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Post by willywonka666 on Dec 20, 2018 12:52:04 GMT -5
I’ve forgotten so much from around that time that it’s scary.
What were your thoughts on this brief turn?
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Post by stevec484 on Dec 20, 2018 13:18:03 GMT -5
this thread gets made like once a week. the heel turn killed the business and it hasn't recovered popularity wise. Just look at the ratings and buyrates from after. Doesn't matter how "funny" Austin got or how good the in ring matches were.
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Venti
Unicron
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Post by Venti on Dec 20, 2018 13:24:18 GMT -5
I was like 5 or 6, but I was a huge Stone Cold mark from watching him on VHS. I didn't even know he was heel at the time, I just have vague memories of things like him stealing Kurt's medals. At the time I thought it was hilarious, had no idea he was heeling it up.
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salz4life
Grimlock
Prichard is a guy who gets that his job is to service his boss.
Posts: 13,946
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Post by salz4life on Dec 20, 2018 17:06:34 GMT -5
I thought it was a cool change for about a month and then I was over it. I went to the Backlash 2001 show (the one after Mania X7) and he did get a lot of heat but I always wonder if that was because of HHH (two-man power trip). I was over him being a heel pretty soon after. From what I remember, no one wanted to boo him. The only other time I remember him getting anything close to real heat was when he and RVD went against each other (I was also at the No Mercy PPV when Austin/RVD/Angle were the main event).
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segaz
Samurai Cop
Posts: 2,381
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Post by segaz on Dec 21, 2018 5:32:18 GMT -5
this thread gets made like once a week. the heel turn killed the business and it hasn't recovered popularity wise. Just look at the ratings and buyrates from after. Doesn't matter how "funny" Austin got or how good the in ring matches were. So if Austin hadn't turned heel, the business would not have ever fallen? Tye ratings of the attitude era were never going to continue forever |
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TGM
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,073
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Post by TGM on Dec 21, 2018 5:40:11 GMT -5
this thread gets made like once a week. the heel turn killed the business and it hasn't recovered popularity wise. Just look at the ratings and buyrates from after. Doesn't matter how "funny" Austin got or how good the in ring matches were. Why should that concern me? As a viewer the product got even better. What do I care if a bunch of people stopped watching, I don't own WWE. Should I not enjoy it anymore because buy rates went down? |
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,026
Member is Online
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Dec 21, 2018 5:41:04 GMT -5
this thread gets made like once a week. the heel turn killed the business and it hasn't recovered popularity wise. Just look at the ratings and buyrates from after. Doesn't matter how "funny" Austin got or how good the in ring matches were. So if Austin hadn't turned heel, the business would not have ever fallen? Tye ratings of the attitude era were never going to continue forever No, but the turn made them drop a lot faster than they would have otherwise. |
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Post by stevec484 on Dec 21, 2018 9:16:11 GMT -5
this thread gets made like once a week. the heel turn killed the business and it hasn't recovered popularity wise. Just look at the ratings and buyrates from after. Doesn't matter how "funny" Austin got or how good the in ring matches were. Why should that concern me? As a viewer the product got even better. What do I care if a bunch of people stopped watching, I don't own WWE. Should I not enjoy it anymore because buy rates went down? If you enjoyed it that's cool but the majority didn't. And they turned the station after Mania x7. There is a reason for that |
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Post by stevec484 on Dec 21, 2018 9:18:15 GMT -5
this thread gets made like once a week. the heel turn killed the business and it hasn't recovered popularity wise. Just look at the ratings and buyrates from after. Doesn't matter how "funny" Austin got or how good the in ring matches were. So if Austin hadn't turned heel, the business would not have ever fallen? Tye ratings of the attitude era were never going to continue forever They wouldnt have dropped at so quickly if Austin didn't turn heel. There were other factors that led to the ratings drop in 2001 (no more WCW, no more ECW, creative had generally been poor since September 2000, losing Rock and Triple H) but Austin's turn spiraled them down hard. |
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Post by wildojinx on Dec 21, 2018 9:18:42 GMT -5
I wonder how things would have gone if Austin had still done the heel turn and the alliance with HHH, but Rock was also still there and didnt go into acting.
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gbo86
Mephisto
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Post by gbo86 on Dec 21, 2018 9:58:09 GMT -5
I thought it was amazing. Seeing Stone Cold as a bona fide heel was such a refreshing change of pace and represented some real outside-the-box thinking on WWE’s part. I wish it had worked, because I think its perceived failure is a major reason WWE has been unwilling to take risks.
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TGM
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,073
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Post by TGM on Dec 21, 2018 10:04:00 GMT -5
Triple H and The Rock were gone. The two biggest stars of the previous year. That would have had more impact with people saying "screw this" than a storyline heel turn in my opinion.
The Austin heel turn being entirely responsible for "the majority of fans" leaving is a knee jerk response. In reality it was a percentage but certainly not any kind of majority that left. Summerslam 01 did better than any previous Summerslam that Austin was on at the height of his popularity. Ditto King of the Ring.
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Post by karl100589 on Dec 21, 2018 12:04:21 GMT -5
Triple H and The Rock were gone. The two biggest stars of the previous year. That would have had more impact with people saying "screw this" than a storyline heel turn in my opinion. The Austin heel turn being entirely responsible for "the majority of fans" leaving is a knee jerk response. In reality it was a percentage but certainly not any kind of majority that left. Summerslam 01 did better than any previous Summerslam that Austin was on at the height of his popularity. Ditto King of the Ring. I'd argue the bigger mistake was hitting the reset button after Survivor Series. After spending months trying to put WWF out of business Austin is the Vince hating anarchist again while WWF leader Kurt is back mocking the fans. it made six months of television pointless. |
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TGM
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,073
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Post by TGM on Dec 21, 2018 12:07:05 GMT -5
Triple H and The Rock were gone. The two biggest stars of the previous year. That would have had more impact with people saying "screw this" than a storyline heel turn in my opinion. The Austin heel turn being entirely responsible for "the majority of fans" leaving is a knee jerk response. In reality it was a percentage but certainly not any kind of majority that left. Summerslam 01 did better than any previous Summerslam that Austin was on at the height of his popularity. Ditto King of the Ring. I'd argue the bigger mistake was hitting the reset button after Survivor Series. After spending months trying to put WWF out of business Austin is the Vince hating anarchist again while WWF leader Kurt is back mocking the fans. it made six months of television pointless. This is where my fandom started to wane. 2002 wasn't a very good year for me as a fan until Lesnar and the Smackdown Six really lit things up. |
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Post by Fade is a CodyCryBaby on Dec 21, 2018 14:57:02 GMT -5
I was a die-hard teenage Austin fan so I hated it. First thing that pissed me off was the next night he was tapping like a wild man to Rock. I got it. He was a heel now. But that lack of consistency was annoying.
To his credit, Austin was hella entertaining throughout it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2018 17:03:20 GMT -5
One of the things I didn't appreciate at the time because I was so young but now love as an adult, even though I understand how bad it was for business.
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