WWE: 9 Unforgivably Stupid Gimmicks That Ruined Great Characters

8. Steve The Hugger

Steve Austin had the hottest run in wrestling history in the late 90s, but he reached heights that were unsustainable, and his character had to change at least a little to stay fresh. In a controversial move, Austin turned heel against the The Rock at WrestleMania 17, and joined his longtime nemesis Vince McMahon. Sure, Austin start doing bad things to get fans to hate him, but he quickly did a complete 180 that made his character virtually unrecognizable.

Austin went from being a total badass to a man who needed constant attention and love from his boss. He showered McMahon with presents, and started giving him routine hugs. These two men made each other's lives a living hell for the past couple years, but here they were now just sharing a friendly hug. The hugs, though, weren't quite mutual: McMahon didn't seem to be so into them. He was creeped out, while Austin always held an almost perverse look on his face during the drawn out holding. Things became even weirder when Kurt Angle joined the fold as another McMahon lackey - the two competed for Vince's attention, and even sang (horribly) to him. Was it funny? Absolutely. But did it draw actual good crowd heat and make you hate Austin? Not at all. Austin's heel run was an absolute flop, and only served to damage his legendary character.
Contributor

As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at." Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week. Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com