[Theo Dious]

Originally Posted by Gorgeous Dale Newstead The Jump the Shark moment had to have been somewhere in between Stone Cold Steve Austin's heel turn and HHH fucking a fake corpse. Somewhere in ALL OF THAT, the shark was jumped, with the flubbed Invasion storyline being the main catalyst. The definition of jumping the shark I believe is where a show never finds its legs after a pinnacle moment (ie. Fonzy jumping the shark). Sure, there are still good episodes and good writing interspersed amongst the dreck, but realistically all the steam is lost. I would say the Invasion storyline really got the ball rolling, but Wrestlemania X7 was the apex of success for the company, and Austin turning heel symbolizes the compromise of integrity in the product often associated with jumping the shark. I personally though Austin was tremendous as a heel... but Austin hob knobbing with Vince, playing the ukelele with Kurt and generally being a chicken shit went against the attitude which helped the company reach its heights. Turning Austin heel, made him just another wrestler. What made Austin the guy people flocked to was that although he was kind of a bad guy (what with stunning women, drinking on the job, beating up non wrestlers etc.) was that behind all of that, he had a code (ala Omar from the Wire) and that Code was that he was not a fucking sell out. That was the very foundation of what made the WWF at the time. He was a go to hero to a lot of people... yeah, your girlfriend left you, you got fired from your job, you have erectile dysfunctions... but fuck, Stone Cold Steve Austin would die before he sold out to Vince McMahon and became just another wishy washy wrestling character whose allegiances would change on the whimsy of a creative decision. If the company was willing to compromise the integrity of Stone Cold Steve Austin's character (albeit with his full support), it comes as no surprise that they never really found their stride again after that. Stone Cold hugging Vince McMahon is like Archie Bunker adopting a black child, it kills his edge, and really deflates the moral of those who supported him for all those years. The only way it works, is if there is someone waiting to have the torch passed to them... but there was nobody. From there, the Invasion... well... less said the better, and the company slowly but surely stumbled there way into HHH fucking a corpse on live t.v. Somewhere in between all of that I feel like it doesn't take a fucking rocket scientist to put together that they lost the plot and it really starts with the killing of the greatest Anti-Hero character in all of wrestling history. The company has never ever recaptured the magic they had with the Austin/Rock era and it all begins with the ill conceived heel turn at Mania X7. Realistically it's because they didn't have anymore competition so they've been on autopilot ever since, but the Austin Heel Turn symbolizes the company really losing their edge.

Austin's heel turn was ill advised but the first attempt COULD have worked, it was only in practice that it became a horrible idea. (Though some of the Taker/Kane bits were great. "Who was it that told Austin and HHH that besting up women and commentators made them badasses?") Th thing is that Austin's pre-Invasion rebirth as THE OLD STONE COLD could have justified it all, because the awesome moment where Freddie Blassie rose from his wheelchair & inspired Austin to take his +1 Pool Cue of Dearh to smite the Alliance wouldn't have had the same impact if Austin hadn't become a lost soul over the past few montths. Why they thought something that failed on the launch pad the first time would be any better in an even less believable scenerios is beyond me. At lea st we got the great matches with Austin, Jericho, and He-Who-We-Can-Apparently-Sometimes-Show-On-The-Network-Now. #still999