Five Least Popular Booking Decisions of All Time

#1 Stone Cold turns heel

Stone Cold embraces the dark side at Wrestlemania X-7

Everyone knows that Stone Cold Steve Austin turned heel at WrestleMania X-7 in April 2001.

Few remember the turn fondly. In truth, at the moment it was an incredible spectacle. The sight of Austin drinking a beer with his sworn enemy was a magnificent one; a vulnerable Rattlesnake who had sold his soul to the devil to regain the WWE Championship.

It was a logical and layered storyline but one that could never be regarded as a success.

The problem was not necessarily the turn itself but the timing. When Austin turned he had no ready-made challengers.

Triple H would have fit the bill as he was already feuding with the "Bionic Redneck", but he aligned himself with Austin instead, in another swerve. The Rock disappeared to film The Scorpion King, which left then-jaded veteran, The Undertaker as the only viable challenger, in a match-up that had not gelled since 1997 and had been overexposed in 1998-99.

Maybe WWE should have thrown money at Goldberg, Sting and the like, post-Wrestlemania X-7 and WCW buyout.

18 years later and WWE still has not regained the popularity, ratings or merchandise numbers they lost post-Wrestlemania X-7. For those reasons alone, this booking decision must be regarded as the worst of all time.