What to do with stone cold steve austin

[Guest tazmission86]

I've come across this in several other threads, so I figured it warranted it's own.

 

Stone Cold has been very unpredictable lately. He was obviously unhappy about his involvement with the nWo, but I still think the Hall/Austin feud worked well and the match was good enough. Now that the Split has happened, he is no where near any top storylines. Yes, he took up the last fifteen minutes of Raw, but he can't do that every week without a real program with someone else. With the top storylines comprised of Triple H vs Undertaker vs Flair vs McMahon vs Rock and Hogan vs nWo vs Kane, Austin is no where to be seen. What the hell is up with The Rattlesnake, and what should the WWF do with him?

 

Here's an idea that's very risky, but if done right, could work: make Stone Cold a complete wild card. Have him start interrupting matches left and right, with no real explanation. Have him attack heels and faces alike, including Ric Flair. When asked what he is doing, Austin would only respond by saying "What?!" or "My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin" or other intangible phrases. Like I stated in another thread, he would take on X-Pac at BackLash and completely destroy him. He would continue this behavior for weeks, until he either gets cheers or boos for his constant irrational behavior. If he gets cheers, have him start a program with Flair, with Flair turning heel, and have them fight at SummerSlam.

 

If he gets boo's, which I would like, have him ruthlessly attack Flair and Arn Anderson, telling Flair he's sick of standing in his way. He would be utterly crazy, just like he was last year, and hopefully he would be able to get over as a heel without the help of Vince or Triple H or a comedic act (which I did enjoy, but it doesn't fit now). This would be a very risky move in that it would be hard to predict the fans' reactions, but it would still be cool to actually listen and go with what they want. Austin needs something to keep him from getting lost in the shuffle, and this could be the element that makes him stand out.

[Guest Austin3164life]

Sounds like an interesting idea, but these days, it almost demands for a McMahon-involvement to get Austin to turn heel.  Your idea has merit though.  I could see Austin terrorizing everyone on Raw, growing his goatee thick and fuzzy, getting back his Disturbed theme (which is awesome), and just destroying the entire Raw, including the nWo.  What would be a VERY interesting angle is if Austin is running roughshod on Raw, and Kurt Angle is demolishing Smackdown(attacking Rock, Hogan, Jericho, and others).  Around the beginning of the summer season, Austin and Angle would reveal their alliance.  It's probably safe to say they'd become heels.  Flair and McMahon, not realizing that Austin and Angle are the REAL poison of the roster (storyline wise), would become desperate and throw superstars left and right at them.  At Summerslam, there'd be a huge Tag Team Match with Austin & Angle versus.....Edge & Christian.  Edge is already feuding with Angle, so it would make sense, and Christian could say he realizes that both brothers alone can't become huge, so they get back together as faces, and go over Austin and Angle at Summerslam.  It sounds far fetched, but it'd be a pretty interesting angle.  Or Austin, Angle, and Lesnar could possibly form a trio, facing off against Benoit, Edge, and Christian at Summerslam.  There are quite a few possibilities......

[Guest]

The plan was for him to be in a feud with Booker T now, but since Undertaker isn't in the main event anymore at Backlash they might make it Austin vs Undertaker.

[Guest Anglesault]

Sounds like an interesting idea, but these days, it almost demands for a McMahon-involvement to get Austin to turn heel.  Your idea has merit though.  I could see Austin terrorizing everyone on Raw, growing his goatee thick and fuzzy, getting back his Disturbed theme (which is awesome), and just destroying the entire Raw, including the nWo.  What would be a VERY interesting angle is if Austin is running roughshod on Raw, and Kurt Angle is demolishing Smackdown(attacking Rock, Hogan, Jericho, and others).  Around the beginning of the summer season, Austin and Angle would reveal their alliance.  It's probably safe to say they'd become heels.  Flair and McMahon, not realizing that Austin and Angle are the REAL poison of the roster (storyline wise), would become desperate and throw superstars left and right at them.  At Summerslam, there'd be a huge Tag Team Match with Austin & Angle versus.....Edge & Christian.  Edge is already feuding with Angle, so it would make sense, and Christian could say he realizes that both brothers alone can't become huge, so they get back together as faces, and go over Austin and Angle at Summerslam.  It sounds far fetched, but it'd be a pretty interesting angle.  Or Austin, Angle, and Lesnar could possibly form a trio, facing off against Benoit, Edge, and Christian at Summerslam.  There are quite a few possibilities......

How long exactly do you see this Angle/Edge feud going? You have four months at least...

[Guest RetroRob215]

I don't think Austin will ever be able to generate enough heel heat.  Even when he joined the Alliance he was cheered for a little bit.  The problem with Austin is that he has a been a heel his whole career, but the fans have always cheered his heel actions.  The WWF thought the fans would turn on him during his feud with the Rock at X-7, but they booed the Rock instead.  I think the only chance the WWF has in turning Austin heel would be in a program with Hogan.  The fans may react towards Austin the same way they reacted towards the Rock.

[Guest Austin3164life]

How long exactly do you see this Angle/Edge feud going? You have four months at least...

 

I wouldn't see it going for that long, but Edge going agaisnt Angle/Austin w/Christian would make sense because it would mean they have feuded before.  It wouldn't be a long feud, just something that Austin and Angle could do for Raw and Smackdown (demolish people and interfere in matches)....

 

The fans may react towards Austin the same way they reacted towards the Rock.

 

I don't know about that.  You just said that pretty much no matter what Austin does, people are going to cheer him since he's been a heelish character since being in the WWF.  Yeah, you would hear some heat from the fans if he went against Hogan, but I feel that most fans have more respect for Austin than The Rock, because Austin has had longer reigns, and Austin came back from neck surgery to carry the company again.....

[Guest tazmission86]

"Even when he joined the Alliance he was cheered for a little bit."

 

All heels are cheered a little bit. Even Triple H, at the peak of his heel run, was cheered a little bit, but for the most part, people wanted to see him lose. That's how it was for most great heels, except guys like Honky Tonk Man and Ted DiBiase, who the fans really wanted dead. The first kind of heat was how it was for Austin; he got some cheers when he came out, but the boos outweighed the cheers, especially when he went up against Angle, who was getting big cheers (before winning the Title; then he started getting boring).

 

A run against Flair would work better than a run against Hogan because Hogan's face heat is temporary and nostalgic. Eventually, people will realize it's the same old song again, and they would want to see him get his ass kicked by their old hero, Stone Cold. Flair's face heat is pure respect for all he's done in the many years he's been around.

[Guest]

Austin needs another long feud with a heel HHH. Their last feud was great but was ruined when they became the "two man power trip" after Wrestlemania. Austin and HHH's feuds have been long and bitter, something the WWF has been lacking for some time.

[Guest RetroRob215]

Do you remember when Austin turned on Foley for a few weeks.  Foley, like Flair, was respected and liked A LOT by the fans.  But when the time came, they booed Foley and cheered Austin.  Any time Austin attacks any authority figure, no matter who it is, the authority figure looks like the bad guy who is trying to hold Austin down.

[Guest tazmission86]

Very true. But, that was when Austin had just come back and was over huge. Right now, fan support for Austin is sort of waning, and the fans looked legitimately confused when he stunned Flair. Not booing or cheering really, but just sort of...bewildered and not sure what he would do next. I think Austin has the psychology to pull it off.

[Guest dreamer420]

It was the same as when he stunned Foley back when he was the commish.  I think it's good for Austin's charactor, because he doesn't look like a bad ass beating up only heels.  It good to stun people like Foley, JR, or Flair because it reminds the fans of what Steve Austin used to be.  Just an ass kicking machine with little regard for authority.

[Guest tazmission86]

Yep, that's why I would have him run roughshod over everyone and wait until the fans either start to boo him or cheer him more. One of the two would happen, and I'd run with whichever reaction.

 

....either that, or I'd force him to go the way I wanted, then pipe the reaction that I wanted through the PA system. Heh heh heh.