10 Most Shocking Wrestling Betrayals
4. Stone Cold Turns In Texas
In the (retrospectively weak) build for WrestleMania X-Seven's main event, Steve Austin practically reverted to the early, less overtly comical incarnation of the 'Stone Cold' gimmick, so intent was he on capturing the WWF Heavyweight Title from The Rock.
His obsession foreshadowed the infamous coda of the storyline, but it did not telegraph it. The WWF was very fond of swerves in the Attitude Era. Foreshadowing was often rendered pointless, such was the head-spinning frequency with which storylines were twisted and retconned within an inch of their life.
Besides which, the prospect of Austin turning was inconceivable. He had already allied with Vince McMahon, in 1999 - it was not without precedent - but the boss soon turned heel again. With the conspicuous exception of Austin, who it was felt fans could not buy in the heel role, nobody stayed on one side of the fence for long. Storylines churned with such speed that they couldn't.
Adding to the curiousness of Austin's behavioural red flags was the fact that WrestleMania X-Seven was held in his home state of Texas - and that The Rock was due to begin shooting The Scorpion King in the spring. That would have left the WWF without a top babyface.
And it did; to widespread shock, Austin defeated Rock with the aid of Mr. McMahon and multiple chair shots. Alas, fans couldn't Austin in the black hat. He then turned, and turned again, in a year in which the WWF's creative fortunes were similarly mixed.