Steve Austin Critical of Current WWE Product, Calls It Repetitive and Says There’s No “Reality” in the “Reality Era”, Details His WM13 Match

June 29, 2016

On the latest edition of “The Steve Austin Show”, host Steve Austin took some time to address WWE’s current TV product, and below is what he had to say on the current WWE story lines:

“There just no interwoven storylines, which carries through the course of a Monday Night RAW where something, a seed is planted at the beginning of a Monday Night RAW and threaded through the entire show. It’s just match after match, segment, or in-ring segment, skit, whatever you want to call it, backstage promo.

I remember in the match where I wrestled Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 in Chicago, I was going to pass out in the Sharpshooter in a pool of blood and we go into the finish room and that’s all we get. ‘Hey Steve, you’re going to do the honors today and you’re going to pass out in the Sharpshooter.’ Didn’t say anything about blood. That was to come later. So, we listen to the orders from our leader and I said, ‘okay’ and of course Bret was over. And Bret was a great business man and a guy I have a lot of respect for. So we walked out of the room. And so, my point is, me and Bret were going to discuss different parts of the match and a little bit of color. And I would cycle back into Vince’s room and say, ‘hey Vince, are you sure about this finish?’ He goes, ‘God dang, Steve. I’m telling you it’ll work.’ I said, ‘okay. Good enough.’

And so, my point is, he gave us a directive, he gave us the finish, and he trusted us to go out there and execute everything. No agent, nobody helped Bret and I with that match. We went out there, we had a little conversation. There was a fishbone of events and the rest was called on the fly and we executed with extreme precision, probably the only real double turn done in the history of WWE that I know of at that high of a level. And there was work on the backend for both of us, but it was trust.

They call it the reality era, but it’s anything but reality. And on the other note, going into unknown territory or uncharted waters, back in the day, man, whether you’re a fan or not of some of the storylines or angles we were shooting, they were edgy as hell and we weren’t afraid to push into those uncharted waters or territories. And if you’re afraid to do that, if you’re afraid to try to grow, if you’re afraid to take a chance as a company, whether you’re publicly traded or not, then you’re failing to live up to your potential as a company! I mean, because that’s what the entertainment business is. If wrestling falls under the entertainment umbrella, people need to push the envelope!”

Thanks to WZ reader Jules Allen for the above transcription.

Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.

Nick attended New York University and graduated in 2001 with a degree in Drama.

Nick first entered the internet wrestling community back in 2004 when he became the co-host of The Voice of Wrestling Radio Show. From there, Nick made the transition from radio personality to editor when he began working with WrestleZone in 2008.

Nick is a member of two Off-Broadway theatre companies, Another Urban Riff, and the Drama Desk Award winning Godlight Theatre Company. Nick has appeared in over a dozen Off-Broadway plays since he moved to New York City, and has shot several short and feature length films. In 2010, he completed principle photography on a film titled "How to Score Your Life," which also features TNA Knockout ODB.

Inspiration in his life has come from many people including his family, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, The Beatles, and of course, Lassie.