What If Austin Didn't Break His Neck In 1997?

[quink987]

ok guys as we all know Steve Austin broke his neck in a great match with owen hart and he never really recovered from it. he was out of action from summerslam 1997 to Suvivor Series 1997 and then over the next 2 years it would catch up with him by forcing him to take a year and half out till unforgiven 2000 when he made his return, and then leaving for good from in ring action at WM19.

so my question is...

do you think Austin would of won the WWE title sooner then when he did?

Would the year 2000 been better if Austin was around?

And the big question is did Austin make the biggest mistake by turning heel in 2001 because he felt stale?

 

[JJ15776]

do you think Austin would of won the WWE title sooner then when he did?

I don't see how that's possible. The initial injury had no impact on the timing of his push and eventual title win. He didn't wrestle between Summerslam and Survivor Series, but he still made the occassional appearance. All it did was force him to give up the IC and Tag Team titles before he otherwise would have. He still would have won the Royal Rumble and won the title at WrestleMania.

Would the year 2000 been better if Austin was around?

Of course. He was the biggest star in the compy and one of the most entertaining and charismatic performers of all time.

The WWE managed to survive, and indeed thrive, because The Rock was there. One of the very few, if not only, men who was MORE entertaining and charismatic ever. And certainly the only man on the roster at the time who could make everybody forget about Austin. Without him 2000 would have been a very different, and very dark, year. So 2000 would have been better with Austin, but not nearly by as much as you'd expect for somebody the calibre of Austin.

And the big question is did Austin make the biggest mistake by turning heel in 2001 because he felt stale?

Which one? The heel turn on The Rock at WrestleMania was not a mistake. They didn't follow up on it properly, but the mistake was keeping Triple H heel the next night on Raw and creating the Power Trip. Face Triple H against heel Austin and Vince should have been the fued of the summer. (that should have been the plan anyway, until Triple H tore his quad) But the swerve face turn/heel turn before and during The InVasion PPV was the big mistake. Of course, there were a lot of mistakes during the entire Invasion storyline...

EDIT: If you're talking about mistakes by Austin and not necessarily the booking of him, then of course his biggest mistake was walking out. He should have worked with Eddie G, he should have worked with Brock, and he should have never been a selfish crybaby who took his ball and went home.

 

[Brian440]

Obviously by my amount of posts, I really don't say much on this board but me being a huge Stone Cold Mark, not ashamed to say it, I just couldn't resist replying to this thread. It now being damn near 2012, even if Austin had never suffered the neck injury, I don't think he would be still be wrestling full time. Maybe a part timer like Undertaker. I think it's good for Austin not being around the past couple of years as we all know his character is NOT PG.

2000 was a great year in my opinion for the WWF(E) even though Stone Cold missed most of it. It was really gave The Rock and Triple H the chance to step up, which they obviously did. Undertaker and Kane were also pretty hot in the year 2000. Austin being around would add even more star power, but the year didn't suffer without him, while he was missed.

I don't think Austin would have won the title any sooner. Wrestlemania 14 was just the perfect place to really ebstablish him as the guy.


Stone Cold felt his character was becoming stale and felt change was needed. Can't really blame him for that, it's just the fans and my 12 year old self at the time, just were not buying it. The heel turn was a failure, even though we got to see some great backstage skits with Austin, Angle, and Vince. Hell, Austin even said on his dvd documentary that if he could go back, he never would have done the heel turn.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I dont think it mattered to much in the time frame in 1997 since he was still all over tv. He got all the titles he had to forfit back. I think everything would have went the same way pretty much and still won the title at wm14.

Late 1999/Early2000 would have been a great to see him fued with HHH.

Personally I loved his heel turn. Although, I do wonder the role he would have played in the invasion angle if he stayed face.

If his carrer lasted longer, maybe they would have went with Austin/Goldberg at WM20? Maybe pass the torch to Cena.

 

[GameOver]

Only thing different is a few extra years of trouble free wrestiing, he still woulda been beaten up, still woulda been the top draw, but likely would've gone atleast a few more years b4 hanging up the boots.

He didn't lose anything during his neck break, he was only out a few months. and was still doing promo's/vignettes, just wasn't competing in ring.

i'd say they still would've held it off til WrestleMania regardless.

oh and Cena woulda had to wait a couple extra years.

Ofcourse that's all in heinsight, timelines may have been vastly different, maybe we'd still be in an TV14 environment, though i doubt it. it's a cycle, about every 6yrs a shift in company face and every 8yrs a total era change
Hogan lasted 6yrs b4 Warrior, and remained til the 8yr mark the focus was shifted to Bret and New Generation (smaller guys) which lasted 5yrs and HBK went rouge a year later, Austin took over 6yrs after Hogan era was effectively done, lasted 5yrs b4 the focus was shifted to The Rock/Triple H and 8yrs since Austin started, the Attitude era was done and Cena took over. now 6yrs later he's no longer the focal point. That's all rough guides ofcourse, but see the picture?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think there would have been some major differences in the WWE landscape... Austin would have kept the IC title through Wrestlemania, so Rock wouldn't have picked it up when he did... Rock would have been next in line but the whole "handing the IC title over" thing wouldn't have played with a 100% Austin. Austin wins Rumble and goes to Mania for Title V Title... so no real change as to when he got the World title... BUT...

It would drastically affect who got it after him, a fit Austin would have fought drastically different opponents. Instead of Mick Foley as his first Feud, I think we'd have seen Austin going against Owen for a longer fued, the Kane loss not happening the way it did and Austin not dropping the belt till Wrestlemania... Instead of the awful McMahon Rumble win, we'd have seen The Rock win the match and beat Austin... That feud would have carried on for quite some time...

Realistically, Austin as he was pre-neck injury delays Rock's reign, prevents Foley and actually makes Attitude a different proposition altogether, because he would have been more of a wrestler and not relied on the Stunner, chairs and the beers as much. The heel turn would have worked far better with a pre-injury Austin.