There's no better example of a heel that became a face because of the fan reaction than "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He's the poster child for it. Towards the end of 1996, Austin was receiving a push as he started a feud with Bret Hart. There were several great moments of his heel run, but the one that stands out was his promo segment with Brian Pillman in October 1996. Austin was furious that Pillman (his former tag partner in WCW) was excited about Hart facing Austin, so Austin destroyed him and injured his ankle by using a chair to bring even more pain. It was one of the most violent attacks we've ever seen in WWE, yet a few months later he was getting cheered for his actions. http://youtu.be/NPusp3-Tt_A The reason I mention Pillman is because Austin has told the story many times that it was around this period when Austin thought of himself as a heel and Pillman, his good friend, had to convince him that he had become a babyface. It was such a different thing for wrestling. Austin's gimmick changed the business because he was a bad guy doing bad things that was getting cheered just because he was different than what we were used to. Austin's full fledged babyface turn in 1997, thanks in large part to the WrestleMania 13 classic with Bret Hart, was the beginning of the most successful run of any character in WWE over the next five years. Stone Cold was a special performer that acted like a heel a lot of the time, yet he was so good at it and so entertaining that he became the biggest babyface in the world. Good luck duplicating Austin's career. They will always try to create another Stone Cold, but it won't happen again.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
