JRA wrote:

11a) Exactly how did Kurt Angle end up with the misfortune of having Steve Austin fans chanting "What?" ala Steve Austin during his promos? 11b) Why the hell didn't Angle just roll with them and turn his promos into Steve Austin promos? True it would have been ripping him off, but that's what the fans get for chanting it during Angle's promos in the first place.

It wasn't Angle, it was everyone. The story began when Austin left a message on Christian's answering machine, and everyone found it hilarious. I believe the first person he cut it on was Tazz. A lot of people don't remember Austin's other thing where he would "listen" to his wristwatch.

Angle did rip off Austin, as he ripped off everyone. Austin and Angle would constantly battle then allign together, which honestly was the best part of the Invasion. They almost acted as a married couple trying to compete for McMahon's attention. A lot of people said Austin shouldn't have turned at WM X-Seven, but I feel it was overdue. While Austin the character was very stale, he was still very over, but I feel it would've only been a matter of time before the fans turned on him. We saw more depth and creativity in Austin in those 8 months as a heel over the 4 years he was as a face.

He would then lose the title no less than 3 weeks later back to Cena, who would go on to beat Triple H at WM. After that, the sad reality that Cena is going to be the face of the company finally started to sink in. And around 5 years later...here we are. Ugh.

JRA wrote:

If that's the case, then has anybody actually turned down Vince's help, or is it a unwritten rule that if he pops up during a match, someonesa turnin heel?

The match was in Houston, Austin was basically in his hometown and the Rock was booed badly. The reasons for them turning Austin heel were;

1. They felt his character was worn down. It was.

2. Austin felt changing his character would revitalize his career. It did.

3. They felt the best way to do this, was to pair him up with his arch-nemesis; Vince McMahon. It worked.

However, while his character was worn down, the fans STILL liked him. Turning him heel would've been fine, but it wasn't at a point in which it needed to happen. The fans needed to WANT the turn, which they didn't, so the whole thing was met with apathy. Also they didn't make it too clear as to why he alligned himself with Vince, other than he wanted to have an insurance policy. If Austin went out there and stated that he did it because he felt creating an alliance with his nemesis would render him untouchable, then it might've worked more.

But instead, Vince sort of slinked his way out of the story and they brought in Triple H. Instead of turning Triple H face, they fuck up even more. Remember, Triple H had been the mastermind in taking Austin out a couple years earlier, the reason was that he would gain a lot in his absence. So what does Triple H do? He joins Austin, becoming his second in command. I cannot even begin to express how dumb this was, because they had an epic feud and blow off just 2 months before. You could've revitalized the feud with the tables turned having Austin get the upperhand this time. Triple H ends up injured, and Austin is still getting cheered (beating up Michael Cole doesn't garner boos) so they change his character again.

He becomes a kiss ass to Vince once again, while facing off against the Invasion. Funny moments aside, fans still weren't buying it and they were booing the Invasion when it was clearly meant to originally be the face group. Still unphased, Austin turns on Vince and joins the Invasion. Yet, instead of getting booed, the arenas are filled with apathy. People just love Austin so much, that the Invasion in which Kurt Angle (who had also joined the Invasion...for some reason) turned face by knocking Austin out and defeating the Invasion once and for all, the next night Austin turned face and Angle turned heel. FOR NO APPARENT REASON.

Sometimes wrestling just can't be explained.