just have, the finish surprised me. Rock wasn't pinned after the umpteenth Stunner, he lost after Austin went crazy with a steel chair and battered the Rock, utilising a chair more viciously than I have seen anyone ever use one.

The turn itself lasted from April until November, incorporating the Alliance vs WWF into that. But did it work?

Some pinpoint the height of WWF/E's success on WM17, saying that Austin's turn make people switch off in disgust rather than see who would whoop him. Rock left shortly after to make "Scorpion King", which left another seismic gap in who would be top face in the company. Undertaker & Jericho, who would fill the Rock's shoes until his return, both underwent heel turns within the following 12 months.

Did Austin's turn ruin the WWF/E's momentum? Was it because Vince had just bought WCW, and therefore just a coincidence? Did the turn work, and if not, then why not?!

Thoughts people!!!

 

[avi01]

I love Austin`s heel run in 01. He was fantastic..really different and refreshing.
What ruin WWF`s 2001 momentum IMO was the invasion. People didn`t stop watching because Austin turned heel.....nah. However it was rather disappointing not to see the Rock stay and continue the feud.

 

[tman2019]

I dont know if WWE lost a lot of momentum, I just think that they slowed down with there being no competition anymore.

Once Austin turned Heel WWE became a comedy show. Austin and Angle singing to McMahon, comedy skits and such. When Rock came back that was all funny too. Rock and Jericho were cutting some of the funniest promos I have ever seen. I dont know if they were the best though. I still enjoyed it, but I think they focused less on the wrestling and storylines and more on making people laugh. It was funny for wrestling fans, but for non-wrestling fans or WCW fans switching over to Raw it wasn't what they were expecting.

 

[midgensa]

It simply was too late. This turn would have ONLY worked if they had taken it and did The Rock vs. Austin for a few months. Unfortunately, Rock was gone the next night. They could have turned Trips face the next night too, but they had him stay full heel ... which worked.
All in all though ... the heel run was short because there were not enough faces to keep it strong. Angle was the strongest face during the run ... and that was only because of the patriotism following Sept. 11. In all honesty ... without 9-11, Austin's run would have really struggled because they would not have had a logical face to go up against him.
I think with Rock leaving it hurt where this turn could have went. And then when Trips tore his quad it took out the fact that they were such a scary heel combo and everything got stale quickly. Might be a fair call to say this was where the ratings decline really started and has not ever recovered.

 

[dc1]

erm 1st 9-11 was way after this point after the rock had returned and angle was a heel during this time, even after he swerved the alliance he was still a heel.
the original plan b4 HHH quad tear was for him and austin to unite short term, leading to a split with austin joining the alliance and trips been the major wwf face, b4 the rocks return.

 

[DJ-LyRiX]

i don't think Angle was a strong enough face to work. that was the issue with him. People just didn't care enough, he was just the type of personality that you disliked naturally. Same with Randy Orton. His face turn didn't work under the same principle.

Some good points here, keep em coming! Let me know if you are liking my "controversial" threads also.

 

[Phoenix]

I think all the heel turn did was refresh Austin and show that the Attitude era was over. He had never truly played a heel role since he became Stone Cold and there was little to take Austin after the feud with Triple H that ended before Wrestlemania.

2000 saw WWE cope without Austin and then 2001 saw it cope without Rock, Triple H and Chris Benoit. These were three of the guys that could have great feuds with Austin had they not got injured.

Rock's film making might have not been great, but it helped take the Taker and Kane duo alot more seriously as it really did heat up with Austin, Triple, Taker & Kane feuding it out. Unfortunately momentum was lost due to Kane's elbow playing up.

Had Triple H not been injured, I think we would have seen Triple H turn face and fued with Austin over the title, it would make sense, but again the injury messed it up, we had Angle and Austin being buddys (WHAT?) and then feuding, was alot on Kurt at the time and I did get bored of him around No Mercy.

Had Chris Benoit not been injured, I really think we would have seen his main event push come here, he was solid, alot more reliable to put a feud up, he's had title match experiences, I seriously think that all that happened between Jericho and The Rock could have easily been for Benoit, or even the Angle-Austin feud. The injury did cost.

Where the focus drifted on Austin's Heel turn, the reason it went wrong was because WWE lost three top stars in the space of 5 months (one returned being The Rock), all of them capable of putting on a great programme with Austin, unfortunately this led to the likes of Angle and Jericho getting put into situations that they weren't ready for.

In short injuries messed everything up, meaning people were pushed prematurely, Austin had limited feuds and the Alliance angle flopped because it wasn't worked out the way it should. Austin needed refreshment, unfortunately the people he would have been able to feud with were not there!

 

[avi01]

Angle was the strongest face during the run ... and that was only because of the patriotism following Sept. 11

That`s not true. Angle was already full of momentum and so was his feud with Austin BEFORE 9-11. Summerslam happen before 9-11

 

[DJ-LyRiX]

I think another reason the WWE messed up was because of the storylines that happened post-WM17. The Invasion story didn't work because only a fraction of top WCW stars went to WWE. If they got Steiner, Hogan, Nash, Goldberg, Sting & Flair all at once (or in Sting's case, at all) involved with the Invasion, they would have had an amazing Invasion that people believe WCW could have won. Instead, they had a bunch of mid-carders and WWE performers that people knew had just kayfabe made the switch. A bunch of outsiders would have been more intimidating yet interesting for WWE fans, and more exciting for WCW fans, thus incorporating both sets properly.