Matt Hardy: Steve Austin Was Confident He Could Make His WWE WrestleMania 17 Heel Turn Work
Matt Hardy discusses ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s controversial heel turn at WWE WrestleMania 17.
After feuding with him for years, Steve Austin aligned with Vince McMahon in the main event match of WWE WrestleMania 17, allowing him to become the new WWF Champion. This is often considered by many fans to be one of the most polarizing moments in the history of professional wrestling, as the feud between McMahon and Austin was considered to be one of the best feuds ever in the sport.
Although many fans criticized the decision to turn Austin heel at the show, it has been noted on numerous occasions that ‘Rattlesnake’ pushed for the turn himself, citing that he wanted to do something different.
On the latest episode of The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy, Hardy talked about the controversial turn and compared the difficulty of getting heat on Austin to how difficult it would be to turn Jeff Hardy heel.
“It was interesting.” Hardy said about the locker room’s reaction to the turn. “I mean Steve 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. I almost, 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. They knew that was going to be problematic so they said ‘How can we get some legitimate heat on this guy?’ and he said ‘Well, let’s call in these young heartthrobs, the Hardy Boyz and Lita, Team Extreme.’ Let’s get some heat on those guys.”
Austin and Triple H would go on to a mini-feud with The Hardy Boyz and Lita after WWE WrestleMania 17.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Hardy teased that some very special members of his family could be taking part in ‘The Firm Deletion’. Fans can learn more by clicking here.
Stokely Hathaway recently trashed Hardy for stabbing The Firm in the back. Click here to learn more.
