Steve Austin Regrets Major WrestleMania Moment

Steve Austin has reflected on one of his most interesting WrestleMania moments.

The WWE Hall of Famer recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated. During the talk, he was asked about John Cena’s heel turn at Elimination Chamber and what advice he would give to the Cenation Leader.

Responding to it, the Attitude Era star recalled his own failed heel turn from WrestleMania 17. Steve Austin said that he loved being a heel early in his career, but making the turn at the height of his popularity was a wrong move:

“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 what WrestleMania 17, the people didn’t want me to turn heel. It was a force to turn.

It was my idea. Vince always likes to do something big on a WrestleMania. So, I suggested that. And he said, okay, but it was a s**t move. People weren’t ready for it. People didn’t want it.”

Stone Cold Steve Austin challenged the Rock for the WWF Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 17. The bout saw Austin winning the title with help from Mr. McMahon, turning heel in the process. The Texas Rattlesnake altered his character a lot in the following months. This change, however, was not well received by fans and Austin ended up turning face again only a few months later.

Looking back at it, the WWE legend believes that he tried too hard. While he got to push the creative envelope very far, he does not have any advice for John Cena because the end result of his actions was not very favorable:

“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, you know, 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 that I need to offer John Cena any advice from Steve Austin.”

Apart from this, Stone Cold Steve Austin also talked about his WrestleMania 38 match with Kevin Owens and revealed the one regret he has about the bout.