10 Wrestlers Who Gambled On A New Character

6. Steve Austin: The Anti-Stone Cold

Stone Cold Steve Austin Kurt Angle
wwe

Steve Austin played a counterproductive role throughout 2001, and Vince McMahon's decision to turn him heel tanked the WWF as a ratings-drawing powerhouse.

The premise was decent, and because this was Steve Austin, much of it was entertaining. If the fans adored Austin for beating up Vince McMahon, they'd hate him for his new sycophantic role, in which he hugged the boss he was now obsessed with in addition to buying him gifts. It didn't work out like that.

While amusing, it wasn't remotely believable nor flattering, and tonally, it was a mess. With fans resisting to the turn, Austin was booked in the meantime to double down and unleash vile physical assaults on Lita and Jim Ross that were more disturbing than anything else. He didn't draw earnest heat.

This period is fondly remembered by many fans, and his bits with Kurt Angle were too silly not to pop for. Austin was a gifted comedian. But really, this was all self-indulgent and counterproductive; even Vince suspected they were having too much fun and threatened to fine both men for corpsing.

But then, he'd already lost enough money by taking his biggest drawing star ever and turning them into the opposite version of the character.

He never turned Hulk Hogan into a nice and honest man, so why did he f*ck around with Austin?

In this post: 
CM Punk
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

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!