Why did the fans never turn on Stone Cold?

[mcstoklasa]

Was just watching Summerslam 2002, Rock vs Brock, and it got me thinking...

Arguably the four biggest babyfaces in WWE history are Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and...yes...John Cena.

All have been immensely popular, however...

Hogan began to suffer a backlash from the fans who got sick of his hero schtick in the eary 90's. When he joined WCW as the red and yellow hero, he never recieved the adoration he had once enjoyed and a heel turn was neccesary to keep him relevant.

The Rock was a tremendous heel in late 98/early 99 but after Wrestlemania 15, fans were begging to cheer the guy. He turned and by the end of 99 he was equally as popular as Stone Cold if not ever so slightly eclipsing him. He was loved until he came back for the Invasion storyline in late 2001, when he was suddenly a pandering, cheesy, Cena esque babyface and by 2002 he was getting his share of boos. He was booed at WM versus Hogan (although that was to be expected..its Hulk freakin Hogan) but he was also booed against Brock Lesnar at Summerslam 2002 and for the rest of the year. When he turned heel in 2003 and became Hollywood Rock, he was immensely more entertaining and is regarded as one of the best heels in recent history.

John Cena nearly always gets mixed reactions. Sometimes on RAW he might get a pretty good babyface ovation overall, but most of the time on PPV he gets at least 50% boos. We all know that the older fans hate the pandering babyface character of Cena, and the ladies and the kids love him.

Stone Cold. His 2001 run aside when he was a heel (and even then he was still cheered), I don't recall him ever being booed. I don't recall the fans turning on him. Maybe in late 99 when Austin had dominated for a few years and Rock was coming into his own, the fan support would be divided between him and Rock, but he still got huge pops.

So why did the fans not turn on him? Like Cena he often won, pretty much never lost clean and mostly wrestled in a simplistic brawler fashion (apart from in 2001 where he was putting on 5 star matches every night).

Could this be because he wasn't around for all that long. Had his neck not been busted he may have still been wrestling now and the fans might have gotten sick of him. Could it be because some fans could relate to his everyman character? Could it be because he started as a heel/tweener, and even when he did despicable things the fans cheered him and turned him face? The fact that he wasn't pushed (or forced down the fans throats) like say Cena, but instead was chosen by the fans may have been the reason for the love he recieved.

Can anyone think of any times where fans turned on babyface Stone Cold?

[Giul T.]

My guess would be that he never changed to a Cena-like face. Where he acted like nothing fazed him or had a really cheezy face persona.

[snookimaniac]

He never left for movies like Rock

[Dean-o]

He was never booked like Superman like Cena is. Cena treats most matches and feuds like an annoyance, take the WrestleMania match vs. Miz for example.

Also, he wasn't a goody two shoes like Cena became. In the 80s Cena would be huge. In 2011, not so much (at least with the teens/adults.)

[mrjl]

injuries insured that he was absent for significant periods so fans didn't get sick of him. And of course he turned during part of his time as top guy, it was a shorter period and he had more people close to his role as top face than anyone else.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Stone Cold had a gimmick that let him keep doing really interesting things outside of the ring. No matter what his matches were like, Stone Cold always had something interesting to do...and he drew in audience members who specifically wanted to see those shenanigans.

Compare to Cena, Rock, Hogan - what interesting things have they done outside of the ring? Good promos, all of them, but have any of them done anything as memorable as the beer bath?

Stone Cold had an appeal that transcended the usual bounds of being a professional wrestler, in addition to being able to get away with nearly anything and remain a face. His gimmick is just weirdly well balanced to stay interesting and likable.

[showster22]

I think it's because Austin had to take sabbabicals for injury reasons. Less time on camera = fans not getting Burnt out as quickly. Also Austin would job (not offten but he would) he had his weeknesses but he would come back ready to kick some ass. Plus the crazy shit he would do ( cement truck + corvette) fans would eat up.

[skulldouggory]

Apr 10, 2011 14:54:34 GMT -5 snookimaniac said:

He never left for movies like Rock

yeh but he left when he was told to put over Eddie. Brock.

EDIT: Correction....i am an idiot!

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Fairly frequent breaks for injury kept him surprisingly fresh. That, and he never turned into a cartoon version of himself like Rock or Cena did.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Apr 10, 2011 15:05:18 GMT -5 skulldouggory said:

Apr 10, 2011 14:54:34 GMT -5 snookimaniac said:

He never left for movies like Rock

yeh but he left when he was told to put over Eddie.

No, he was told to put over Brock and wanted to work with Eddie.

[mcstoklasa]

Apr 10, 2011 15:05:18 GMT -5 skulldouggory said:

Apr 10, 2011 14:54:34 GMT -5 snookimaniac said:

He never left for movies like Rock

yeh but he left when he was told to put over Eddie.

You've twisted the facts there. He was eager to do a program with Eddie.

He left because he

a) Didn't want to job to Brock, NOT Eddie.
b) Didn't like the writers booking in 2002
c) Injuries piling up
d) Marriage problems

[flatsdomino]

Apr 10, 2011 15:05:18 GMT -5 skulldouggory said:

Apr 10, 2011 14:54:34 GMT -5 snookimaniac said:

He never left for movies like Rock

yeh but he left when he was told to put over Eddie.

I actually logged in solely to correct you here - he ASKED for a feud with Eddie, he left when he was told to put over BROCK. And not because he didn't want to lose to Brock, but because they had it booked on a random episode of Raw, with no buildup, as part of Brock's tour of destruction, beating all past WWE icons (like how he beat Hogan on Smackdown) in the lead-up to beating the Rock for the title. Austin (who, if there's one thing fans bash him a little for it's his never underestimating his own worth - but rightfully so IMO) felt that a Stone Cold v. Brock match could be huge and doing it that way would be a waste.

With the exception of the issues with Jeff Jarrett (and, if the issue was that Steve simply didn't see JJ as a main eventer, he's certainly not alone) Steve wasn't known for poiliticking much, and there was room for other babyfaces at the top - Rock, Foley, 'Taker and others all got a decent amount of spotlight. Stone Cold was the star, but it wasn't the "oh now it goes back to Austin and no one else matters" show like it was with Cena and Hogan. Yes, most reports say that Austin DID become paranoid about his "spot" when he reached the top, but he never got in the way of the product itself, as other babyfaces have. So the smark hate wasn't really there until he was charged with beating Debra, and the marks sadly wouldn't really care all that much about that, as it sort of fit into his character (unfortunately).

And yes, he never turned into a Cena/Rock/Hogan babyface that was all happy-go-lucky. The one thing about Austin was that he always seemed...dangerous, I guess. Unhinged. And people like that. It's compelling.

[Deleted]

He came from the late 90's, a day and age where anything "edgy" was loved and Rob Liefeld comics sold like hotcakes. Really, I don't think any further explanation is needed.

[Big L]

Apr 10, 2011 14:54:34 GMT -5 snookimaniac said:

He never left for movies like Rock

This?

[Curt Hawkins Fan]

Stone Cold got his ass kicked ALL the time. Rock circa 2001-2002 and Cena between 2005 and 2007 would rarely look weak and always ended up on top.

[frogsplash45]

[mcstoklasa]

Apr 10, 2011 15:20:31 GMT -5 Curt Hawkins Fan said:

Stone Cold got his ass kicked ALL the time. Rock circa 2001-2002 and Cena between 2005 and 2007 would rarely look weak and always ended up on top.

This. Whilst Austin would often win his feuds, he was often left lying at the end of RAW or Smackdown.

[mrjl]

Apr 10, 2011 15:15:37 GMT -5 flatsdomino said:

Apr 10, 2011 15:05:18 GMT -5 skulldouggory said:

yeh but he left when he was told to put over Eddie.

I actually logged in solely to correct you here - he ASKED for a feud with Eddie, he left when he was told to put over BROCK. And not because he didn't want to lose to Brock, but because they had it booked on a random episode of Raw, with no buildup, as part of Brock's tour of destruction, beating all past WWE icons (like how he beat Hogan on Smackdown) in the lead-up to beating the Rock for the title. Austin (who, if there's one thing fans bash him a little for it's his never underestimating his own worth - but rightfully so IMO) felt that a Stone Cold v. Brock match could be huge and doing it that way would be a waste.

With the exception of the issues with Jeff Jarrett (and, if the issue was that Steve simply didn't see JJ as a main eventer, he's certainly not alone) Steve wasn't known for poiliticking much, and there was room for other babyfaces at the top - Rock, Foley, 'Taker and others all got a decent amount of spotlight. Stone Cold was the star, but it wasn't the "oh now it goes back to Austin and no one else matters" show like it was with Cena and Hogan. Yes, most reports say that Austin DID become paranoid about his "spot" when he reached the top, but he never got in the way of the product itself, as other babyfaces have. So the smark hate wasn't really there until he was charged with beating Debra, and the marks sadly wouldn't really care all that much about that, as it sort of fit into his character (unfortunately).

And yes, he never turned into a Cena/Rock/Hogan babyface that was all happy-go-lucky. The one thing about Austin was that he always seemed...dangerous, I guess. Unhinged. And people like that. It's compelling.

of course my big problem with Austin's claims there is he was nine months away from his final match. He had to know his body was breaking down.

By the time they had the appropriate build Austin would've been DONE.

[woodface]

Apr 10, 2011 15:03:21 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

Stone Cold had a gimmick that let him keep doing really interesting things outside of the ring. No matter what his matches were like, Stone Cold always had something interesting to do...and he drew in audience members who specifically wanted to see those shenanigans.

Compare to Cena, Rock, Hogan - what interesting things have they done outside of the ring? Good promos, all of them, but have any of them done anything as memorable as the beer bath?

Stone Cold had an appeal that transcended the usual bounds of being a professional wrestler, in addition to being able to get away with nearly anything and remain a face. His gimmick is just weirdly well balanced to stay interesting and likable.

The Rock Concert shatters the beer bath.

[flatsdomino]

Apr 10, 2011 15:31:22 GMT -5 woodface said:

Apr 10, 2011 15:03:21 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

Stone Cold had a gimmick that let him keep doing really interesting things outside of the ring. No matter what his matches were like, Stone Cold always had something interesting to do...and he drew in audience members who specifically wanted to see those shenanigans.

Compare to Cena, Rock, Hogan - what interesting things have they done outside of the ring? Good promos, all of them, but have any of them done anything as memorable as the beer bath?

Stone Cold had an appeal that transcended the usual bounds of being a professional wrestler, in addition to being able to get away with nearly anything and remain a face. His gimmick is just weirdly well balanced to stay interesting and likable.

The Rock Concert shatters the beer bath.

True, but that was heel Rock.