How should Austin vs McMahon have ended?

[Sephiroth]

Following up on another thread. I think it goes without saying that the feud did drag on too long, not unlike the NWO in WCW. But when and how it could have ended in a satisfactory way is a bit fuzzier. And in this case there was a major, unanticipated interruption in the form of InVasion that totally derailed everything. But even without that, by 2000 Austin’s ring days were on the clock. I would argue that the higher power angle was actually the moment to transition to a new top heel , away from Mister McMahon and send Austin in a different direction; Vince would have had to still be a major feature on tv but you could have shifted the #1 bad guy spot off him. I would even argue that was an even better moment to turn Triple H heel, would have been a shuck big enough to elbow Vince out. But any other ideas?

[sungod2020]

Feb 2, 2023 22:07:02 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Following up on another thread. I think it goes without saying that the feud did drag on too long, not unlike the NWO in WCW. But when and how it could have ended in a satisfactory way is a bit fuzzier. And in this case there was a major, unanticipated interruption in the form of InVasion that totally derailed everything. But even without that, by 2000 Austin’s ring days were on the clock. I would argue that the higher power angle was actually the moment to transition to a new top heel , away from Mister McMahon and send Austin in a different direction; Vince would have had to still be a major feature on tv but you could have shifted the #1 bad guy spot off him. I would even argue that was an even better moment to turn Triple H heel, would have been a shuck big enough to elbow Vince out. But any other ideas?

Wrestlemania XV was the perfect ending to the feud, with Austin dethroning The Rock for the WWF championship. After that, The Rock can take a crack at revenge by attempting to recapture the gold at Backlash, while McMahon has bigger fish to fry with The Undertaker and The Ministry. They had it right then and there until Vince was revealed as the Higher Power, and then it went back to the Austin/McMahon show, invalidating 6 months worth of storylines.