Stone Cold Steve Austin recently opened up about his biggest career mistake.
During an interview on Chris Jericho‘s Talk Is Jericho podcast. Stone Cold Steve Austin revealed that his decision to turn heel at WrestleMania 17 was the worst call he ever made. While it was his idea to make the switch, Austin admitted that the timing was not right as he was still beloved by the fans.
Worst call I’ve ever made other than refusing to job to Brock Lesnar in Atlanta. But, you know, that was my idea.
In hindsight, Austin realised that the fans didn’t want to hate him. He compared himself to John Wayne, stating that people loved the iconic actor for what he stood for and never wanted to see him as a villain. Austin acknowledged that he always enjoyed working as a heel and thought the opportunity would be fun, but it ultimately backfired.
Well, clearly the time wasn’t right for me to turn. It was like everybody loved John Wayne for what he stood for and so he did not ever have to be a bad guy in his movies. He never was. People didn’t want to hate me.
Despite it being his idea, Austin admitted that it was another bad call. He acknowledged that Vince McMahon always wanted to do something big at WrestleMania and since there weren’t any major plans, he thought turning heel would draw money. However, both decisions turned out to be mistaken.
Vince always likes to do something big at Wrestlemania. He didn’t have anything big planned. So, me being the rocket scientist that I am, I figured okay. You’re a hot babyface, and if you turn heel, you’re a hot ass heel to draw money like that. Or vice versa.
Despite these regrets, Austin expressed his love for both working as a babyface and a heel. He enjoyed the freedom to be a piece of trash, talk trash, and cheat as a heel, which was his style of wrestling. Ultimately, Stone Cold Steve Austin realised that turning heel wasn’t the right move for him at that time.
Obviously, it’s where I made my money, but I like working heel. I like being a piece of trash. I like talking trash. I like cheating. That was my style of wrestling. Man, I did a lot of that as a Stone Cold babyface.
Was Stone Cold Steve Austin In A New TV Series?
Back in February, it was announced that Stone Cold Steve Austin would be starring in a new television series called Stone Cold Takes On America. The show debuted on A&E on April 27th and was well received by fans.
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