3. Steve Austin Turns Heel Twice After WrestleMania 17 To Little Success - 2001
The decision to turn the top star in the company heel at the biggest show of the year (and possibly all-time) was born out of a combination of the desire to shock the world and the company needing to go in a new direction. Austin was number one, but how many times can he face off against Vince McMahon? The ending of Wrestlemania X-7 is one of the most surreal wrestling fans had ever seen after being inundated with the Austin/McMahon feud over the previous three years. Creatively, the Austin heel turn was a breath of fresh air. Suddenly the badass Austin was acting cowardly and giving hugs. However, outside circumstances worked against Stone Cold. First, Rock left the night after Wrestlemania to film a movie. Two months later Triple H tore his quad, and the month after, Chris Benoit, who was quickly rising up the ranks to be a top star, went down with neck surgery. The lack of star power forced the WWF to hotshot the WCW InVasion angle, first portraying WCW and Booker T as the main babyfaces before realizing that WWF fans did not want to root against the WWF, so they made WCW the heels and teased turning Austin back babyface (representing to WWF) before keeping him as a heel (where he jumped to WCW). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM8kNZfv3cU While Austin at the head of the Alliance continued the WWFs commitment to him as the top heel in the company, it would be a one-word catchphrase that was originally designed to be annoying that would change Stone Colds career trajectory. The What? chant got over more than anybody anticipated, and suddenly Austin was getting cheered again. The night after the Alliance angle ended, Austin was turned back babyface, feuded with Vince McMahon, and it was if the previous eight months were a mirage. Stone Cold as a heel was interesting for a while, but ultimately it ended up meaning nothing.
