Steve Austin/Kurt Angle 2001 and general Austin...funnyness.

[CSL]

<font color=white>The guitar clips and one after KOTR '01.

<div><object width="425" height="335"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/1TGCKSPoCs4hy8AFV"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/1TGCKSPoCs4hy8AFV" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="335" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17vxz_austin-tries-to-cheer-up-vince">Austin Tries To Cheer Up Vince</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/Ronin0508">Ronin0508</a></i></div>

<div><object width="425" height="335"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/1wJdS3veJz3f78AHF"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/1wJdS3veJz3f78AHF" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="335" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17w0z_kurt-angle-tries-to-cheer-up-vince">Kurt Angle tries to cheer up Vince</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/Ronin0508">Ronin0508</a></i></div>

<div><object width="425" height="335"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/5Wr9rra9g17RZ8cNQ"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/5Wr9rra9g17RZ8cNQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="335" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15x4y_anglevince-and-austin-backstage-seg">Angle,Vince And Austin Backstage Segment</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/mohanedkingofkings">mohanedkingofkings</a></i></div>

Can't find the ones with the sheriff hat and Kurt's mini hat.

Also:
A What compilation (:lol: @ the Hugh Morrus bit)
<div><object width="425" height="306"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/6Jd4GzSNHp0DT9sAz"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/6Jd4GzSNHp0DT9sAz" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="306" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1cbur_what">WHAT?</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/hornethill">hornethill</a></i></div>

Austin/Booker Supermarket
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<font color=white>Some of the stuff from back then was great. Feel free to add :y: </font>

[The One]

Austin has a heel was terrible. However, I must admit I simply LOVED the Austin/Angle/McMahon sketches.

[Road Warrior]

Good shit, to bad you can't find Angle wearing the little bukaroo hat, that shit was funny.

[SammyG]

WHAT

[Vietnamese Crippler]

Excuse me sir, do you have any Grey Poupon? *kick*

:lol:

[dablackguy]

One of my favorites was the one where Vince wants the 'old stone cold' back and winds up getting a guitar to the skull. these skits were good times

Rep for this

[Mercury Bullet]

Austin - "Can you play the axe?"

Angle - "What's the axe?"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[IC Champion]

Austin was arguably the best heel of the 2000's.

[The One]

Austin was arguably the best heel of the 2000's.

Who the fuck is arguing that???:wtf:

[Innovator]

No he wasn't, Austin being heel failed so many levels.

[Dorkchop]

Austin has a heel was terrible. However, I must admit I simply LOVED the Austin/Angle/McMahon sketches.

I agree that he wasn't a great heel, but the sketches with him, Angle, and McMahon were fucking hilarious. I loved when they hugged McMahon (taking a shot at DDP hugging Vince in a metting).

[The One]

Well DDP is a yoga guy, so you know, he hugs people... :|

[Mercury Bullet]

Austin as a heel = :|

[Mercury Bullet]

Austin was arguably the best heel of the 2000's.

A better statement would be, Austin was arguably the most :| heel of the 2000's.

[The One]

Austin was a terrible heel for the fallowing reasons...

1) Everyone wanted to cheer him.
2) Austin's character already had used heel tactics for years.
3) Him and McMahon being buddy buddy made ZERO sense.
4) Triple H got injured before he could rub some of his ubber heelishness on him.
5) He was funny, and funny is never effective at getting a heel over.
6) WHAT? - caught on.
7) His eventual joining of the Alliance was one of the worst put together ideas of all time.
8) He resorted to stunning JR and Molly Holly...and STILL got pops.

Seriously, his heel run was about as well received at John Cena's face run. Only mercifully, Austin's heel run only lasted a year, Cena we're still sitting at 3 years and counting...

[IC Champion]

Austin's heel run was over-shadowed by shitty booking, and a terrible Invasion angle which he was forced to carry.

[Bazooka]

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I found Austin the best during the Invasion angle. He was obnoxious entertaining and funny. He may not have been a good heel (since people cheered) but his character was great, and that is all that mattered to me at the time.

[IC Champion]

BEST....DUET.....EVER

[NeanderCarl]

Austin's heel turn was the pits to start with (his feud with the Undertaker in April/May 2001 produced some awful matches) but when he turned to more of a comical character, it made for some of the greatest skits and interviews of all time.

It was supposed to be character development... Austin has been so beaten down over the years and is so consumed with potentially losing his number one guy position, that he has lost his mind, signed a pact with the guy who has been trying to push him off his pedestal for all these years. Basically, Austin of 2001 was supposed to be loopy, mental, a paranoid, insecure madman. So what if they took a comedy route? That is as much due to Angle's involvement as anything else.

As Bazooka says, does it really matter if he failed as a heel (in the traditional sense) at this time? All that mattered was, did it entertain you as a viewer? To me, the "heel" Steve Austin of 2001 was a more layered, three dimensional character than the Stone Cold who had the most successful face run of all time between 1998 -1999. He also produced some great moments and segments, and laid the foundation for a fresh face run down the line, rather than simply resorting back to "the old Stone Cold".

That, to me, is a success.

[NeanderCarl]

Austin was a terrible heel for the fallowing reasons...


Not particularly an Austin mark, but I feel the need to defend the Austin heel run on some of your points.

1) Everyone wanted to cheer him.
Some of the greatest heel runs ever have been borderline face runs. There's something about a cool badass who doesn't care about the rules that connects with the fans' imaginations. Look at the likes of James Dean, Clint Eastwood etc. They packed out cinemas and theatres for the same reason. As much heat as Vince McMahon gets, you still see sections of the audience bowing him. The nWo were as popular as they were hated. The fans hated the Rock for denying them the chance to cheer him. When he turned face, they took to him instantly. You can't ALWAYS give the fans what they want, the only heels left would be jobbers. In the modern age, a good heel should always have a good face run bubbling beneath the surface. The cat is out of the bag, and very few REAL heels remain.

2) Austin's character already had used heel tactics for years.
But he had never been a coward. He had never been a sell-out. He had never been a snitch or a backstabber or an ass-kisser. His character has used aggressive heel tactics for years, but never deplorable character traits.

3) Him and McMahon being buddy buddy made ZERO sense.
It made perfect sense. Austin, desperate to keep his position at the summit of the WWF, took leave of his senses in his paranoid frenzy and gave himself over to the one man who could ensure his future success... the boss. (Ties in again with the 'heel tactics' argument.) Vince, capitalising on Austin's blinkered state of mind, promises the earth to Austin. Finally on the same page, Vince has control over Austin, and Austin craves Vince's constant approval.

4) Triple H got injured before he could rub some of his ubber heelishness on him.
Maybe.

5) He was funny, and funny is never effective at getting a heel over.
Kurt Angle springs to mind. The Rock is another. Chris Jericho. Bobby Heenan. Roddy Piper. Kevin Nash.

You don't have to be deadly serious to be a good heel. A lot of the best heel characters over the years have either had a comedic side to their characters (the aforementioned) or their characters were pretty tongue-in-cheek to begin with (Mr. Perfect, Rick Rude, Ted DiBiase).

6) WHAT? - caught on.
Good... laid the foundations for a later face run. (Although, MAN did it get annoying after a while!)

7) His eventual joining of the Alliance was one of the worst put together ideas of all time.
Maybe in hindsight, but the Alliance did need some big name stars, and from a storyline standpoint it did make some sense... after years of battling McMahon, he finally gave himself over to the boss, only to be rejected by Vince who was willing to sacrifice their 'friendship' to revert Austin back to a beer-swilling, ass-kicking anti-authority badass - showing Austin just how much their friendship really meant. Seeing the writing on the wall, Austin decides to join the Alliance that is threatening to destroy McMahon's empire, hoping that the considerable weight he would lend it would be enough to topple his ungrateful boss for good.

8) He resorted to stunning JR and Molly Holly...and STILL got pops.
The stunner will always get a pop, it's such a sudden and good-looking move. Best thing they could have done if they really wanted Austin over as a legit heel would have been to stop him using the stunner, or modify it to make it less pop-worthy (he could have slowly twisted/wrenched his opponent into it, like Rick Rude used to do on the Rude Awakening, selling every moment of the set-up, relishing the fact that crowd don't like the change.)

[NeanderCarl]

By the way, the night that Austin was drinking in the Friendly Tap, and later returned to the WWF as 'the old Stone Cold' to save them from the Alliance beat down remains one of the greatest WWE moments of all time. Seeing the WWF troops rise to their feet for Freddie Blassie gave me goosebumps, and the pop for Austin was amazing.

You can knock the Alliance storyline, but as far as I'm concerned, the InVasion PPV (and buyrate) was fantastic, that moment Austin returned was an all-time great, SummerSlam was a hot card, the night ECW reformed was another classic night, some of Heyman's promos on Vince were tremendous, No Mercy 2001 was great and the Survivor Series had it's fair share of great moments. The Angle/Austin skits were great. Kanyon as 'The Alliance MVP' was great in its early stages. Saturn as the confused Moppy-loving concussion victim refusing to rejoin ECW was fun. The Regal/Tajiri relationship was a hoot. Booker T's feud was the Rock was great on the mic, if not so great in the ring. The Alliance split up Edge and Christian and propelled them into singles careers which have proven super successful. The Alliance made a star of Rob Van Dam (even though WWE failed to take advantage until most of his heat had died down).

And it went out with a bang too... the firing of Paul Heyman, rehiring of Jerry Lawler, repositioning of Steve Austin and Kurt Angle and arrival of Ric Flair the following night made for an historic Raw to push the final nail into the Alliance coffin.

The problems were obvious (DDP as a stalker, not enough genuine WCW main eventers, the Undertaker's wife pinning Alliance wrestlers, Stephanie as ECW owner, WWF dominating Alliance making the whole feud seem uneven... the list goes on) but as much as we have criticized the InVasion angle over the years, I can't think of that many classic moments from a single year off the top of my head in any individual year since.

(And I'm not even counting the awesome Jan - April period, which included arguably the greatest WrestleMania of all time.)

[IC Champion]

Your right on NeanderCarl

[311]

By the way, the night that Austin was drinking in the Friendly Tap, and later returned to the WWF as 'the old Stone Cold' to save them from the Alliance beat down remains one of the greatest WWE moments of all time. Seeing the WWF troops rise to their feet for Freddie Blassie gave me goosebumps, and the pop for Austin was amazing.

You can knock the Alliance storyline, but as far as I'm concerned, the InVasion PPV (and buyrate) was fantastic, that moment Austin returned was an all-time great, SummerSlam was a hot card, the night ECW reformed was another classic night, some of Heyman's promos on Vince were tremendous, No Mercy 2001 was great and the Survivor Series had it's fair share of great moments. The Angle/Austin skits were great. Kanyon as 'The Alliance MVP' was great in its early stages. Saturn as the confused Moppy-loving concussion victim refusing to rejoin ECW was fun. The Regal/Tajiri relationship was a hoot. Booker T's feud was the Rock was great on the mic, if not so great in the ring. The Alliance split up Edge and Christian and propelled them into singles careers which have proven super successful. The Alliance made a star of Rob Van Dam (even though WWE failed to take advantage until most of his heat had died down).

And it went out with a bang too... the firing of Paul Heyman, rehiring of Jerry Lawler, repositioning of Steve Austin and Kurt Angle and arrival of Ric Flair the following night made for an historic Raw to push the final nail into the Alliance coffin.

The problems were obvious (DDP as a stalker, not enough genuine WCW main eventers, the Undertaker's wife pinning Alliance wrestlers, Stephanie as ECW owner, WWF dominating Alliance making the whole feud seem uneven... the list goes on) but as much as we have criticized the InVasion angle over the years, I can't think of that many classic moments from a single year off the top of my head in any individual year since.

(And I'm not even counting the awesome Jan - April period, which included arguably the greatest WrestleMania of all time.)

:y:

There's one Heyman promo in particular I had in mind...the one where Tazz ends it by putting him in the Tazzmission. Hmm...the one where he talks about Vince running all the local promotions out of business and going against the wishes of his father.

[St. Jimmy]

This thread is essentially one long NeanderCarl post.

[Theo Dious]

LOL "Price check on a jackass!"

[Theo Dious]

8) He resorted to stunning JR and Molly Holly...and STILL got pops.
The stunner will always get a pop, it's such a sudden and good-looking move. Best thing they could have done if they really wanted Austin over as a legit heel would have been to stop him using the stunner, or modify it to make it less pop-worthy (he could have slowly twisted/wrenched his opponent into it, like Rick Rude used to do on the Rude Awakening, selling every moment of the set-up, relishing the fact that crowd don't like the change.)

Molly Holly was one thing... but how is JR getting stunnered not supposed to get a pop.

[Stickman]

That's better than anything they're doing now.

[DAMN iNATOR]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rnuC-FYgTGg

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lbJJ1QCe2rk

[Xero]

LOL "Price check on a jackass!"
Of that period, the Booker/Austin skits were my favorite. The supermarket and the church were pretty funny.

[NeanderCarl]

:y:

There's one Heyman promo in particular I had in mind...the one where Tazz ends it by putting him in the Tazzmission. Hmm...the one where he talks about Vince running all the local promotions out of business and going against the wishes of his father.

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[NeanderCarl]

The "football league" comment just reminded me of one of the reasons the InVasion didn't reach that next level.... the XFL.

Vince was completely preoccupied with starting the XFL, and apparently had a diminished interest in the WWF during 2001.

On top of that, the huge start up costs of the XFL are probably the reason that Vince wouldn't splash out on the contracts that later materialised for Hogan, Hall, Nash, Bischoff, Goldberg, Steiner, Flair... all the names that could have made a HUGE difference to the InVasion. The WWF books would have looked pretty shocking had they contracted the aforementioned in the same year they started up the XFL.

Triple H's injury and The Rock's hiatus early on didn't help either.

Imagine a WWF crew led by Vince McMahon and featuring Austin, Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Kane, Jericho et al taking on a WCW crew led by Bischoff and consisting of Flair, Hogan, Steiner, the nWo, Goldberg, Booker T.... THAT would have been something else.