10 Least Effective Swerve Turns In Wrestling History

8. Steve Austin

Goldberg Turn
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Steve Austin's WrestleMania X-Seven heel turn made creative, if not financial, sense; the returning Rattlesnake was a more desperate beast, equipped with the unenviable knowledge that The Rock had supplanted him in the fictional landscape. He needed to beat Rock to prove to himself that he was still the man, but because he knew deep down that he couldn't, he forged a pact with the "devil himself". It was brave storytelling that didn't so much err on the side of foolish as burst the b*stard bubble.

Austin was too entrenched as a hero, there were no heroes capable of replacing him, and his presumed future rival Triple H tore his quad just as their Two Man Power Trip tandem took shape. It was a misfire, and the Invasion angle presented the WWF with an opportunity to retcon it all in such a way that actually made sense: confronted with the invading Alliance faction, Austin should have simply represented the company that made him a star, as opposed to the company that jobbed him out to Jim Duggan in under a minute.

Bruce Prichard maintains on his podcast that Vince's braintrust, to a man, pleaded with him to reverse course, but he probably just agreed with him, let's face it.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!