What made Austin vs Rock stand out as terrible booking was the fact that it had been so perfect up until the finish. From the brilliant prematch video to the tune of Limp Bizkit's My Way to the actual exhilaration of the action in the bout, this was looking like the greatest match of the entire Attitude Era. And then it happened. Following over twenty minutes of back and forth wrestling, Vince McMahon came to the ring. He handed Austin a chair and the Rattlesnake then started battering The Rock. After a series of chair shots, Austin covered for the win. He then shook hands with McMahon. Apart from being a dismal finish to what had been a epic confrontation, it was also the most ill conceived booking decision that the WWE ever made. For one thing, Austin was in his home state of Texas. As if the loyal Texans would ever boo him. Even if it wasn't in Texas, the heel turn still wouldn't have worked Austin's the most naturally over act ever, you can't just make people boo him. The ramifications of this booking catastrophe were grave. Austin's character was never the same again and neither was the WWE. It was the moment that fans turned away from the product, unable to accept a heel Steve Austin.
