Top 10 WWE heel turns of all time
9. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin turns heel at WrestleMania 17 and aligns with Vince McMohan
Okay, let me get this out of the way. It was not a smart business decision. There’s a reason why the Attitude Era was the most profitable time the company has ever seen and that’s because the product was raunchier and crazier than ever before. Much of WWF’s audience at the time wasn’t what you’d necessarily call “die-hards”. In the Attitude Era, some things were good, some were bad, but they all got people talking and for those people, Austin was the man they resonated towards the most because who wouldn’t want to flip their boss the bird and then hit him with a Stunner while glass shatters in the background.
Austin was the anti-hero the world needed and when he turned heel, casual fans tuned off in droves and if you are a casual fan, you’d still believe this turn to be the worst decision Vince ever made. However, if you’re a die-hard, you know it was brilliant.
Anticipation was through the roof when The Rock and Austin went head to head at Mania 17. It’s funny how WWF/E managed to build 3 Mania main events with two guys with very different narratives each time. Imagine that happening today.
In short, the buildup to the match was solid, and it wasn’t like their WrestleMania 15 clash where Austin was the clear babyface and Rock was the heel, both of them were beloved faces and the crowd was divided yet electric to see them face off and see how the match would play out. There was genuine intrigue to see who’ll win.
In the main event of arguably the greatest Mania of all time, Rock and Austin tore the house down. At the end of an amazing match filled with false finishes, Vince McMohan handed Austin a chair, who then proceeded to batter Rock with it. Sixteen chair shots later, Austin pinned Rock to become the new champion, and then shook hands and shared beers with Vince.
As far as shock value is concerned, I’d say this is right up there with Hogan turning in WCW. JR’s iconic statement, “Stone Cod has sold his soul to Satan himself” is a legend in and of itself.
As for the aftermath, like I said it was definitely bad for business, but it was good for wrestling because it gave us a full heel Stone Cold at the top of the card. He was an insecure prick who became exactly what he was so ferociously against. He became the authority.
Hilarious skits with Kurt Angle and Vince, the Two-Man Power Trip with Triple H, and a tag title match against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho that many consider being the greatest RAW match in history are just some of the highlights of Austin’s heel run. This run also led to him finally putting The Rock over at Mania 19.
If we put everything else aside and just focus on professional wrestling, it’s easy to see that Austin still was the very best on the planet during this run. He was in top form and although he himself regrets turning heel, I’d say that this run still adds a lot to his legacy and he should be proud of it.