That Goldberg Bounty thing, and Raw in general...

[Toxxic 0]

And no, I didn't read spoilers either. Come in and join me, unspoiled Brits! Or indeed anyone who gives a damn.

 

May I first ask what in the blue hell was going on with the epsiode of Raw I've just seen? First, Austin saves Stacy from Steiner (JR - "oh no, Steiner's going to do the unthinkable!"). Next, he Stunners her for not liking beer (Crowd - "Yeah!", JR - "Well, I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it's my mate Steve so I'm just going to call it 'unpredictable'"). Lesson one: You have a female, particularly a non-wrestling female, attacked on your program by a male wrestler and you DON'T talk it up like the end of the world - you're in trouble. Anyone remember when the Dudleys put Stacy through the table? WWE got out of that through Lawler and Ross calling it as hideous. Now we have Austin, convicted of alcohol-fuelled domestic abuse remember, drinking beer and Stunning a woman. Not only is that questionable on moral grounds, especially so given his past, but their failure to sell it as such could cause problems.

 

Now, consider this. Is Austin turning heel? Generally, attacking Stacy means you are THE DEVIL~! 'cos she's so hot and all. Admittedly, here beer may win over legs. BUT Austin's response later was "why can't people calm down?" (or similar), he refused to call security following the attempted attacks on Goldberg because he wanted to get to the bar, he didn't even help Rosey out of the fucking phonebox and, most damning of all, JERICHO of all people went in to help Trish, then rubbed it in Austin's face - nicely. No overwhelming ego, no King-Of-The-World, just that he was treating a lady with respect, which Austin can't. Now since Jericho and Austin are enemies, I'm starting to smell a double turn, which is given further weight by a theory my girlfriend came up with - namely, that Stone Cold is the one behind the mysterious attacks on Goldberg.

 

Now I see that Nash is out for a couple of months, so he can't return to (try and) claim the bounty on Goldberg's head as I believe was the original plan. So Stone Cold turns heel, goes for the cash ("I'm not a wrestler anymore, I have bills to pay") and sets up Austin/Goldberg for WMXX, simultaneously developing his character into what might be called an "Evil Drunk" in the land of EWR gimmicks?

 

This would be an interesting storyline. I'm certainly interested in Raw now, which I haven't been for months. I want to know what Austin's going to do next, and whether Jericho's attitude is going to change any more. Well done WWE - it appears that an untimely injury might have made your show a hell of a lot more interesting.

 

If there's already been a post on this, my apologies. Like I said, being on this side of the atlantic I only just saw Raw, and didn't hunt down any spoilers because until I saw the show I had no real interest in it. But does anyone else think that Austin as the attacker is at all likely?

[Guest croweater]

I don't get Raw anymore, cos I live in Australia and its gone to a channel that I don't have, but when I read the Raw reports and heard of these series of events all that I could think was OMG DOUBLE TURN!!! Whether or not it would work is questionable as Austin has almost untouchable face heat, but his feud with Jericho would be awesome if Jericho played face.

[AndrewTS 0]

Reply to most of that: WWE logic. Common sense doesn't apply.

 

As for Austin/Goldberg, at least that would justify all that was done to make Austin look so unstoppable. Plus, if booked well (we're talking hypothetically) it could draw huge.

 

Yet, Austin basically confirmed he's done with wrestling completely. Anyways, it shouldn't matter if he's "got bills to pay" because he's a multi-millionaire who, at least character-wise, doesn't have expensive tastes.

[Toxxic 0]

And you know what - for the first time in what seems like ages, JR mentioned Y2J having beaten Rock AND AUSTIN(!) in the same night. I'm not seeing an Austin/Jericho in-ring feud because Austin's basically seems to be on the shelf unless he gets a big match at Mania or something. But I'm thinking that maybe all of Jericho's truth-telling on Raw (JR and King suck, Austin's a drunkard who abuses his power, Goldberg's talentless and stiffed him in WCW) will come to fruition. OK, so the Austin one is the only one that'll be acknowleged, but still.

 

Even better - Jericho's been saying that all of Kane's rampages can be blamed on Austin. Possibly untrue - but if you turn your attention to Shane it is true. Shane put Kane into hospital, said that this wasn't going to end until someone was dead (Call the PTC! We have a murder angle here!) and goaded Kane so much that he assaulted two more "innocents".

 

Jericho is so going face, and I LOVE IT!

[Toxxic 0]

Yet, Austin basically confirmed he's done with wrestling completely. Anyways, it shouldn't matter if he's "got bills to pay" because he's a multi-millionaire who, at least character-wise, doesn't have expensive tastes.

I reckon they might get a Mania match out of him. Although I admit, thinking about it, that the money factor wouldn't be so big. We saw his enormous mansion when Bischoff was trying to track him down.

 

I still think he's the strongest candidate with Nash apparently out of the picture though.

[AndrewTS 0]

I still think he's the strongest candidate with Nash apparently out of the picture though.

I think a far more likely candidate is the one who replaced Big Gimpy the first time he was penciled in for a big main event run and got injured...

 

HBK. Yeah, he seems face now, but I think they probably figure he's gotten REALLY stale now and that turning him would freshen up his character.

 

Yeah, that doesn't leave too many face contenders, but hey, they could still try to get Sting to sign.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Perhaps it was mentioned in a thread long before I joined but am I the only one having a problem with Austin beating up any woman on TV when he was just screwed in real life for doing so with Debra...and while Debra may be 75% plastic she still lays in the category of human being

[Toxxic 0]

Perhaps it was mentioned in a thread long before I joined but am I the only one having a problem with Austin beating up any woman on TV when he was just screwed in real life for doing so with Debra...and while Debra may be 75% plastic she still lays in the category of human being

Oh hell yeah. I think WWE are on really shaky ground here, and i'm not sure if their use of it to turn Austin is right.

 

Then again, an Austin turn would mean a Jericho turn, and I'm digging that so much that my morals went bye-bye. If that makes me shallow, so be it.

 

But no, seriously, Austin + violence to females is BAD. Austin + violence to females in the presence of alcohol... SUPER BAD.

[jester 0]

The problem is that the crowd is used to Austin being like this. And they enjoy cheering him on, even when he's being a dick.

 

He'd have to really do something bad in order to get the crowd to turn on him. Giving the stunner to some nuns and an orphan or two isn't enough. I think about the only thing bad enough would be to piss on the flag in the middle of the ring.

[AndrewTS 0]

The problem is that the crowd is used to Austin being like this. And they enjoy cheering him on, even when he's being a dick.

 

He'd have to really do something bad in order to get the crowd to turn on him. Giving the stunner to some nuns and an orphan or two isn't enough. I think about the only thing bad enough would be to piss on the flag in the middle of the ring.

I doubt even that would work. Changing his character completely in 2001 didn't even really work because people still wanted to cheer him.