10 Wrestlers Who Became Everything They HATED
5. Steve Austin Becomes A Parody Of Himself
If anyone grabs a minute with 'Stone Cold', ask him to name some of his biggest regrets and he'll surely talk about not calling an ad-lib at WrestleMania X-Seven by kick, wham, stunnering Vince McMahon to remain babyface. That's the night Steve Austin went heel, and he really wishes he hadn't bothered.
Sure, it led to some hilarious stuff with cowboy hats, badges ("we don't need no stinkin badges!"), guitars etc with Kurt Angle and McMahon, but at what cost? Austin completely lost his edge for a long time, and he became a parody of himself by splicing in comedic cowardice with an off-the-wall approach.
It's clear looking back that the promotion wanted to depict Austin as somebody who had lost his damn mind, but they told that story too clumsily for it to be effective in the heat of the moment. Remember, just one tiny tweak can lead to disastrous results for even WWE's best. It really doesn't take much for things to go south.
Today, Austin wishes he'd torn up the script, remained anti-hero face, and then continued giving fans what they wanted to see from him for the rest of '01.