Jim Ross talked with Conrad Thompson about the Steve Austin/The Rock sit down interview right before WrestleMania 17, the heel turn itself, Austin regretting the turn just a few week later and much more during a Grilling JR Live show in Manchester. (Before COVID) Subscribe to the channel for more clips of our live shows and interviews and don't forget to like and comment too!

@erick_solar

3 жыл бұрын

Where can I see it full?

@billyridge7250

3 жыл бұрын

"Before COVID" yep better get that caveat in their. Hahaha. 😬

@ericpedone8544

3 жыл бұрын

He’s so heavy

@stansmith5610

3 жыл бұрын

Just a few WEEKS* later.. not WEEK

@jrl8017

3 жыл бұрын

@Prestin Hurshberry ah your one of those people smh

"That's the one thing people didn't want to see. Austin hugging Vince McMahon" - Jim Cornette

@bendover3653

3 жыл бұрын

I mean isn't that the whole point of a heel turn? Turning on the fans?

@CaptainMorgan420

3 жыл бұрын

@@TiberioTrip Your either/or situation makes 0 sense. There are unlimited ways to tell a story, not just 2. Doing something unpredictable for the sake of shock with no build up and no motive behind it is lazy storytelling just like being boring and predictable.

@billyridge7250

3 жыл бұрын

It was the drizzling shits, no one wanted, or needed to have Stone Cold go all Stooge Crony for Vince. Steve Austin was John Wayne.

@billyridge7250

3 жыл бұрын

@@TiberioTrip That has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

@N4divers

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly nobody cared for that. That was some bs. There's a difference between an effective Heel turn and a heel turn that makes people not want to watch

Even at his Old Age , I still enjoy listening to Jim Ross

@Yusoo8

3 жыл бұрын

Because he’s got stories for ages.

@dangalvan2716

3 жыл бұрын

He's such a legend

@layiahali5265

3 жыл бұрын

@Levi Ackerman gonna have to explain this? I thought I wouldn't have to, but.. When he was younger before his bells palsy took on heavily. He was more energetic, more emotions came out of him , basically he was one of the best storytellers in his prime ever. Now that his bells palsy took a toll on him and his age now. You can drastically see the difference . And hear it .

@deykno87

2 жыл бұрын

lol what his age got to do with listening to him…. It’s not like he’s not lucid or speech is slurred 🙄

@derekgeldreich7760

10 ай бұрын

Been watching/listening to JR since NWA in the late 80s up to now. It feels right that I'm still watching and he's back doing what he does best 😊

One of the best eras started and ended with a man going from heel to face then face to heel.

@isaihvega9928

3 жыл бұрын

Helll yeahh. Steve Austin was the whole attitude era

@jgeorge2693

3 жыл бұрын

@@isaihvega9928 not quite the whole era. When he got hurt and missed most of 99-2000. The rock and triple H feud carried the company and they hit some ratings highs

@nick56677

3 жыл бұрын

The attitude era ended March 26, 2001 with the end of WCW.

@nothing5283

3 жыл бұрын

@@jgeorge2693 nah

@Altolin

3 жыл бұрын

@@jgeorge2693 Absolutely. The Rock was a major part of that era, even having a flagship show named after his catchphrase. Triple H, Foley, Undertaker, Kane and, later on, Y2J had major contributions too, not to mention the Mr Mcmahon character. The attitude era went beyond any one performer.

I was at Wrestlemania 17. I will NEVER forget that night.

@jordand5616

3 жыл бұрын

What was it like being in the Live crowd? I’ve heard that the turn didn’t even register to a lot of PPL in the crowd.

@cobraalaniz149

3 жыл бұрын

@@jordand5616 everything was good until we got that crap ending. The whole Arena filled up with booooooos

@jordand5616

3 жыл бұрын

@@cobraalaniz149 booos as in “go away heat” ? Not booos from a heel turn...

@cobraalaniz149

3 жыл бұрын

@@jordand5616 both after that horrible ending. 🤣

@lg3385

3 жыл бұрын

I have the DVD 📀. Still watch it from time to time

“That’s about as stupid as that heel turn you did at wrestlemania 17” lmaooo JR will never let Steve live that down, neither will most attitude era fans!!🤣

@InfiniCalendar

3 жыл бұрын

“I know, god damn it.” :)

@StraightEdgeKnight19

3 ай бұрын

A much better heel run in hindsight..

@andrewsmith3257

Ай бұрын

Funny thing is I liked Heel Austin. He was funny as hell and putting JR with Paul Heyman on commentary was the funniest thing I've ever seen in 25 years of watching wrestling

@StraightEdgeKnight19

25 күн бұрын

@@andrewsmith3257 damn shame a lot of brain dead wrestling fans don’t see it that way. Yea Austin turning heel was a terrible decision business wise, but from an entertainment and character perspective? Austin did a stellar job of the material he was given.

@bigolebot

9 күн бұрын

​@@StraightEdgeKnight19 no loooool

Austin is right when he said that he should've stunned vince after shaking his hand. If he had done that, the match would have been so much better than it was, even though it was still incredible as it was

@andrebarnes6889

Жыл бұрын

It's interesting tho how would've rock fit in upon his return unless they pushed Hollywood rock earlier and thus longer which I think most would've loved

@oooo1110

Жыл бұрын

People would have booed Austin regardless for cheating to beat the Rock who had him beat after the People's Elbow. There is at least that we've learnt when both babyfaces Rock would win a clean 1v1.

@AkyovNorthWest

Жыл бұрын

@@oooo1110 the "cheating" was literally part of the heel turn lol

@MathiasMaximus

Жыл бұрын

​@@oooo1110 Austin made a career off being a Babyface that used heel tactics. The fans always forgive him

@Electrifying316HBK

Жыл бұрын

But then again you have to think about how incredible that moment was at the time. Austin shaking McMahon's hand is a sight no one ever expected to see and no one ever wanted to see. Which is exactly why it could have been the greatest heel turn in history if some things after it were done differently. In my opinion the moment itself is right up there with the Hogan heel turn. The problem isn't the moment itself, the problem was that the heel run simply didn't work. When you do Hollywood Hogan like heel turn then you better give a Hollywood Hogan like push to go along with it. If they really wanted Austin's heel turn to work then they should have given him like a year long title reign and then have some new big name ready to beat him at the following Wrestlemania.

God. Imagine being the only one in the room who can see the obvious flaw in a terrible plan, and then having to let the jackass who insisted on it beat the crap out of you as part of it.

@00y93

3 жыл бұрын

🤣

@billywashere6965

3 жыл бұрын

@Mr Glass Well said. Think about a lot of the swerves, double turns, and all other sorts of shenanigans that have happened in pro-wrestling that were iconic but just as well could have easily gone the other way. The Undertaker is a prime example of that. Kane is another. Rock & Sock Connection could have been an epic fail, but it wasn't, and it led to one of the highest Nielsen ratings in professional wrestling history. Sting coming back as an expy of The Crow could have been an epic fail given that it was a complete 180 from his surfer dude gimmick. It turned out to become one of the most iconic characters in all of professional wrestling. Turning Hogan heel (which is what I suspect Austin and Vince were aiming for) led to the formation of the nWo, which became one of the most notorious and if not biggest heel faction in all of professional wrestling. It, too, could have easily gone south. So yeah, in hindsight it's easy to see how and why it doesn't work, but when it was actually happening and during that specific vacuum, they probably thought they could reinvent the nWo or at least position Austin in that kind of way.

@Redhotshawntexas

Жыл бұрын

@@billywashere6965 Rock and Sock didn’t get the highest rating. That goes to Austin and Taker for the title the night after KOTR 1999 for cable and Hogan vs Andre on Main Event in 1988

@Redhotshawntexas

Жыл бұрын

@@billywashere6965 it doesn’t take a genius to see that turning your tip-top babyface and biggest merch-seller heel in his home state, aligning him with his two biggest enemies, removing his top babyface rival from TV, and not having any top contenders on the babyface side. The last thing anybody wanted to see was Austin joining McMahon. All throughout the build, the fans were booing Rock and cheering Austin, so it was clearly a stupid idea from any side you look at it.

@discrij6073

10 ай бұрын

@@Redhotshawntexasexactly

That match at WM was incredible. Maybe the best championship match in WWE history.

@jordand5616

3 жыл бұрын

One of the LAST Times the WWF TITLE meant something. The WWF TITLE back then wasn’t obviously a real title, what was REAL AF..... Was that TITLE meant you were #1 guy in the industry who makes the MOST $$$$. That’s what it’s ALL AB. $$$

@Phillygoat1983

3 жыл бұрын

Amen

@bingbing2442

2 жыл бұрын

@@jordand5616 u sound goofy

@bingbing2442

2 жыл бұрын

@@jordand5616 John cena?

@luke8801

2 жыл бұрын

@@jordand5616 now they’ve given it to Jinder fucking Mahal and the tag titles to the fucking B Team

The timing just was wrong. They were thinking more about that night and not the long term effects going forwards. With Rock in and out after that Austin could've really shined and cemented himself even more.

@oooo1110

2 жыл бұрын

I don't think so because if he got help from McMahon to beat Rock and win the title and then stun Mcmahon right after. People will boo him and won't feel right because he cheated to beat Rock.

@Electrifying316HBK

Жыл бұрын

I always felt like they should have done that heel turn at Wrestlemania 19 (obviously first you have to convince Austin not to retire before Wrestlemania 20) and then have face Kurt Angle or Eddie Guerrero beat him(or really anyone they wanted to make the next face of the company). It really all comes down to the fact that it was the right idea, at the right place, at the wrong time.

@insomniacbritgaming1632

10 ай бұрын

Creative were useless with the storyline... could've been amazing

@StraightEdgeKnight19

3 ай бұрын

Cemented himself even more? He’s still regarded by many as the GOAT, and the face of the attitude era. Honestly his heel run has aged better overtime, especially on rewatch.

It was definitely the wrong move. Austin was the ultimate babyface at that time, extremely over with the fans

@troysmith5749

3 жыл бұрын

i don't know, what proof do you have?

@attiepollard7847

3 жыл бұрын

Corpy. Vince was going to push for that no matter what the question is this this if you were in that meeting with both Jr Vince and The Rock how would you advise them to turn Austin Heel?

@kenadams9376

3 жыл бұрын

@@attiepollard7847 the answer is, you don't. Vince is crazy af 🤣 and Austin is just as crazy if he thought it was a good idea. Nothing they could've done would make sense with Austin turning.

@GorditoCrunch343

3 жыл бұрын

@@kenadams9376 Austin went with the old territory thinking of "the hotter the babyface, the hotter the heel" but he underestimated how over he was and didn't see that his character was the rare exception to that rule. People didn't see him as a face or heel, they saw him as a real badass. Once they broke that illusion, it was over.

@SteelSpurs

3 жыл бұрын

@@troysmith5749 I’m sorry, but what? He needs proof? The pops he was getting? The crowd subtly beginning to choose him over Rock in the lead up?

JR is just a legend

@slavojdyrdek

3 жыл бұрын

Simp

@bloodysabbath1984

3 жыл бұрын

Duhhhh

@David98004

3 жыл бұрын

@@slavojdyrdek Insecure people use Simp to belittle others what a mind set 😆🤣😂

@jleos0095

3 жыл бұрын

@@David98004 well said El Burito! 🌯

@suchiuomizu

3 жыл бұрын

@@David98004 It’s such a stupid word, its amazing they can use it without the self-embarrassment killing them.

Only die hard Austin fans talk about his heel turn in 01' as just this great and unique twist in Austins already groundbreaking career....But many pro wrestling fans at the time both WWE & non WWE knew the ramifications of that decision was going to be unreal not just for WWE but for the art of pro wrestling storytelling as a whole....As just a casual Austin fan I can see what (no pun intended) his character meant to alot of ppl....To them he was and still is the ultimate way of life....The pinnacle of the common man whose finally had enough of laws and the system telling him what he should be....He is Neo with a Budweiser....Simply put the Stone Cold character at heart is a "Man vs Machine" story personified.... The character was so BIG because metaphorically it was the answer in many ppls eyes to societies biggest and most ignored problem back then and unfortunately now which is Diversity....America (I guess) at the time was becoming a little more aware that reality was being sugar coated with commercials and advertisements painting what & how a sensible person should be or aspire to, knowing good and damn well thats not how America or life is really like....Vince as a person,didn't get that (I mean he did but he didn't lol)Meaning, yes he knows life in America isn't what they portray on television and no,he didn't know whether to expose that side of America on television or not....ECW and WCW got it before WWE but they never really had a spokesperson who could pioneer that big wave into a character.... WCW was the closest to acheiving this by having Hulk Hogan siding with The Outsiders forming the New World Order (nWo)....Having someone like Hogan turn heel worked out great because the cracks were showing the whole time with the man portraying the character but no one expected them to go completely ALL THE WAY with it...It was ballsy for everyone involved and deservingly respected for it 🌹🌹🌹However,with that said...nWo had 1 fatal problem and that was the man in charge himself (Hogan) not for his personal shenanigans backstage but because the faction itself had a leader....It wasn't a group of men who had a common belief but more of a group of men who wanted to takeover the system....Again,the idea worked great but with someone in charge there's always gonna be a system formed,and like every other system,theres always gonna be problems within the system.... Although ECW is credited as being the 1st company to introduce reality into wrestling there was little to no law in ECW therefore just making the product itself anti-establishment instead of focusing it into one person was gonna make ECW feel like a wasteland....This is why RVD is often looked at as the face of OG ECW because although everyone in ECW had rebel-like personas he was the only one who stood out as someone who didn't fit or belong in that territory...imo that was the entire joke of his whole character in ECW,everyone wanted blood and he just wanted to chill.... Now back to Austin🤣🤣🤣 The reason why Austins heel turn in 01' was more devastating to the world of wrestling than Austin fans like to admit or even acknowledge is that his character stood for the forefront of a new wave happening in pro wrestling....He also stood for as the final send-off to the idea that the old way ain't gonna work anymore (especially in the WWE at the time) No more colorful outfits,over-the-top personalities,corny props,fancy smoke,pretty fireworks and Saturday morning cartoon inspired bad guys....When that type of character broke into a family oriented,comic-book character inspired business like the WWE (WWF at the time) of course ppl are gonna recieve it as something more realistic or unscripted....At the time it was the last thing you'd expect to see in a WWE ring....A wrestler that dosen't care about anything or anyone but himself....The shock of having a wrestler like that in the WWE and the possibility of him actually being WWE champion was shakespeare in the form of wrestling....What Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman did for WCW and ECW is what WWE did for Austin by making him the actual wave that hit pro wrestling.... So why was his heel run so bad in 2001?!!It wasn't.... For the fans of WWE & Stone Cold alone....We got to see him & HHH team upbeat up Lita and J.R.....funny segments with Kurt,Tajiri and as the leader of the Alliance,the "What?"chants were created,we got his "giii-tar" moments,hugging Vince an......huh?!! Yeah....That was the problem....After all that talk and hype about why he should be the #1 guy and saying Stone Cold Steve Austin IS BACK !! AND WANTS TO TAKE BACK THE WWF TITLE !!!....After doing the unthinkable and joining forces with the same man that hated everything about his character and wanted to make his life a living hell...They give us....this?!!! Not only did they abandon everything that the character stood for....But they then later dropped the revamped 3:16 2.0 Stone Cold from 2000 in exchange for a guitar stringing,hug giving,hard of hearing,mood swinging comedic act Stone Cold in later of that year...And for what?!! Just to join a piss poor representation of a WCW and ECW faction?!! Only to jump back on the WWE side in the end....To have Lackluster championship matches with wrestlers who although were good haven't had no real form of character development following his heel run nor no type of good buildup leading up to those matches when compared to his last big feud ??? J.R. hit the nail home when he said...."Who was gonna be goodguy C ???"A was gone and B was no longer a good guy.... As for the rest of the wrestling world,casual fans and the pro wrestling fans who didn't just like WWE and just thought Stone Cold was cool gimmick....They pretty much just left the wrestling business alone altogether or just became part time peepers to the product,the main reason they invested their time in WWE and the Stone Cold character was chucked out the window with that now infamous handshake at WM17....Good show or not,good match or not....the diamond formula of "fighting the system" was officially over in WWE when the forefront pioneer of that whole wave that hit the 90's sided with the system....He didn't lose his star power, he didn't lose his popularity,he didn't even lose his respect but he loss something much much more valuable to the Stone Cold character...He loss the identity..the myth..the core content..the idea of Stone Cold.... It wasn't as bad with Hogan because Hogan forced the system to bow to him...Hogan didn't side with Eric,Eric sided with Hogan and so everyone feared the nWo because they had Eric....WWE went wrong because now everyone feared Vince because he FINALLY HAD AUSTIN😈 Austin should had never cared about the system,thats why he regrets not giving Mcmahon a stunner after the handshake....That one decision would've justified and amplified his heel turn while maintaing the true core essence of Stone Cold "D.T.A....Don't trust anybody!!" Instead,we now have pointless heel turns and twists from babyface wrestlers involving bosses all throughout pro wrestling companies....And "What?"chants lol....Even tho I like them ,they sometimes become a little "nugget"🤏🏿 of a chant...sometimes lol

Austin: I wanna try to change things up and be heel. Austin later: Yeah I hated that. Lol

That main event felt like life or death to me at the time.

@user-qx3eb2jx1p

2 ай бұрын

You're pathetic . Life or death in a Tv show.... get a grip of your life

Heel Austin had some great moments in 2001 in my opinion

@awesomejay528

3 жыл бұрын

i agree with you

@mattiice1399

3 жыл бұрын

His matches with Undertaker,RVD, & Angle that year were epic.

@StraightEdgeKnight19

3 ай бұрын

Yea, it’s a heel run that is much better in hindsight. At the time it was a terrible business decision, but now 2001 was honestly Austin’s best year in the company whether people like his heel run or not.

@craigderby4416

2 ай бұрын

​@@StraightEdgeKnight19 98 was his best year, he's was on fire

@StraightEdgeKnight19

2 ай бұрын

@@craigderby4416 most popular year? Yea, but in terms of in ring work? 2001 takes it and it ain’t even close.

JR is a national treasure, man is just a walking legend 😂

@theraVen27

2 жыл бұрын

A GIANT. Global Icon And National Treasure

@rzn2258

4 ай бұрын

And when he passes away.. no one will go to his funeral. Just like every other wrestling legend that has died before him. That's pretty f###ing sad.

The best and worst things to happen to wrestling The Rock and Stone Cold, can’t be touched

God I'd love to be 12 again back in 01 what a great year

@user-uw1hx9vv3w

3 ай бұрын

I was 4 🙈🙈

@JAFFilms838

2 ай бұрын

I was 1

Greatest Wrestlemania of all time that card was stacked top to bottom

@gavinculpepper9685

3 жыл бұрын

Feels like most of the PPV cards were stacked back then

@veniljackson47

3 жыл бұрын

@@gavinculpepper9685 Real rap back then Sunday Night Heat was better then PPV's today back then every Raw and Smack Down was like a PPV my son is 12 and once I but him on the ol good stuff he only watches wrestling late 80's up to 2007 he can care less about the crap they put on today

@bingbing2442

2 жыл бұрын

@@veniljackson47 u sound goofy

@veniljackson47

2 жыл бұрын

@@bingbing2442 how old are you back then WWE had TLC, Championship PPV worthy matches on smack down and Raw damn near every night the top stars didn't work part time Rock, Austin, taker ect was all way there you always got to see the top stars perform whether promo or match you must be a young boul lol so you get pass junior lol

@bingbing2442

2 жыл бұрын

@@veniljackson47 lol it was only one tlc match on weekly tv. That I remember back in 2001 Christian and edge vs the Dudley boyz Hardy’s and Chris Jericho and beniot on smackdown but wwe product not the same but heat is nowhere near the ppv of today I know wwe not the same but don’t say heat is better than today ppv btw I started watch wrestling during the last straw of the attitude era 2002 start watching it so u know what are u talking about

Jim is a national treasure!!

JR and Jerry Lawler best announce team ever.

JR is one of my favorite human beings of all time man. I could listen to him talk wrestling stories every single day.

In my opinion, the Rock was in his best shape ever in 2001, better than when he came back to the WWE jacked up in 2011-13

@christiansoldier77

3 жыл бұрын

DavSav93 Rock had a soft body in 2001 so he wasnt in his best shape

@greatestever0083

3 жыл бұрын

2000 The Rock was in his best shape

@PMKru

3 жыл бұрын

97-98 Rock Was PRIME!!! Dude Was Big Ass Shit Like He Was Still A LB/DE. Athletic AF

@stephenbetts6367

3 жыл бұрын

@@PMKru Na Rock in 00- early 01 was Rock at his peak. 98 and especially 97 Rock still had some fat

@shortyg1018

3 жыл бұрын

Well yeah, he was making movies and Hollywood didn’t tolerate roids lol.

Said genuinely: I hope Conrad drops some weight. Like the guy a lot and don't want him to drop dead of a heart attack

@Njbear7453

3 жыл бұрын

He’s CHOOSING to live like that and look like that, he makes enough $$ and can make a choice to change his lifestyle.

@Njbear7453

3 жыл бұрын

@Democrats are racist He can hire a personal chef to cook him Healthy meals make breakfast lunch and dinner.

@papasmurf3569

3 жыл бұрын

@Democrats are racist or he can just choose to eat healthier he may not be filthy rich but definitely wealthy enough to make a choice to eat better it’s obvious his money goes to a diff diet

@papasmurf3569

3 жыл бұрын

@Democrats are racist when you have a eating problem and have money to spend on food your going to gain some weight

@papasmurf3569

3 жыл бұрын

@Democrats are racist so for him it’s harder to just make a choice of eating less and exercising

I was 12 years old and this was my first wrestle mania at the end of the show I was beyond heart broken but I was conflicted because I just watched the most amazing wrestling show I've ever seen.

@user-qx3eb2jx1p

2 ай бұрын

You weren't there. Stop lying.

I was a huge Austin fan and Mark, actually cried at the age of 14 after seeing the heel turn lol. When he allied with Tripe H the following night that was the twisting of the knife in the back for me. I nearly quit watching but decided to still support him. Eventually he would do some of the most hilarious work he's ever done with Angle. Also don't think the "What!" movement would have arose without him being a heel. His alliance with Triple remains for me a sore spot though. Their rivalry was too intense and recent at the time for him to start a team up with him. That still baffles me.

@orangemaniabrother2232

3 жыл бұрын

The "what" thing is probably the worst thing to ever happen to wrestling, I wouldn't count that as a blessing

@GoGetYourShinebox

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah it’s as if they took a dump on the Austin vs Vince & Austin vs Triple H rivalries from 1998-2001. Those beefs were too intense to see them reversed

@sohell1992

3 жыл бұрын

@@orangemaniabrother2232 Agree 100%

@theprepubescentgrandpa7999

3 жыл бұрын

@@orangemaniabrother2232 Absolutely terrible shit. The "What" bullshit almost turned me off of wrestling forever.

@theprepubescentgrandpa7999

3 жыл бұрын

@Mario Walker904 disgustingly terrible.

Just for the record ,The Quiet man was filmed in the village of Cong in Co. mayo Ireland 👍🏻

I hope JR does a audiobook on the book like Austin and Mick did

@christopherhamer9584

3 жыл бұрын

It's been on audible for months now.

Glad I was a 90s Kid for this era in wrestling! Don't even watch it anymore haven't for years but like to hear about behind the scenes from this magical time!

I really enjoyed Austin’s heel turn. I loved the two man power trip with HHH. And I loved Kurt Angle going over on Austin to win the title.

@leejee88

2 жыл бұрын

i loved the two man power trip correct me if im wrong but im pretty sure austin himself admitted that his heel run was poor timing also the fact that he was marketed as a anti hero .so basically he was a heel and a face at the same time there was almost no need to do a heel run because in a way austin was always a bad guy

@johnbasedow8973

2 жыл бұрын

You just stated everything that ruined the era

@BlindSideNZ

2 жыл бұрын

@@johnbasedow8973 that is complete nonsense. Stop talking shit my bro.

@specialagentorange4329

2 жыл бұрын

Blonde side, you're wrong

This man is arguably as important to the business as Vince himself.

@scoobysnacks6548

2 жыл бұрын

😂

@aussie_cones

2 жыл бұрын

man i love jr as much as anyone hes the goat commentator but you are off ya head . vkm is the wrestling business and he is the single most important figure in professional wrestling history

@cutekanjii

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah in his own mind he is! Way overrated announcer

@cutekanjii

2 жыл бұрын

@@aussie_cones mcmahon ruined the wrestling business he might have made the WWF/E a huge successfull company financialy thanks to tv and advertising but if there was no tv advertising he would be dead if he depended on drawing a crowd the old fashioned way. He might have grew his individual company but he kilked the business as a whole

@moeswagger2329

2 жыл бұрын

@@cutekanjii exactly! he's probably only ever watched WWF/E

If I had to guess what Steve was thinking, to try to put any logic to why he thought this might work, I would guess he was thinking because he was in front of his home crowd at the biggest show, he thought doing the single most unthinkable thing imaginable would have made the response to such a betrayal that much more passionate, that much more personal. But he had been doing heel stuff as a babyface for years, he had become such an icon that no matter what he did, the crowd was gonna love him. That and I think it was just SO unthinkable that nobody bought it. The logic just wasn't there.

@GorditoCrunch343

3 жыл бұрын

The live crowd in Houston was popping for everything Austin did, even the heel tactics he pulled out. When McMahon showed up, they actually thought Vince turned face. That's how over Austin was.

In actuality, the turn would've worked beautifully if Rocky had stayed. The Two Man Power Trip & Vince vs Rock, overcoming the odds? It was great in 2000 with the McMahon-Helmsley faction, and it would've been even better here. Sadly, with Dwayne's absence and Trips' quad tear, it was done for. The invasion angle missteps just made things worse.

@Speedyreedy1218

10 ай бұрын

The fact that two of HHH'S matches [No Way Out, Tag Title match on Raw, and WM17 v Undertaker] still made the top 10 in best matches of 2001 despite missing 10 months out the year really tells you how bad the Invasion was.

It's funny looking back on how this whole thing came about but for Vince to say "We owe it to Steve to try" just smacked of complacency in the sense of WCW and ECW were his and they were so hot at the time. 2000 WWF was one of the greatest years that company ever had and Austin was missing most of that year, i think Vince didn't expect that Austin turning heel would start a decline that they never ever recovered from

It's was so unbelievable that Austin would align his self Vince especially after all Mr McMahon has put Austin through . It would've made since if he would've align with than turn on him all in the same night.

This is probably reason they never turned cena heel and let him get stale

@4zafinc

3 жыл бұрын

Turning Cena was more difficult even without taking the Austin turn in consideration. He was the biggest idol that kids had and used to do record number of Make-A-Wish appearances. Shareholders/Board of Directors would probably grill Vince if he actually attempted it. They still did think about it during the Rock feud though. Cena said he even bought a few merches as tryout for heel turn. But in the end Vince dropped it

@4zafinc

3 жыл бұрын

@Holy Shareholders get themselves involved into everything. WWE starting to trade publicly in 99 was one of the major reasons PG came into being. Tons of examples of many wrestlers shoot interviews highlight this. For example Buh Buh Ray Dudley wanted to bring his Bully Ray character into WWE and Vince loved the idea, but knew shareholders would grill him if he bought in a bully gimmick while simultaneously running a Be A Star campaign. And I know exactly what I'm talking about. You on the other hand are welcome to sit your ignorant ass out of adult conversations next time unless you want to make yourself look foolish

@kevinmiller2210

3 жыл бұрын

Ive always said turning Cena would have been harder because the WWE is a publicly traded company now with shareholders and etc to please.

@whylikepie15

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly.... turning Cena heel would have lost revenue

@therebel4332

2 жыл бұрын

@@whylikepie15 Its not the lost revenue its the brainwashing character they don't want to lose. The worst thing a wrestling company can do is go public and go on the stock exchange.

the best ring announcer of my time, made even the weak matches enjoyable

The next guys in line at the time to get pushed into the Stratosphere were "The Chrises", Benoit & Jericho, the future World Tag Team Champions of the World Wrestling Federation.

I was 12 years old and this was my first my first wrestle mania at the end of the show I was beyond heart broken but I was conflicted because I just watched the most amazing wrestling show I've ever seen.

The match between Austin and The Rock at WM17 was epic but Austin's heel turn was not great but his alliance with Triple H was bad ass and actually saved it. The rivalry they had vs Undertaker and Kane was good.

@kevinpayton2664

Жыл бұрын

Also the feud with the Hardy Boys as well. The night on Raw when they pounded the Hardys and Lita after losing a six-person match. They really did a number on Lita.

Imo it was the beginning of the end. I absolutely HATED the subsequent stuff he did with Kurt Angle even more than this heel turn. Austin just epitomized ADVERSITY at this point,no way we were gonna boo him in general but especially not his own ppl in TX. I agree with JR.

I was 15 yrs old @ the time and I will never forget this day when Austin turned. I LITERALLY had the same face as the black guy @ WM 30 when “The Streak” ended. I get shock value and everything but the build up to this match was almost once and a lifetime (only two other matches that come close to it is Warrior v Hogan & Bret v Shawn) because Austin and Rock were RED HOT individually leading up to WM 17 and it was hard to choose who you wanted to win even as a die hard Austin fan because b4 Austin came back that entire year Rock became bigger than wrestling and I had gotten used to him being a god of the wrestling world. So to end it like that was such a stain on the history books.......but in hindsight it’s still the greatest WM of all time!

I see inside ropes upload I think hell yeah!

Conrad is the man, too. The things he's put together have been huge for us fans.

Man I love Jim Ross! He's like the grandpa we never had growing up. You feel like you could just sit back, pop a top and listen to countless hours of war stories! Always loved this guy. ❤

If you go back and look at Austin’s 96 and 97 heel promos, he actually comes across selfish and whiny at times. There’s even one time where Gorilla Monsoon tells him to get his ass out of the building and his reaction is “don’t talk to me like that” showing that the character was also kind of a hypocrite who could dish it out but not take it. On top of that , there’s an episode of Livewire on KZread where they talk about how he left as soon as the cameras stopped rolling during the invasion of Pillman’s house and did the whole thing as an egotistical publicity stunt. The paranoid/self-centred gimmick actually fit the character perfectly. He snapped and got desperate, so he joined Vince for the title and self validation. It was never about being the anti-establishment everyman. It was about himself getting what he wanted. “When have I ever said I want to be these people’s hero?” - Austin the SmackDown after WM 17

@richardmille_1599

3 жыл бұрын

Definitely agree with this Statement from top to bottom ! Huge wwf fan myself he cheated to win the Royal Rumble 1997. Austin also indicated that going for the belt at WM 14 against Shawn Michaels .

@wildsidetv313

3 жыл бұрын

True but the thing was in 96 he was by himself. He was basically a renegade that did what he wanted do and did whatever it took to get his way like you said. Being cool with Vince McMahon after WrestleMania 17 was the problem. Austin being a heel wasn't the problem. I would have been cool with it if he didn't align himself with Vince McMahon after years of fighting each other. IMO after WrestleMania Austin shoulda said "fuck you too Vince I used you to get what I want" and be that renegade heel

@Guyincognito28282

3 жыл бұрын

@@wildsidetv313. They still had fallings out during their association (KOTR 01 build up) and the whole reason Austin joined the Alliance was because he felt under appreciated by Vince. He was sucking up to Vince to keep the belt ( the whole reason they fought in the first place was because Vince didn’t want him to have the belt). That’s a reason you could say he sucked up to Vince,because if he was his old self, Vince wouldn’t want him as champion. Once he realised he could use The Alliance to protect him, he ditched Vince. He was never really cool with him, he was just a means to an end. That’s what it was all about for Austin - being the WWF Champion by any means necessary. I’m just offering alternative ways to look at things so that it makes more sense, rather than just looking at it in surface level wrasslin’ terms. I wouldn’t really care so much about any other wrestler’s career-long arc but Austin is my all-time favourite. If anything, it’s a testament to him that there’s so many passionate views and angles about his heel turn.

@TruthDissident

2 жыл бұрын

@@Guyincognito28282 Austin in 1996 was a psychotic selfish lone wolf. Austin in 2001 was a cowardly pathetic heel. It didn't fit his character at all, you think Austin in 96 would've ran away from Undertaker/Kurt Angle? No.

@therebel4332

2 жыл бұрын

I didn't really have a problem with the whole clingy thing,, when you've been on your own for a long time and had to watch your own back, to then all of a sudden having someone there and you've bonded with them, its very easy to get scared/paranoid about not having them all of a sudden,, and you remember how hard it was when you had to do everything by yourself,, to that end it fit,, its just no one liked him hugging and being whiny after,, yes his character was selfish and a bit whiny to begin with but he'd evolved and matured out of it.

I literally feel like I can never forget the sound of jr voice

I loved Austin’s heel turn and how he made Vinces life miserable every time they were together and bringing kurt into the situation was hilarious.

@ShawnLamont1997

Жыл бұрын

It was entertaining but it shouldn’t have happened at least not until invasion

Conrad Thompson is much larger than I ever could’ve imagined given his voice.

Great interview 👍👍

this has to be the longest amount of time Conrad has existed without ad revenue

I was a young teen at the time when this happened and Austin was like a god to me. I had only been watching wrestling for a few years and didn't have the internet. It was basically nothing at the time anyway. There were always people even then that said that wrestling was fake and it would piss me off cus I didn't believe it...until Austin's heel turn. His character that had convinced me so strongly that wrestling was real is what convinced me that it must be fake because Austin would never side with his archenemy McMahon! I became disgusted by wrestling and felt "worked" like the mark I was so I quit watching for about a decade. Until, I started watching shoot interviews on KZread and realized that wrestling was more real than I ever thought just in a different way. I've seen countless shoot interviews since then and did try watching WWE but it just was too shitty. I currently only watch AEW and it may sound cheesy but I know that I will always be a wrestling fan.

@jdk67

2 жыл бұрын

Same. Even when I was young, I actually thought wrestling was way more fake than it is. I thought the ring was a trampoline and chairs were fake and stuff like that. It shocked me to learn years later the amount of hell these guys put their bodies through, and the sheer amount of stuff that ISN’T fake.

Grew up listening to good ole JR calling matches and so glad I get to hear him calling matches again on AEW. The man is a legend and one of the very best to every do it along with Jerry Lawler and Micheal Cole.

Not having a babyface ready to take Austin's place and HHH getting injured was probably the main reasons it fizzled out but the comedy stuff with Kurt was gold on tv though and it elevated Kurt as a top guy to chase for the title during the summer so it wasn't all bad

Imo it's the greatest heel turn of all time. Nobody expected it, everyone was lost for words and it was one of the greatest heel runs of all time. Some amazing matches with Kurt Angle and with the rock away it gave loads of other talent the opportunity to shine. I loved it. It was a breath of fresh air. It failed in a business sense because butthurt Austin fans couldn't handle it but from a creative sense it was glorious

@Thouxanbanpol0

2 жыл бұрын

Fr

@jayrizzle9226

2 жыл бұрын

Dude I remember being an eleven year old kid and just despising stone cold for joining vince. It felt like one of my heros personally betrayed me lol. Wish wrestling could pull me in the way it did way back when. It used to have any kind of segment. Serious,funny, brutal, interviews, whatever, it was all always 🔥 back then.

Thank you for everything JR, your the greatest!

THEE greatest WrestleMania match of all time. That’s like the only match I’ve ever watched where I felt the energy through my TV screen 🔥🔥🔥

I only just found out the other day that Conrad Thompson is married to Megan Fliehr, Ric Flair’s daughter. I was listening to Eric Bischoff’s podcast 83 Weeks about the Ultimate Warrior and Eric said “I’ve never met a guy who lived his gimmick more than Warrior. Your father-in-law really lives his gimmick but Warrior lived his gimmick even more! There is no Jim Hellwig it was just Warrior”. So I Googled Conrad and saw his wife was Megan Fliehr so I knew then Ric Flair was his father-in-law. I forgot Ric has 2 daughters, I thought he had just Ashley (Charlotte Flair) and his 2 sons David and Reid (I was watching 24 on Ric Flair on WWE Network and saw that David is a lot more chubby than when he was in WCW and then the following day I saw an old picture of Ric Flair which I’d seen before of him as a wrestler before his plane crash when Flair was bigger than the Flair we know from the 80’s onwards. And David was a spitting image of his father in that old photo and the only difference is that David has dark hair)

Guess thats why cena never turned heel

@michaelrivera8360

3 жыл бұрын

He wanted to turn heel but Vince seeing that the Austin heel run didn't help business at all he feared the same thing would happen with Cena.Realistically at that point who would you put in Cena's place.The answer people would say it's Punk but the truth is as Dave Meltzer would say and people would get annoyed at him,Cena was the bigger draw at the time and yeah Punk can claim that he was selling more merch than Cena at the time(it did happen but it was for like 3 months)cold hard facts indicated Cena was still more over than Punk(go watch the night Punk returned with the title and you can clearly hear Cena got a bigger reaction) in quarterly hour segments,merch and PPV buy rates because Punk was mostly over with hardcore wrestling fans.Because I was so surprised how little he drew for Money in the Bank 2011 and the next night on Raw did very low numbers at the time.So I really don't blame WWE for not turning Cena heel again.

@mariod1547

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelrivera8360 Great points. I don't know enough about merch sales and discussions backstage. Why was did they finally pull the trigger with Reigns? It doesn't seem to me like there is anyone on his level in terms of being recognizable to a casual audience yet he is a heel now.

@ryaneglinton8970

3 жыл бұрын

Can't upset the stupid little kids... all that matters apparently. So sad in today's era.

@hermonymusofsparta

3 жыл бұрын

@@ryaneglinton8970 They're not stupid. Almost all wrestling fans start out as kids watching.

@michaelrivera8360

3 жыл бұрын

@@mariod1547 is because although Reigns was over he never was as over as Cena and Dave Meltzer said"If Reigns was truly was working as the top guy they would have pulled a Cena and never turned him heel again".

Thanks Jr the voice of the wwe for my generation

I enjoyed the heel turn and then the run with Triple H, albeit cut short. He did get some heat in the month after Mania. Triple H going down really ruined the whole thing as they had to force the Invasion.

@shortyg1018

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I don’t think they planned on the Invasion angle till late 2001 - early 2002.

@danielrierson6683

Жыл бұрын

But they messed it up by having hogan turn face. Then Austin walked out and Nash tore his quad

What made it even worse is they turned Austin heel right when The Rock left to shoot a movie. He had no top babyface on his level to feud with. Triple H was probably the only possible choice since he already beat Austin clean in that 3 stages of hell match the same year and had every right to become the next title contender, but he was smart enough to know that noone was going to cheer him as a face against Austin so he decided to team up with him instead, and then got hurt not too long afterwards. The decision was a disaster.

I loved his heel run, so much

I believe (and I think it was confirmed by someone in WWE), that Triple H was supposed to be the #1 Babyface, with Austin turning against him and break up the Two Man Power Trip, but then Hunter got hurt in the Tag Title Match which destroyed all those plans. But I'm not 100% certain on that, however I still believe this was at least a rumor for quite some time.

@Speedyreedy1218

10 ай бұрын

Rumor. No one is buying 99-01 HHH as a face. Fans dig his character. But they love him being the bad guy. He's who they love booing.

@killerb255

4 ай бұрын

@@Speedyreedy1218HHH even returned as a face after his injury, but it didn’t last long, as like you said, nobody was buying face Hunter during that time.

@Speedyreedy1218

4 ай бұрын

@killerb255 His 02 face turn lasted 7 ½ months. But it was ruined by month three because of...Hogan. So, he decided late summer to cut his losses and go back to what he does best. Being the top heel.

I think the heel turn was good but when hunter got hurt it kinda screwed it all up

Crazy thet that happened!!

I don't think Turning Stone Cold a heel was a bad idea. The way the transition started I felt was pretty good because it was so intense and caught everybody off guard. The issue in my opinion was during that heel turn, Stone Cold developed into a bit of a goofy comical more on the wimpish side type of character.

@mattbad2594

3 жыл бұрын

nailed it right there, Austin was a complete goof, they should of made him like the Ringmaster heel type instead of kissing ass to Vince, i think the best of Austin was from 96 -- 97 the no fucks given, before the beer swilling, that was the best Austin

@leejee88

2 жыл бұрын

yeah well its hard to do something different because austin was a anti hero so in a way he was a heel/face mix .

@butchvito

Жыл бұрын

Go back and watch Austin's heel run from 2001. "Attitudepop" channel is great. The run was not as bad as people remember. He was still entertaining, and a way better heel compared to anyone in the last 20 years. You couldn't have Austin be a heel like he was in 1996 during 2001. His heel run in 1996 is what made the fans turn him babyface. He wasn't going to catch any heat with fans if they didn't make his heel character somewhat of a coward.

@drdfilm

Жыл бұрын

@@butchvito you make a good point and I agree with you to an extent. There were aspects of Austin's heel run, that was pretty piercing in 2001 before he became wimpish. Like when he attacked Jim Ross, and almost destroyed Lita with multiple chair shots in a tag team match between him triple h and The Hardy boys. None of us have ever seen a guy wrestler attack and abuse and almost destroy a female the way he did Lita that night. He was pretty sadistic in the beginning. What made the fans get behind him in 1996 and 1997 wasn't so much that he was a bad heel, but he was a rebel and a mercenary. And his character identified with a lot of what the demographic of fans and people felt in society as a whole. Not to mention he was entertaining. His heel run wasn't that bad, but it certainly wasn't that good and I'm glad he did not end his career that way.

@justina249

Жыл бұрын

Call a damn paramedic! I don't give a damn about thar man I just burned my mouth! 😭

If we could get this with jim and bryan That would be amazing‼️

J.r made a great point...They literally lost their two biggest babyfaces at the same time..Two of the greatest babyfaces ever , basically in their primes and you lose them on the same night, with no replacement

@SFNDMK

Ай бұрын

This!

Even Austin said he would have called an audible on the play & stunned Vince.

5:40 “we’re not on live tv Einstein it’s taped it’s smack down” 🤣

While the Austin vs Rock match was one for the ages at Wrestlemania 17, I just knew the Austin heel turn would flop. Easiest way I knew that, was because heel or babyface Austin like it or not, STILL was getting cheers from the fans. Maybe perhaps not as much as a heel character but you could still here em. IMO most fans are fickle in that they cheer in whatever direction the wind blows, meaning they'll cheer ya if you do something they like & boo ya if you do something they don't like. That to me is being very fickle as a fan. Myself, there was only one talent I ever really for a lack of a better word "cheered" & he wasn't even alone, it was a tag team & I would cheer them on no matter what they would do. Looking back, I'm glad I did because it proved that I was not only a true fan but I also proved I wasn't fickle like a lot of fans. I'm sure there are others but it's a good bet they'll never admit it, especially those who are fickle. lol But yeah, as soon as I heard fans still cheering Austin the "heel" I knew the role of him being heel wasn't gonna work. Ya might as well face it, Austin was in wrestling terms "over" & in his case he was "WAY OVER." And ain't nothing he would or could do that was ever gonna change that, even siding with Vince McMahon. It was like anything Austin would touch, turned to gold. He was truly one of a kind. Just saying.

JR. You are The GOAT!

1:41 Michael Cole: OOOOHHH MYYYYYYY

Turning Austin heel was ridiculous.

@OmegaRedFan

2 жыл бұрын

You had to be there to appreciate it

The heel turn was so memorable I dont even remember that JR beating

I loved austins heel run

At least Vince took risks back then

best part NO ONE SEEN IT COMING

I really enjoy JR's commentary and his creative input. I often thought that Triple H could have helped pull off the double turn on the RAW after WMX7 and went to war all over again with Austin. They had just done about five/six months of heel Triple H and babyface Austin and they could have done a 180 and had them both on opposite sides again. The way they did it was impressive but having Austin turn and then having Rock leave, you really had no top babyface at the time outside of Kane or Taker. Jericho and Benoit were elevated to main event status but they could have turned Triple H the night after Mania and the feud could have continued but in a different light. It might have worked.

@Speedyreedy1218

10 ай бұрын

No one is buying babyface HHH 1999-2001.

@killerb255

4 ай бұрын

@@Speedyreedy1218They tried babyface HHH after he came back from his quad injury, but it didn’t last long.

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara statue is in Mayo and Cong is the name of the place where you find the statue. Nice little place where they filmed the quiet man

@billyridge7250

3 жыл бұрын

Really is a great great film.

@alanfitzpatrick177

3 жыл бұрын

It's Cong not Kong

@mcevoyproduction1231

3 жыл бұрын

@@alanfitzpatrick177 ya that's right alan Cong 👍

"A good announcer just gets his ass out of the way" Conrad lifts mike. Timing is everything!

Business wise, it didn't work too great, but creatively, it was the best work of Austin's career IMO. I was sick of the same ol' shit every week with babyface Austin and his heel work made me a fan again.

@stephenbetts6367

3 жыл бұрын

Austin as a heel in 96-97 was great. 2001 was good but...

@therebel4332

2 жыл бұрын

To be fair his constant running out interfering in random matches got a bit boring,, it works early doors but does get stale. Austin was an enigma character, like we can't live without him but at the same time he needs to be boxed up and given a breather. They burned out the fans with him in 2001 esp.

The Quite Man was filmed in Cong, County Mayo Ireland.

there's one guy in the crowd who's laughing at the beginning of nearly every sentence lmao

I think for the sheer shock factor of seeing the two guys who had the biggest fued ever aligning on the biggest wrestlemania of all time in his home state was pretty cool but in reality it was maybe too soon for him as he was as over as before if not more. The craziest decision for me though was doing it knowing rocks going the next night which means they have lost the two top babyfaces (maybe of all time) in one night. Had rock been staying it could have worked better but austin not having a top face to work against really killed it

To this day, I think Austin played a great heel. It was shock, he beat up his own friend JR, and not to mention, in my opinion, the greatest heel segment ever. Him and Triple h beat up Lita. A helpless woman who was trying to defend her love. They beat her ass with a chair. There's no greater heat than that. And I've lived all these years later and never seen anything that made you hate lost and more. He may have been loved. But he did such a great job becoming the greatest asshole of his time.

My problem wasn't necessarily with Austin turning heel it was the type of heel he was. He was a total chickenshit, I would have preferred him to have some of the intensity of his babyface character but have a more the ends justify the means to his character.

@billyridge7250

3 жыл бұрын

Putting him with Vince was just awful. The fans had just invested so much time, energy, and a billion dollars into our anti authoritarian Texas Rattlesnake, and in a matter of moments, he's now a crony? All that awesome, and now Austin 3:16 says I'm just cashin' checks! Blech.

@butchvito

3 жыл бұрын

If Austin was the same type of heel like he was back in '96 it wouldn't have worked. Making him a chicken shit would make the fans hate him even more. They tried everything to make the fans hate him but a good portion of the audience still cheered him. I think they should have made Austin a face during the invasion angle. That made no sense whatsoever being the leader of WCW.

@jesseluciano1388

3 жыл бұрын

Thats what heels do tho lol they supposed to make you sincerely hate them, since they couldnt get austin to get booed they then had to go to extreme lengths to get the job done lol

@DCDPM

3 жыл бұрын

@@jesseluciano1388 and it failed miserably anyway so they could have just made him a tweener. I shit on the product today but Austin the paranoid cowardly leader of the alliance who cried could be up there with some of todays crap. It really was the end of an era when Austin turned heel. I don't think the business has been the same since.

@kamfisher1714

3 жыл бұрын

@@billyridge7250 You don’t know anything about wrestling

Without that heel turn, we would have never got the What? gimmick from Stone Cold. Outside of the iconic 3:16 shirt, the What? shirt is also an iconic shirt. As annoying as the What chant can get it has stayed an outlet for the fans to instantly give our opinion about the show. Personally I have more respect for Steve for giving his all to try to get that heel turn over. #BMF #CauseStoneColdSaidSo!

Jim Ross is a National Treasure 🪙🇺🇸

You know an idea is bad when a company man like JR argues about it

If after the hug, Austin stunned McMahon, then you could’ve reinvigorated that storyline with Vince going after Austin a million times harder for double crossing him.

I liked it because I ended up hating him, that’s a heel doing his or her job perfectly.

If he woulda never gone heel. The attitude era woulda never ended

Love 2001 so many good matches so many good promos ❤️

Dude. The Quiet Man is one of my favorites too. Eldorado, and the Cowboys . JR got some good taste. Lol

I love wrestling stories

I'm glad JR'S still in the business but it's got to be tough going from the Rock and Austin and Flair and Steamboat to Orange Cassidy and Bunghole boy Jack Perry.

The voice of my childhood to my teens.