Stone Cold heel work appreciation.

[Nr1Humanoid]

Anyone else a fan? Any favorite moments?

That Lita beatdown, holy crap.

The whole hugging thing.

[Gerard Gerard]

It was a tremendous bit of character work that rewarded one's attention but it happened at the absolutely worst possible time. Desperate, deluded and paranoid Austin that would sell his very soul for the only thing that means anything in his life was just brilliant, from the laundry list of trinkets he desperately threw at The Rock at X7 to staking the company's very existence on his own fear of being irrelevant. It just maybe a year or two away from being necessary. We were just not done with DTA Austin, especially considering he'd only been back a few months before the switch.

The switch back to DTA Austin was another botched landing that tends to go understated when it comes to casualties of the invasion.

[Big Bad Kahuna]

Aug 1, 2016 3:28:27 GMT -5 Gerard Gerard said:

It was a tremendous bit of character work that rewarded one's attention but it happened at the absolutely worst possible time. Desperate, deluded and paranoid Austin that would sell his very soul for the only thing that means anything in his life was just brilliant, from the laundry list of trinkets he desperately threw at The Rock at X7 to staking the company's very existence on his own fear of being irrelevant. It just maybe a year or two away from being necessary. We were just not done with DTA Austin, especially considering he'd only been back a few months before the switch.

The switch back to DTA Austin was another botched landing that tends to go understated when it comes to casualties of the invasion.

took the words right out of my mouth, bravo!

great character build with so many nuances (getting more paranoid before WM17 because he needed the belt/win so much, but UNDERSTANDABLE because of the whole "who ran over Austin"-angle...), excellent execution after the heel turn (desperate, cringeworthy, depressed, ultrabrutal, bipolar, manipulative, everything in there)

right character at the wrong time. had they done this after the Invasion angle or somewhere around early/mid 2002, it would have fit in way better. people still wanted face Rattlesnake Austin

[Paco]

Business-wise?
Yeah...Heel Stone Cold was a dumb move.

Personal interest wise?
Heel Stone Cold is one of my favorite things in wrestling EVER!
So, so good!

I was never a "babyface" Stone Cold fan anyway.

[Big Bad Kahuna]

Just imagine Ambrose and Rollins stomping the hell out of Sasha or Bayley these days. Nuculus heel heat

[魔界5号]

It gave me this:

So I will cherish it like my child forever.

[lws]

It might be my favorite character ever. Stone Cold was my favorite wrestler up until that point, and I was only 12 when it happened, but I still knew it was absolutely hilarious and amazing and just the best.

His conversation with Tajiri about his personal problems is probably the funniest thing wrestling has ever produced, largely because Austin was completely incapable of pronouncing Tajiri's name.

[A damn road sign]

Aug 1, 2016 5:02:15 GMT -5 lws said:

It might be my favorite character ever. Stone Cold was my favorite wrestler up until that point, and I was only 12 when it happened, but I still knew it was absolutely hilarious and amazing and just the best.

His conversation with Tajiri about his personal problems is probably the funniest thing wrestling has ever produced, largely because Austin was completely incapable of pronouncing Tajiri's name.

TIE-JEERY

But yeah, one of my favourite bits of character work in wrestling ever. Don't know where the whole "people just didn't wanna boo Stone Cold" revisionist history came from, because I recall nothing but pure heat for that entire run. Other than the comedy bits with Kurt, which were also fantastic.

[baerrtt]

For all the damage it did business wise Austin's 2001 run as a heel may be my favourite period of his in ring career. Hilarious, deluded but still dangerous when it counted (the Lita and Michael Cole beatdowns, bloodying Kurt Angle during their Summerslam match that year etc.)

[baerrtt]

Aug 1, 2016 5:31:03 GMT -5 A damn road sign said:

Aug 1, 2016 5:02:15 GMT -5 lws said:

It might be my favorite character ever. Stone Cold was my favorite wrestler up until that point, and I was only 12 when it happened, but I still knew it was absolutely hilarious and amazing and just the best.

His conversation with Tajiri about his personal problems is probably the funniest thing wrestling has ever produced, largely because Austin was completely incapable of pronouncing Tajiri's name.

TIE-JEERY

But yeah, one of my favourite bits of character work in wrestling ever. Don't know where the whole "people just didn't wanna boo Stone Cold" revisionist history came from, because I recall nothing but pure heat for that entire run. Other than the comedy bits with Kurt, which were also fantastic.

People were solidly against Austin during his feud with Kurt but for the rest of the time? The comedy element, as hilarious as it was, did (imo) mute the overall impact his heel turn should have had especially considering it culminated with the creation of the 'WHAT?!' phenomenon. The beatdowns, particularly to Lita, were effective but in an era where the faces beat up women to raucous cheers those moments didn't get half the heat they would've done 10 or 20 years before that.

Here is where I'll give Hogan credit when he turned in '96 in that the Hollywood Hogan character wasn't doing anything to get laughs (intentional) or applause from the audience that would've killed the crowd despising him so intently.

[TGM]

Austin's PPV matches with Angle were absolutely stellar and it's a shame they're so overlooked. Angle made the transition from goofy heel to legit badass during these matches. Austin put him over a lot that summer.

[Magnus the Magnificent]

It also gave us this.

[Deleted]

This is one of those things I didn't appreciate at the time because I was a kid who liked faces, but look back on now and really enjoy. The feud with Angle was awesome.

[sternrogers01]

Probably the best realised wrestling character of 2001. Besides Christian and Jericho.

[Deleted]

It was a bad business move, but Steve Austin has always been a fantastic heel, even going back to his "Stunning" days.

[JCBaggee]

I'M BAKING A LEMON INSIDE YOU
THE PANCAKES ARE RIGHT BEHIND YOU

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}I'm surprised there's been no Austin Heel Theme love yet, is what I'm trying to say

[Bang Bang Bart]

Aug 1, 2016 9:12:26 GMT -5 @dax said:

This is one of those things I didn't appreciate at the time because I was a kid who liked faces, but look back on now and really enjoy. The feud with Angle was awesome.

I'll always look back fondly on Angle doing his best Stone Cold impression and dousing the Alliance with milk. Such a great Raw moment.

[lebuddha]

It was my only exposure to Stone Cold because I didn't start watching wrestling until March 2001.

And holy shit, I will always remember Austin as one scary motherf***er who you NEVER trust. It worked. He was a great heel. Just saw that Lita beatdown again and felt sick to my stomach.

["Gentleman" AJ Powell]

Psychopath Austin was great. Especially with the fast-paced guitar theme.

[Mid-Carder]

This being the worst business decision WWE has ever made (and I'd argue they've never recovered from it) notwithstanding, Austin put everything into the heel character. His feud with face Kurt is one of my all-time favourites, in-ring.