10 Wrestlers Who Turned Face & Heel In The Same Year
2. Steve Austin (2001)
The face/heel dynamic of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in 2001 is the perfect reflection of how turbulent this period was for WWE. Everybody knows about the infamous ending of WrestleMania X-Seven. When Austin aligned with Vince McMahon, many fans felt this undermined everything the pair had put each other through over the past few years.
The plan was to have Austin reign as a heel for the rest of the year, but then something happened. What was it again? Oh yeah, the Invasion. The biggest thing to happen in wrestling ever at that point. When it was decided that WCW wasn't going to become its own brand, the WWF needed a fearless leader to lead them into battle. Enter 'THE OOOOOOLLLLLDDDDD STONE COLD', who turned face on 16 July.
This lasted 6 days.
Austin turned heel again at the Invasion pay-per-view by siding with The Alliance. As that storyline wrapped up and was swiftly swept under the rug, Austin turned face yet again and acted like the entire thing never happened at all. If WWE had just kept Austin babyface the whole year (which is what everybody wanted in the first place), then things would've been a hell of a lot simpler.