What Could Have Been: What If Steve Austin Hadn't Turned Heel At WWE WrestleMania X-7?

25 years ago, hell froze over as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin sold out to become WWE Champion against The Rock at WrestleMania, aligning with Vince McMahon and leaving behind his role as the company's top babyface just as The Rock went off to begin his Hollywood career in "The Scorpion King." 

Austin had until that point made a career out of being the one to stand against McMahon; he was the blue-collar working man's champion who literally and figuratively flipped the bird to those who believed they could own him, and was revered as wrestling's biggest star as a result. So to completely undermine all of that in order to beat a man he had beaten several times before — it didn't necessarily go down with fans the way it was intended. 

Austin himself looks back on the move as a mistake, wishing he could have just called an audible and turned on McMahon after winning the title. And given the recent memory of John Cena's failed heel turn, it's perhaps a testament to leaving things as they work best, a cautionary tale on what not to do with the company's top babyface. 

What left is only a regret over what could have been if the course had been stayed, and 25 years later, on the heels of yet another ill-fated uber babyface-to-heel turn, Wrestling Inc. peers into what could have been at WrestleMania X-Seven. What if Steve Austin didn't turn heel that night? 

So, the story leading up until WrestleMania saw McMahon assign Austin's wife, Debra, as The Rock's manager. And then the bout was made a no disqualification match, which allowed McMahon to run roughshod. It was here that McMahon stopped the Rock from winning the match and helped Austin keep the champion down for the count after several chair shots. After the match, Austin shook hands with McMahon to seal the alignment. 

Austin then went on to have Triple H align with him to write Rock off and form the Two-Man Power Trip, becoming a temperamental prima donna with a strong need for McMahon's approval. None of that needed to happen, and Austin could have easily just beaten Rock clean for the title and stuck it to McMahon once more, with Triple H then sliding into the villainous role opposite him; he could still write the Rock off TV, but do so while cementing his role as challenger rather than an ally to Austin. 

Sure, it would remove a few comedic segments from the canon. But perhaps that's no great loss when the idea of a McMahon-backed Triple H chasing Austin stands out more. The Two-Man Power Trip wound up falling to the wayside anyway after Triple H sustained legitimate torn quadriceps in a tag title match with Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho, with Austin forced to cut ties with his injured teammate. 

Looking beyond Triple H, there was also an expansive roster of worthy challengers that could have been uplifted by chasing Austin. And at the very least, it also wouldn't have led to another ill-fated booking decision further undermining the Austin character.

As the WCW acquisition came, so too did the very rushed and hollow Invasion angle pitting an Alliance of WCW and ECW invaders against the gatekeepers of WWE. 

Austin had been getting into his heel character in the months leading up to it, but in the face of the invasion McMahon had been calling upon the man that had been fawning for his affection to embrace the Austin of old — the old "Stone Cold." Austin relented eventually, slapping all of the Alliance members with stunners and leading Team WWE into the Invasion pay-per-view. 

Then, and only then, did he choose to stick it to McMahon and turn heel again, joining the team representing the company that had unceremoniously fired him while injured in 1995, believing him to be unmarketable. 

Now, the benefit of hindsight is a bonus, but it would surely have been better for the opposite to happen; Austin should have aligned with McMahon only when the future of the company that had given him space to grow into who he was had come under threat. Austin eventually wound up pinned by the Rock at Survivor Series 2001, spelling an end to the Invasion angle, and McMahon tried to strip him of the title. 

Ric Flair returned as a storyline co-owner of WWE, aligning with Austin to help him keep the title and turning Austin face once more against McMahon. And then Austin lost the title to Chris Jericho on his way to unifying it with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship that was held by the Rock at the time. 

It just feels as though the path of least resistance in all of the aforementioned would have been to maintain Austin as the top babyface in the company. In fact, everything of significance that did occur during his time as heel likely would have made a lot more sense if he had stayed a face.