Championship Region, Fifth Round: (1) Steve Austin vs. (2) Kurt Angle
Me defending Angle.
Sure. It's easy to ask "Who's More Popular?" and your knee jerk reaction is to vote Austin. But that's a very boring way to approach these tournaments.
1. Angle beat Austin where it counted most, Championship Matches. Summerslam 2001 it was Angle. Unforgiven 2001 it was Angle and he made Austin tap out. Yes, the guy that became an icon for being the toughest son of a bitch on the planet tapped out to a guy that was barely three years on the roster. Angle did something Bret Hart couldn't. Sure, you can argue that Austin had Angle beat when you include non-title television matches. But Pay Per Views matter a lot more in this universe, and this is the Championship Region. On 1-on-1 encounters for the title on the line, it was 2-1 in favor of Angle. Angle was the better champion when they fought.
2. Austin was a lousy heel. Angle was an exceptional heel and face. Be honest with yourself. The Attitude Era ruined fan reactions. We still feel the effects today when the audience cheers for whatever seems more interesting and boos the rest. The Attitude Era, at least in the hands of Vince Russo, changed the landscape for faces and heels forever. The audience became desensitized with all the turns that they gave up and decided to cheer for the more profane wrestler, which is Austin no argument there. The Invasion angle felt the effects of all of those swerves when it was Austin's time to join sides with McMahon.
A heel's job is to get booed. To get the loudest negative reaction. During The Invasion angle, the audience didn't care about the Austin heel turn. They've seen enough of the merry-go-round. When Angle was a face, he was an American hero that was backed by the ever-popular face chant "U-S-A!" "U-S-A!" "U-S-A!". When he was a heel, fans would sing "You Suck!" in tune to his theme music. Austin as a face was undeniably over. As an attention-seeking heel? Complete shit. Kurt Angle played both very well, which is what a wrestler should be able to.
And that's not even counting how clean-cut Angle was during the time of excessive cussing and genital pointing. In the era of alcohol and misogyny, Angle could be watched by the whole family. Can't say the same for Austin.
3. In their feud, Kurt Angle was treated as the badass, not Austin. Case in point:
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Yes. That was Angle kidnapping Austin. Yes, Austin was crying. Like a bitch. And Kurt mocked him throughout. In any other match, I don't think it can be argued that the redneck has bigger balls than his competition. But this is Kurt and Kurt had the bigger pair.
4. Damage carries over, and it isn't in Austin's favor.. Austin beat HHH with 57% of the tallied votes in this tournament. Angle beat Edge 62% (both rounded off). So Angle is a little bit fresher coming into the bout than Austin. I'm sure someone will argue that this clearly makes Austin the winner because hur hur kayfabe badass overcome the odds Shawn Michaels vs. Brock Lesnar. But this is a fairly stupid way to reason. If you looked at the damage guidelines in voting objectively, Angle would no doubt have your vote here.
5. Angle was squeaky clean in the days of Trash TV. Austin showering The Corporation with beer was awesome. Angle showering Austin and The Alliance with milk? Hilarious. You think it's hard to come up with something original in WWE and it go over? Try coming up with a parody that's even moreso.
Austin said something cool at King of The Ring and it caught on. Saying something controversial was all the rage in the 90s when Jerry Springer was must-see television. WWE did well to capitalize on it. Austin was trendy in the days before we all learned to stop making fun of gay people and start treating women with respect. He would be completely lost and panned if he entered a WWE ring right now as a new guy. Scratch that, he wouldn't even be allowed to do any of the shit that got him over in the first place. Kurt Angle transcends whatever TV Rating WWE decided to stick with, be it TV-MA, TV-14, or TV-PG.
Austin has more memorable moments than Angle. I don't think anyone can argue that. But look at the years. It was in the days when a porn star getting his dick chopped off with a katana was appropriate viewing. I'd show a .gif of it, but that would get me banned. That should tell you right away it was no small wonder Austin had better moments.
No small wonder at all.
Steve Austin also wastes beer and beats his wives.
Vote Angle.
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