Kevin Sullivan Says He'd Have Booked Stone Cold Steve Austin Differently In WWE

There's never a bad time to second guess a wrestling angle, even if said angle took place 22 years ago. While April 1, 2001, is long in the rearview mirror, fans are still wondering just what WWE was thinking when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin turned heel at WrestleMania 17, in his home state of Texas no less, and aligned with Vince McMahon to defeat The Rock and capture the WWE Championship yet again.

As a long-time member of the booking committee in WCW during the same time Rock and Austin became WWE stars, and someone on the committee when Austin worked for WCW years earlier, Kevin Sullivan is someone with a unique perspective on the situation. During an episode of "Tuesday With The Taskmaster," Sullivan said that his issue with Austin's turn isn't that it happened, but that WWE was too quick to do it.

"My answer, I believe, was too soon," Sullivan said. "If you built that up for quite a while, I think it would've blown the top off of any building you ever put that in because it was time. Everybody...it's like, you've heard the story before, back in the day, when people paid attention to who was really the greatest shooter of all time. 'Well, Lou [Thesz] could beat Jim Londos or Jim Londos can beat Lou.' I think if you went into that match with that opening, who is the greatest of all time, I think it would've worked spectacularly. I think people, like I said, you could've had a pre-workout match, and drawn a bunch of money."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Tuesday With The Taskmaster" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription