Wrestling Forum banner

Did WWE water down Stone Cold in 98/99???

5K views 30 replies 22 participants last post by  NXT83 
#1 ·
Been watching a lot of the network, and Stone Cold was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more intense during his 96/mid 97 run.

Ive always known this, but Im not sure if anyone else noticed.

'96 Stone Cold was (arguably) one of the greatest heels off all time.

However, during 98/99 it seems that the WWE lightened up his character a bit. Not to the point of totally turning him soft, but I feel like a lot of that intensity was lost
 
#16 ·
God watching these makes me really miss stone cold. And we got nerds on this forum making threads saying stone cold wasn't popular and some nerds compare him to cena. lol!


Stone Cold is the G.O.A.T

end of story
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rap God
#2 ·
Well, yeah. His original character was heel-like and didn't care about anything or anyone. That had to change when he had to market himself to the fans and run as the top face in the company.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Watered down implies lesser. Babyface Austin was BY FAR the best Austin. BY FAR, him as a heel doesn't even come close to him as a babyface against Vince.

He wasn't as evil, because his original gimmick was based on Richard Kuklinski, but they certainly didn't tone down the content of what he was doing.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Every time I see that fucking Survivor Series '96 promo reminds how great a talent Austin was, he was always was a great talker but before his neck injury he also was a great wrestler. He still was able to have good matches after the injury but before that injury he was probably, from a talent standpoint, the most complete wrestler at that time. As for his character in 98-99, it is the naturally progression of the top guy to become less edgy and more centered on catchphrases, it happened with Austin, it happened with Rock, it happened with Cena.
 
#18 ·
Sort of.

His character itself become more crowd pandering, but at the time it was actually what the fans wanted. We embraced Austin so much up until that point that him giving back just made us love him even more. That said, he was actually more foul mouthed as the envelope was continually pushed and was always the spearhead for swearing. So, it's tough to say "watered down", but he definitely pandered more.

His entire gimmick from 96-97 was basically the guy who thought he should be at the top but a conspiracy always kept him down (basically how he felt about WCW). Once he had been the champion, you have to move that character in another direction. With Vince now the world's biggest heel it made perfect sense to actually make Austin's original gimmick come to fruition. It was the perfect transition and was seamless.

I think that it just comes down to Austin being red hot in performances and promos from 96-97 that even though he was red hot audience reaction wise in 98-99 it was impossible to maintain that level of excellence. Austin from 96-97 IMO was the greatest thing to watch ever, from a character standpoint. Austin 98-99 was the greatest thing to watch ever, from a fan perspective.
 
#19 ·
Stone Cold said on his podcast with Big Show that one reason he didn't want to put over Big Show was because he felt like they were trying to hold him down or something. When did Big Show join WWE?

He did put Show over by making Show take 7 stunners..and back then no one kicked out of a stunner.
 
#21 ·
Stone Cold said on his podcast with Big Show that one reason he didn't want to put over Big Show was because he felt like they were trying to hold him down or something. When did Big Show join WWE?
Beginning of '99.

It makes sense given that Austin had a neck injury and his knees weren't holding up the greatest. You have a young Rock waiting in the wings and was red hot himself, why wouldn't you try to push the Rock a little more than the older veteran for your future's sake?
 
#22 · (Edited)
Yes, they did. His program with Vince might've been very profitable, but his mic work and his ring work for that matter wasn't nearly as good as it used to be the year prior. Till this day I believe that Austin peaked in 1997.


Same thing happened to Rock, as soon as he got the title in mid 2000, his character started to become corny.
 
#24 ·
Yes, they did. His program with Vince might've been very profitable, but his mic work and his ring for that matter wasn't nearly as it used to be the year prior. Till this day I believe that Austin peaked in 1997.





Same thing happened to Rock, as soon as he got the title in mid 2000, his character started to become corny.

I feel the EXACT same way about The Rock.

97-99 Rock > 2003 Rock >>>2000 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> present day


Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App
 
#23 ·
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but I guess he was watered down compared to 1996 / early 1997.

From a character and promo standpoint, I think Austin before he became WWF Champion was absolutely incredible. Leaps and bounds better than his face run.

Maybe it's the fact that we had a more brash and violent heel Austin going off at all times. Whether it was a crippled Pillman, Gorilla Monsoon, or random producers backstage; Austin was going to talk shit and beat their ass for the hell of it. The material was more harsh and offensive. The greater intensity made his actions look much more hellacious.

Then we got to a point where everything Austin related went through McMahon. Yeah, it was entertaining seeing McMahon get his ass kicked, but it pales in comparison because of the lack of variety.

Instead of unstable, raging Austin targeting everyone, it was over 1 year of "Screw you Austin", "Vince is a jackass", Stunner, screwjob. Both are great, but one is far superior to me.
 
#26 ·
EVERYONE got corny and watered down in 2000 after Russo left. The only guy that didn't was probably Triple H.

Austin didn't get watered down in 98 and 99. I really don't see how. He did get watered down after his return in 00 and beyond though. Rock also got watered down after his title win in 00 at Backlash. He wasn't an a$$hole anymore.
 
#28 ·
He got WATERED DOWN because of his broken neck, courtesy of Owen Hart.
 
#29 ·
I never saw Stone Cold as 'watered down', his character just evolved. He was more unhinged and unpredictable when he started out, but he eventually set his sights on the WWF Championship and ended up feuding with Vince. His character was still basically the same, just became more anti-authority because of his feud with Vince, which IMO is the GOAT feud in wrestling history. But 'watered down' is not how I would describe it. 1998 was the peak of his career and he was never more entertaining than that year.
 
#30 ·
I dont think he was watered down at all. His character was consistently the same throughout. What changed was the audiences reaction to him, and that was down to the introduction of the Attitude Era concept and him feuding with Bret rather than him acting any differently. The guy was basically terrorising an old man/non wrestler who paid his wages week after week in 98/99. Its quite heelish when you really think about it. A bit like how we cheered for Val Venis when he went around screwing everyones wives for shits and giggles.
 
#31 ·
In 1996-97 he was more of a psycho,sadistic stone cold villain. But once 1998 rolled around he became the anti-authority beer drinking badass hell-raiser. So I don't know about watering down but they definitely made him a bit more likeable now he was the top face. Which was smart
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top