There is no amount of J.R.-speak that could make the notion of Stone Cold forming an alliance with Vince McMahon palatable. Or reasonable. Or not completely f*cking dumb. The lack of foresight that went into this outrageous-solely-for-the-sake-of-outrage twist made this WrestleMania moment a confusing and awkward moment. Fans just kept waiting for Austin to be done "using" McMahon to win the match and belt him with a chair shot across the skull. When that moment didn't come...things got reeeeeeal solemn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltNSHMoqZ3E Ross, who was closer to Austin than anyone else in the company, was always superb at selling every bloody bit of Austin's career. Because he wasn't just getting over a wrestler, he was getting over a friend. So that should have made this turn to the dark side a relatively easy one for J.R. to sell. And by God did he try:
"GOD ALMIGHTY! WHAT IS THIS?""STONE COLD IS SHAKING HANDS WITH SATAN HIMSELF! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEONE TELL ME THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!"
But none of it really helped. Though, to be fair, at least part of the blame has to be leveled at Paul Heyman who kept stepping over J.R.'s attempts to create dramatic tension (because he's Paul Heyman and he can scream louder than you!), but let's face it, there really weren't any words to heal the betrayal Stone Cold's fans' felt in that moment.
