10 Heel And Face Turns That Were Miserable Failures
9. Steve Austin Turns Heel (2001)
This decision has been debated by fans and media, with some calling a catastrophic failure while others view it as the right idea executed poorly. The fact of the matter is that at the time he turned heel in 2001, Steve Austin was in the midst of the greatest run a babyface superstar had ever enjoyed, selling obscene amounts of merchandise and drawing massive gates and buyrates. Austin himself was an advocate of the turn, but in hindsight recognizes how poorly it was handled. The decision to turn him at the conclusion of WrestleMania X-Seven's main event was a controversial one for numerous reasons. For starters, they were in Stone Colds home state of Texas. Austins alliance with his heated rival Vince McMahon completely deflated the entire building and put a damper on whats commonly considered to be the greatest wrestling event of all-time. Not only that, but the philosophy of Mania is almost always send the crowd home happy with a babyface victory, and this was the antithesis of that, directly designed to infuriate the Houston fans. The follow-up was a convoluted mess that eventually saw The Rattlesnake leading The Alliance during the Invasion, a move that made absolutely no sense to anyone watching. You can argue that Austin was getting stale and that it was less of a risk with The Rock waiting to take over as the top guy, but Im sure if WWE had that one to redo theyd try things a little differently. Austin has come out in recent times and said that if he could go back in time he'd call an audible and nail his boss with a Stone Cold Stunner, nixing the heel turn before it started.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
