"Stone Cold" Steve Austin doesn't believe he's in a position to offer John Cena any advice about turning heel.
John Cena recently turned heel for the first time in 22 years, aligning with The Rock and attacking Cody Rhodes at WWE Elimination Chamber. Many drew parallels between this turn and Steve Austin's turn at WrestleMania 17, where he decided to align with Vince McMahon.
Steve Austin, during a recent interview with Zack Heydorn of Sports Illustrated, reflected on how poorly executed and received his heel turn was and said he doesn't feel like he's in a position to give John Cena any advice on how to successfully turn heel after being such a long-running babyface.
"No, I wouldn't [give John Cena advice] because I loved working heel when I was in WCW. I loved working heel when I first came into WWE because that was a true heel. When I turned heel at WrestleMania 17, the people didn't want me to turn heel. It was a forced turn. It was my idea. Vince always likes to do something big on a WrestleMania. He didn't do anything big. So I suggested that and he said okay, but it was a shit move. People weren't ready for it. People didn't want it. I liked working heel. I just figured it would go over like gangbusters. So the heel I was trying to be was, you know, and trying to be so hated, so much, so fast. I think I tried too hard.
"When I look back at it, sure, I got to push the creative envelope and do a lot of things that were cool or whatever, and push the envelope in a different direction and go out on a limb, but people didn't want me to turn heel, and so I should have never done that. So I don't think that I'm in a position where I need to offer John Cena any advice from Steve Austin."
Many people have weighed in on the turn, including Triple H, the person Steve Austin teamed with during his time as a heel in 2001.
Fans can read Cody Rhodes' mom's thoughts here.
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