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

[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...

[NeanderCarl]

Originally Posted by The One 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.)

[Theo Dious]

Originally Posted by NeanderCarl 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.