The shocking ending to WrestleMania 17 saw Steve Austin turning heel to win his epic encounter with The Rock. Many fans and pundits view this night as the biggest show in WWE history with the two icons of the Attitude Era facing off. Austin turning heel was a huge risk since he was a money-making face to help the company rise.
The aftermath saw Austin getting his wish to have a main event heel run in WWE since he preferred that side of the character. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a huge bust with many people in the company regretting the move. WWE lost out on money by wasting one of the final prime years of such a legend. The following things about Austin’s heel turn provided confusion leading to it flopping.
10 Trusting Vince
The strangest aspect of Steve Austin’s heel turn was that he joined forces with Vince McMahon. Austin and McMahon spent years feuding leading up to this moment that left everyone watching WrestleMania X-Seven in complete shock.
The logic behind the turn was a bit strange since Vince spent so much time trying to make Austin’s life miserable. WWE wanted Austin’s desperation to be the driving force behind the turn, but it was just a strange way to plan out such a huge character change.
9 First Program With The Undertaker
The Undertaker and Steve Austin had quite a few matches throughout the years. Austin was playing a clear-cut heel for the first time since becoming a top star. Everyone expected him to feud with The Rock, a face Triple H, or another rising star.
Undertaker always had the fan support and credibility, but it felt like a step down for Austin to move into a program with him. The program was obvious that Austin would retain, and it made his heel run start off with less momentum than desired.
8 WCW Face Booker T Attacking WWF Heel Austin: Who Are Fans Suppose To Cheer/Boo?
WCW was planned to be heels when invading WWE and trying to attack the company that fans watching were clearly supporting. Booker T made his first WWE appearance as the WCW Champion by attacking the heel Austin at the King of the Ring 2001 PPV.
Fans were unsure about who to cheer when the WCW fan-favorite attacked the WWE heel. However, WWE changed the dynamic for the next PPV with all the WCW and ECW wrestlers playing heels. Austin and Booker didn’t have a proper feud until the Invasion angle ended.
7 Becoming Leader of The Alliance
WWE didn’t have much long-term planning when starting the Invasion storyline. There were not many WCW main eventers coming over and quite a few top WWE names were out of action. The idea to have The Alliance form came when realizing many ECW stars were signed to merge with WCW.
Steve Austin turning heel after going face for one week saw him becoming the new leader of The Alliance. This completely ruined the appeal since WWE’s biggest star was now the person representing WCW and ECW.
6 Picking On Tazz
The run of Tazz in WWE was a huge disappointment after signing with huge hype in WWE. ECW fans loved watching Tazz as a top star and he even had a great WWE debut. However, the booking saw him lower in the pecking order when the Invasion started.
Steve Austin started singling Tazz out during their segments together for being a weak link and not showing him enough respect. It made little sense that Tazz was his target since there was no backstory or payoff in mind.
5 Fake Face Turn Attacking The Alliance
The 2001 heel turn of Steve Austin featured one week of him as a face during the Invasion storyline. Austin was talked into going back to the “old” Stone Cold that led to him attacking everyone from WCW and ECW in a dramatic fashion.
The fans loved the moment, but it ended up meaning nothing when Austin turned heel to join The Alliance. It made zero sense why Austin would attack all the wrestlers that he would help win just days later.
4 Hostility With Rob Van Dam
The outstanding success for Rob Van Dam at the start of The Alliance saw him representing the ECW side of things. Fans started to naturally cheer for RVD with his great matches and likable persona adding something new to the show.
Steve Austin started targeting Van Dam negatively during the group segments of The Alliance together. It made no sense why Austin would try to upset the one Alliance wrestler who was actually representing well with huge victories over WWE stars.
3 Ending The Heel Run With No Explanation
2001 ended with Steve Austin once again playing a face character during his feud with Vince McMahon, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Chris Jericho as heels. The Survivor Series 2001 win for Team WWE over Team Alliance saw Austin turning face the following night.
Vince’s arrogance about winning saw him being the hated character again, but Ric Flair was revealed as the new co-boss after purchasing half of WWE from Shane and Stephanie. Austin attacking Vince and Angle while still holding the WWE Championship made him a heel even though he tried to kill the copy just 24 hours prior.
2 Aligning With Triple H
Triple H and Steve Austin uniting to form The Two Man Power Trip made them the most hated wrestlers in WWE. Fans wanted Triple H to turn on Austin since the two had a huge rivalry, but they united to move forward as the heels holding all the gold and power.
The thinking behind it was strange since Austin and Triple H had one of the bloodiest WWE rivalries just months prior. Triple H was the one who had orchestrated Austin getting run over by a car. The months of violent matches ended with them making peace as a tag team despite having little sense behind it.
1 Heel Turn in Texas
The timing of the heel turn made Steve Austin’s character shift a harder sell. Austin vs The Rock at WrestleMania X-Seven had one of the greatest big match atmospheres of two huge faces battling it out for the WWE Championship.
However, the audience was on the side of Austin since the event was in his home state of Texas. Other crowds may have cheered Rock harder, but Austin was the one with the hometown advantage. Fans cheered the moment that The Texas Rattlesnake won the gold even though it came in the worst fashion possible.