I'm officially up to six rejection slips from various magazines around the country. They're starting to stuff a manila envelope with "That which does not kill us makes us stronger" on it. So, to inflate my ego a bit, I'll put something in print. You would think with three short stories circulating… someone would be interested in them eventually. I mean, I don't suck THAT bad. Next story is going to Wizards of the Coast. I've also realized I have to start keeping MUCH better notes on the novel I'm writing. No joke, I read my first three chapters over the other day and contradicted myself a record 15 times in 50 pages.
For all of you keeping tract, my Memorial Day sucked. It rained for 4 out of 5 days. This is, of course, after a six week run of 70 – 90 degree weather.
And Ben Morse stole my tagline for the week… Nipple ring wearing f'er.
On with the show.
His name is Stone Cold Steve Austin… and he does not deserve this.
What, you ask? This constant railing about how his heel turn isn't working. I will grant you, for four or five weeks after Wrestlemania, I thought it was sort of boring, but I understood why. Austin has been the guy everyone wanted to, and loved to, cheer for the last three years. People have been conditioned to pop for the breaking glass and pop for everything he does. Austin needed to be evil, he needed to be somewhat boring, and he needed to be monotonous. He needed to start off with "flip the channel" heat, as Kevin Nash so eloquently put it earlier in the week. It was safe because there was nothing to flip the channel to.
So Austin and Triple H create Nitro Endingstm for a few weeks. Get the face in the ring and heartily beat them down. People get sick of seeing this real quick. Austin gets himself a new catch-phrase and says it over and over and over again. People don't want to see Austin… people don't want to hear Austin… people will cheer damn near anyone who comes out and shuts Austin up.
Voila, new top heel.
A lot of the complaints flying around were legitimate. They made Austin a whiny bitch, rather than the badass character he'd been to that point. I argue they didn't have a choice. Austin's old character was a, by definition, heel. He wasn't the straight-arrow face of the past. Most of what Austin did was heelish, from kidnapping the company owner at gunpoint to fighting first and asking questions later. Austin didn't change his look in the slightest. He had to do SOMETHING to symbolize he was the bad guy now. Talking up a fight and then backing down from it is a good way to start. He's cowardly. Not exactly the same as Austin's face character… but Austin "sold his soul for the WWF Title." Do you think he's going to go out on a limb to lose it? Probably not.
People also complained they were selling Austin as Triple H's lackey. Well… duh. How do you make the number one face in the company a heel? Jeez, maybe by aligning him with his arch-enemy. I don't think Austin was much a lackey. I reject that notion. I think a lot of folks were looking at something more to point at and say "Triple H is wielding crazy locker room power." Maybe by having Austin follow Triple H's orders for one week, folks who get they're information in a "he said, she said" had something to point at to strengthen an argument based mostly on heresy.
A lot of people… well, Widro, at least… said that crowd reaction is barely against Austin…. And they could turn him at the drop of a hat. To this I replied: who in the landscape of professional wrestling CAN'T turn at the drop of a hat. Benoit turns on Jericho or vice versa, and they're heels. The Rock was well on his way to being a heel when he was feuding with Austin. Steven Regal comes out and overturns McMahon's bell ringing on Monday, and he's a face. Angle hits Austin with the Olympic Slam, and he's a face. Undertaker turns on Kane, he's a heel. Professional wrestling is not immutable. Austin is about as close to being a permanent crowd favorite as you get… but battering heelish, cowardly acts down everyone's throat enough, and he'll be the heel Triple H was. Triple H didn't become "The New Man" overnight. It took him awhile of being a huge prick for people to really start hating him.
But look at the WWF right now. The night after Judgment Day, the cards are shuffled in a major way. We have The Triple C challenging H and Austin for the tag belts, and winning them. Now we have Austin and Benoit wrestling in some of the better Raw and Smackdown matches in recent memory. Hell, the Smackdown match was probably the best on television this year. The only reason I don't rate the Raw match as the better of the two is because of the ending. So, from Austin's heel turn has risen two brand new, very marketable babyfaces. You could argue that the only reason the crowd responses have been so strong is because they're in Canada. You'd be right. But I challenge you to say WWF television has not been strongly improved in the last few weeks.
People asked for the deck to be shuffled, the WWF did that. Either Austin or Rocky was going heel at Wrestlemania. My vote was for Rocky. Rocky would have made a lot more sense, but that's beside the point. What we've been left with is Austin's heel turn spearheading a rub for the CCC and a revival of interesting WWF television. Is he getting people to boo him… yes. Is he getting people to cheer for the other guy… yes.
He's doing his job… and that's all you can ask of anyone.
Besides… if Austin is annoying you… try this. When Benoit has him in the corner chopping him, picture him saying "My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin… and I do not deserve… " CHOP "AH… DAMMIT! I was saying… My name is Stone Cold" CHOP "OW! Didn't you hear me… my name is"
After a while, you'll be dying to see him on television.
