Former WWE Star Reveals Backstage Reaction To Steve Austin’s WrestleMania Heel Turn

WWE

Former 11-time WWE Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy has given insight into the locker room reaction following Stone Cold Steve Austin’s shock heel turn at WrestleMania 17 in 2001.

On an episode of his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy Podcast, Hardy would discuss the shock character change and how it was received internally in the company.

Hardy said:

“Steve [Austin] was really confident in himself and he thought he could make this thing work and I like that mentality, I like the approach of trying something different and new.”

“You have to always change, you have to always evolve, right? Stone Cold became a character that was so beloved, it was very hard to get him booed and that was gonna be problematic all the way through that.”

“To me, it feels very similar to Jeff Hardy. It would be hard to make Jeff Hardy a full-fledged heel because he’s just such a beloved character and people connect with him in a way that very few people do. Stone Cold was that way too.”

“I know he went out, and it was in Texas of all places where he is absolutely put on a pedestal, and he was getting cheered when he was beating The Rock’s ass after aligning with Mr. McMahon or whatever.”

Austin’s heel turn is something that is still discussed to this day, with many including Austin himself admitting it was the wrong decision.

While the Austin vs The Rock main event may still be discussed over twenty years later, WWE’s most recent WrestleMania main event may also live on in infamy for the wrong reasons with a lot of debate as to whether Cody Rhodes should have lost to Roman Reigns.

Austin himself would weigh in recently on the controversial decision, you can find out his opinion here.

Transcript courtesy of Fightful.

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• Matt Hardy
• Steve Austin
• heel turn
• WrestleMania
• wwe

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