How would you have booked Stone Cold's 2001 heel run?

[Bones58]

Overall Austin's heel run after WM X7 is viewed as a failure based mostly on the fact that the fans simply didn't want to boo him. Personally I think it was his most entertaining run since 1997, but how would you have booked differently to make it more effective in hindsight?

[Deleted]

Keep the psychotic crazy man part of his gimmick, but don't do all the comedy/cowardly heel bits that followed. As funny as Austin playing guitar and hugging Vince was, it was just...wrong.

[Allie Kitsune]

I just think they should have made it more clear that the idea was that he was getting older and paranoid that someone else was going to come up and 'steal' his spot.

It got lost in all of the guitar playing and hiding behind Debra.

[Lick Ness Monster]

I've always felt that Austin (and creative, by proxy) didn't fully commit to that run nearly as much as they should have. It was still the same guy - same black trunks, same badass music, same wrestling style, etc., the only difference being that he walked out with Vince. Obviously, it wasn't enough to make people hate him. For starters, I would have had him come out in a suit and tie the night after 'Mania to cut a lengthy, scathing promo on the fans for taking his greatest rival, the Rock, as their hero during his year-long absence and also sell that he now sides with the guy who was always up front about where he stood in Vince McMahon.

From there, I would have pulled a SRS Jericho with his character (in concept if not execution) and strip away everything from Austin that people liked about him before. No more glass breaking, no more middle fingers, no more beer, and in its place a suit-wearing ass kisser who sings the praises of Vince nonstop, all while clinging onto the belt for the same period of 8-9 months. No Two-Man Power Trip involved, as IMO it just diluted what the story should have been.

For the record, I think babyface Jericho would have been an excellent candidate to take the belt from him at either Survivor Series or Vengeance.

[The Trashman]

I wouldnt

[Chairman of the Board]

I thought it went well.

At the time I remember loving the heel Austin.

I can't recall the exact year, but how many times did he turn heel? It has to be the same thing.

[JTG Fan]

He was perfectly fine as a heel, but I think they made a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE mistake by having him be a face with the WWF right before the invasion and then turning him at the PPV. The fans wanted NOTHING more than Stone Cold kicking WCW's ass, and the WWF gave it to them and then immediately snatched it back.

[Chairman of the Board]

Jul 12, 2013 15:50:15 GMT -5 JTG Fan said:

He was perfectly fine as a heel, but I think they made a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE mistake by having him be a face with the WWF right before the invasion and then turning him at the PPV. The fans wanted NOTHING more than Stone Cold kicking WCW's ass, and the WWF gave it to them and then immediately snatched it back.

Yeah, I chalk that up to the Invasion angle being HORRIBLE.

I totally forgot about that part. I remember enjoying his heel promos and thinking damn he's pulling it of.

[The Ichi]

Wouldn't have changed a damn thing. Heel Stone Cold was incredible.

[horsemen4ever]

Simple, don't turn him heel in Texas. You would think at WM 17 as far as the fans were concerned Vince turned face. It is like turning Bret heel in Calgory or Edmington.

I would have turned him heel in Hollywood or Florida, a place that is the Rock's home turf.

[Deleted]

Jul 12, 2013 12:50:39 GMT -5 The Trashman said:

I wouldnt

But then we wouldn't have got that awesome ending to the Mania 17 main event.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

I would have had him lose at WM X-7, and close the show with him looking shocked in the ring. First off, he won't align with Vince there, so the moment of the turn doesn't get lost in a hometown pop. Second, you have another month to build the turn, the whole 'I need to beat you' didn't come into it until very late, more time to play with that would have been good.

Open Raw with a video package showing Austin losing, with the 'I have to beat you' quote playing. The Rock comes down for a promo, celebrating his win, Austin interupts him, The Rock starts complimenting him on his fight, Austin snaps and says not to patronise him. At some point, Vince comes out, and makes a #1 Contenders match between Austin and Taker for the main event, and Austin loses.

Week 2, Austin comes out, and starts asking for another shot against Taker, then Rock. Vince comes out and tells Austin he had his chance, and the time has passed him by, he's not the Rattlesnake he used to be. Austin is frustrated and storms off, smashing equipment.

Week 3 Austin is fuming backstage, where someone hints that if somehow Undertaker weren't able to make it to the match, then Stone Cold could have the spot for himself, Austin looks conflicted.

Week 4, Taker is in the main event, against say, Kurt Angle. Steve Austin comes out and destroys Taker with a chair, grabs a mic and says 'Well, guess there's a spot open in the main event, Stone Cold has a free night, so lets do this' Vince comes out, and says it's ok, if The Rock accepts, he comes out and accepts the challenge, and they warily shake hands.

Backlash, in the middle of the show, you have the main start of the Invasion, everyone they have rushes out during the Hardcore match, which I'd have as Kane v Big Show, continuing their feud from Mania and giving the attack importance. WCW lays waste to both, and Booker T wins the Hardcore Title, taking their first scalp.
In the Main Event, it goes down similar to how Mania went in reality, The Rock won't stay down, Austin gets more and more vicious, but with no Vince. Instead, after all the chair shots, he grabs some cable and does an assisted Million Dollar Dream for a few minutes and chokes The Rock out to win the title, and needs to be pulled off him a few times.

From there, Vince begs Austin to join his army, but the new vicious champion joins WCW because everyone thought he was over the hill, The Rock was the new flash in the pan, and WCW made him an offer. Booker T is his clear 2nd in command, the man who defected with a title and the man who stole one.

[Deleted]

I never thought of it as a failure before I started reading message boards years later. I think it would've worked a hell of a lot better if the Invasion didn't happen.

[Bub (BLM)]

I wouldn't have, I'd have turned The Rock. It may have been "status quo", but the fans at that point where far more willing and ready to boo Rock than they were Austin. It's probably the first instance of a forced turn in the past 15 years.

[Perpetual Nirvana]

Jul 12, 2013 17:52:53 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

I wouldn't have, I'd have turned The Rock. It may have been "status quo", but the fans at that point where far more willing and ready to boo Rock than they were Austin. It's probably the first instance of a forced turn in the past 15 years.

They couldn't turn Rock, he was about to leave for Hollywood.

The failure wasn't in turning Austin, it was not turning Triple H. Remember the pop Trips got the night after WM17 when the crowd thought he was coming to save The Rock?

[klapaucius]

Jul 12, 2013 16:21:01 GMT -5 The Ichi said:

Wouldn't have changed a damn thing. Heel Stone Cold was incredible.

[A damn road sign]

Jul 12, 2013 16:21:01 GMT -5 The Ichi said:

Wouldn't have changed a damn thing. Heel Stone Cold was incredible.

This. Never known where the whole "fans weren't ready to boo Stone Cold" thing came from, I don't ever recall him getting cheered as a heel.

[DIIV]

Jul 12, 2013 17:08:19 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

I never thought of it as a failure before I started reading message boards years later. I think it would've worked a hell of a lot better if the Invasion didn't happen.

Backed. I've seen people label it a failure quite a few times around here, and that always irritates me because failure is such a harsh word. Maybe it didn't play out exactly like people envisioned but I sure wouldn't label it a failure by any means.

Also good point bringing up the question of how it would've played out had the invasion angle never happened. The only thing about his heel run that I disliked was the entire invasion concept (especially how the entire angle was executed and so poorly done). I still enjoyed all of the silliness of it, the hugs, guitar playing and promos with Kurt Angle is some of the funniest stuff they've ever done, I just would've enjoyed it more had it not been for the whole WCW/ECW vs. WWF shit going on, it was just a huge mess.

Side note, his matches with Angle at Summerslam and Unforgiven 2001 are some of my favorite of all time.

[doinkmark]

Turning Austin, especially when Rock was on his way out, was a really bad idea. If I had to do it though, I'd try something like this:

Austin cheats to win at Mania. The hometown crowd doesn't care, but the announcers do and tell the audience they should. The next night on Raw Austin plays it off as the heat of the moment and reminds viewers that he never was exactly a clean-cut sportsman. Hell, he had his buddy Mike Tyson betray a damn-near crippled Shawn Michaels to win the WWF title the first time! Rock gets a rematch in the main event and Austin beats him again in a very close match. To make sure his greatest rival is done for, Austin Pillmanizes Rock's ankle after the bell. This cements the turn and explains Rock's absence. Their WM19 match could also mean more if it builds as Rock's revenge from here.

Undertaker becomes #1 Contender the next week. Highlight packages throughout the night show Austin's history of snapping - basically showing his heel highlights culminating with the attack on Rock last week. Austin cuts a promo centered somewhat in reality where he talks about how he never claimed to be a nice guy. How the fans got behind him four years ago despite him being the same ol' Stone Cold he'd always been. The one they booed originally. But now, while still being the same guy, the fickle fans decide they want to boo him and cheer other guys. Austin doesn't give a damn. Never has cared about the people and never will. He's going to take out all those other heroes, keep kicking ass, and keep the WWF title in the process. No matter what it takes.

Austin takes out some other babyfaces in the leadup to Backlash. Some he beats in matches. Some he attacks for no reason ala Stone Cold in 97. He beats Undertaker clean at Backlash. No cowardly heel Stone Cold either - it was out of character for him. More like a vicious, dominant heel who the fans want to see lose, but doesn't, which makes them want to see it more. He can also do heel stuff outside the ring during this time. Beat up friends like Jim Ross who question why, if Austin's so tough, he has to injure opponents and put them out of commission instead of just pinning them like a man. Austin can steal the beers he loves from the "fans" at ringside who paid way too much for a cup of it and kick their ass if they try to complain about it.

Triple H steps up next. Austin takes him out too, which if we're going with the real timeline could explain Triple H's absence when he hurt his quad. Austin talks about how the fans want to see one of their heroes take the belt off of him, but that ain't gonna happen.

Once the inVasion begins, Vince gives a speech encouraging the whole WWF locker room to come together against the WCW invaders. Austin won't listen of course. He hasn't listened to Vince for all these years and he's not about to start now. Brand loyalty be damned. Vince and the announcers point out that the WWF made Austin a star after WCW fired him over the phone. They gave him a shot in the main event that WCW never did, and now he won't even stand beside them in a time of need. Austin doesn't care, beats down Vince, and this time the announcers play it up as an aging, non-wrestling Vince who was actually right for once getting beaten down for no good reason. This takes out the WWF's leader during the WWF's most crucial time in history, and that jerk Austin still doesn't care. The WWF faces who all hate Austin and want his belt are forced into a tag match with him against WCW at the next pay-per-view.

It gets worse when Austin joins the WCW side (again, if I had to include some of the real history timeline). Austin points out that WCW gave him his first big break in the US and the WWF didn't want him at the time. Even ECW snatched him up before Vince McMahon would give him a shot. He's spent years fighting with Vince. Why would he continue to work for him now when WCW was finally invading, kicking ass and taking names, just like Stone Cold does. From there Austin holds the WWF belt hostage while working for the competition. He revisits more past heel stuff like teasing throwing the belt over a bridge into a river. He uses the belt as a coaster for his beers. At some point he "divorces" Debra. Etc.

From there the 9/11 tragedy happened, and Angle vs Austin pretty much writes itself and should've happened no matter what. Though, if they wanted to build some serious heat at the time, Austin could also cut another reality-based promo talking about how lame American censorship is and how he was a victim of it. Three years ago he was the figure that American parents hated. His t-shirts weren't allowed in schools, the censorship groups were on his ass every week for middle fingers and foul language, etc. and they could all kiss his ass.

Just off the top of my head.

[thegame415]

I wouldn't have made Undertaker and Kane his first challengers. I would've put Jericho and Benoit in those spots earlier. I would've gone like this with PPV main events:

Backlash - Two Man Power Trip def Benoit and Jericho
Judgment Day - Jericho def Triple H, Austin def Benoit
King of the Ring - Triple H goes to a time limit draw with Benoit (after exchanging wins on Raw/Smackdown), Austin def Jericho
Fully Loaded - Triple H def Austin, Jericho and Benoit in a four-way to win the title (WCW guys interfere in the match)
Summerslam - Austin, Triple H, Jericho and Benoit team against WCW

This is assuming Benoit and Triple H don't get injured.