WWE Hall of Famer, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was today’s guest on Wade Keller’s PW Torch Livecast ‘Interview Thursday.’ You can listen to the entire interview at this link. Below are a few of the highlights from the podcast:
On Who He Feels Has the Most Confidence in a WWE Ring:
Well, AJ Styles comes to my mind immediately. He’s not the ‘Stone Cold’ character, he’s the ‘Phenomenal’ AJ Styles. When he comes out there with that swagger, and he starts opening up on his offense and is basically working in ‘heel mode’ now, but that guy has a mean streak in him, commands respect and has that confidence, so he jumps to mind right off the bat. I’m liking a lot of what Braun Strowman is doing. He is out right now with an injury, he’s still very green, but that guy has a mean streak in him, has a tremendous fire in him. Right now, he is in the ‘heel territory’ but as he keeps developing I think that the sky is the limit for that guy. On the top of my head, it takes me to a match, I know we will talk about it here in a minute, but Shinsuke Nakamura, in spurts kind of shows some of that, but he’s a guy that can light it up when he wants to, other than that nobody jumps on the page to me because I don’t get to watch Raw as much as I would like to or SmackDown. I DVR most of them and try to cherry pick some of the matches, but immediately those two people come to mind.
On Shinsuke Nakamura’s Debut at Backlash:
First of all, let me go on record to say that I respect the ability of both guys in the ring. Dolph Ziggler can work his a** off, as well as Shinsuke. The way the match was presented to me, from what I wanted to see out of Nakamura, the match in of itself had some really nice moments, and nice sequences and exchanges of offense, but I just thought that the sense of urgency and pacing of the match was just too slow of what it needed to accomplish, which is to light Shinsuke’s a** up and let everyone know that he is a player, he is a superstar, he has this charisma, but he’s nothing like Great Muta or Kabuki from back in the day—he can deliver that, he just doesn’t do it enough. A little too much of no sense of urgency in the match and just drawing things out; I was just disappointed in that regard. If you look at the match and how it was put together nice match, but I just thought that Dolph needs more malice behind his offense, and the point of Shinsuke, you know what he can do, but he just doesn’t do enough of it. He panders to that crowd; hey, the crowd came for him. After that match was over they gave him a standing ovation, so maybe I am the only guy that thinks this. The Chicago crowd is off the charts 9 times out of 10 was truly appreciative of the effort put forth. Again, I was critical of the match in of itself a good match you can say, but did it accomplish what it needed to in order to light Shinsuke’s a** up? No, and I think that is on him and whoever put that match together.
On Wrestlers’ Walking on Eggshells:
You’re classified as an independent contractor, but back in the day you were a Pro Wrestler working for a Professional Wrestling company, so it was a little like the Wild Wild West and you had so much creative freedom to go on a limb and get yourself over and the fact, I mean, it’s still live TV, but back in the day there was another place that you can go and now everyone is so mico-managed these days; the office has so much power over these guys and the office always has some power because they are the ones that are employing you and they’re the ones that can terminate you, but I just think that everyone is walking on eggshells, which I believe that as a total shoot. The office has so much power over these guys that they are telling them what to say and what to do. There were times from back in the day where you had all these guys in the ring at the same time, but you had guys looking at each other, looking each other in the face, pacing back and forth where you thought that anything can happen at any time, which was basically guys protecting their gimmick because there were many times that there was the same setup. I could have been in the ring with Triple H, RoadDogg, Billy Gunn, Undertaker, some dangerous elements out there with a bunch of alpha males where they would go at it at a drop of a second. You had to conduct business, but guys had to protect their gimmick by doing something so they don’t just stand around like a robot, someone under the control of the office telling them what to do, and they can’t be caught with a thumb up their a** so, again, part of that goes back to the boys; the office does have a strong hand on that so it does feel different, it doesn’t feel as spontaneous.
On What a Wrestler Can Do to Seem More Independent:
I just think it is owning the ring. Once you step into the ring you must own the ring in any situation. Obviously, the office is always in control, but you have to be in protection mode. I tell this to people all the time; when I am talking to them behind the scenes, you have to protect you and protect your gimmick. Yeah, there is a way to do it, and it’s easy for me, it’s easier done than said, it’s just being totally in character. As ‘Stone Cold’ when I went out there in my BMF walk, it was 120% shoot to me from start to finish; yeah, it was a work but I believed, so I believe that as long as you are in character and you protect yourself from other people; create distance—look, but be leery, not everyone is going to always be ready to go because then you will expose yourself to that degree, so it’s a really tricky balance and it’s something that where you are savvy enough where you learn the business you will figure it out. Even in today’s situation, where the office has all the power, telling all the boys what to do and taking away some of that creative freedom where you have to be so produced, there is still a way to do it.
