Steve Austin on whether he could have another match, who took the best Stone Cold Stunner, his new show “Stone Cold Takes on America”

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

“Insight With Chris Van Vliet” with guest Steve Austin
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
Video available at Chris Van Vliet’s YouTube Page

On who took the best Stone Cold Stunner: “Well, you got those different athletic presentations from Scott Hall, Shane [McMahon] took a good one, but I always go to The Rock. The Rock would always take that extra effort to careen around the ring in a way over-sell fashion. But it meant so much more when he did that, because in the big matches we had, whether it was [WrestleMania] 15, 17 and 19, those moments meant so much. But I would go with The Rock, and here is the thing people don’t understand. When you give The Rock a Stunner, that guy is so jacked and so hard, when he is bouncing around the ring, sometimes he would flop off the ropes and end up landing back on me. I was like Jesus, you’re killing me. So, giving The Rock a Stunner can be painful when he flops back on you, but that’s the name that I am going to give you.”

Whether he could have one more match: “I could. I’m not necessarily going to lobby for one, because that would be silly. That’s a year away, but a year away in this business is like that [clicks fingers]. They asked me to be a part of 39, they really did, but I couldn’t do it, just because there is no way. I knew what my life was going to look like due to the filming schedule of the show. We had some internal stop downs where the show took about five months to film, that’s a long time. We finished filming about five to seven days before WrestleMania 39. And the position that they were going to put me in, which was a big one, you can’t prepare for WrestleMania and do yourself justice or do that crowd justice. Dallas was set up for a Stone Cold return, and the way we framed that with KO [Kevin Owens], who I love, was perfect for the time and setting. For this match to play out, I needed to perform at a high level. I didn’t work out before 38, I haven’t thrown a working punch in 19 years. I was killing KO right there, I truly was, ask him. When we got to the back I said, Man, I can’t believe you didn’t throw a receipt. And he just laughed because his job was to just take care of me. So anyway, in the future, I am not lobbying for it, but could anything happen? Yes, because I say never say never.”

On the WHAT chant in 2023: “It really does [surprise me], but it’s a testament to how impacted people were to that. You know, that started off as me leaving a voice message on Christian’s phone. I was working heel at the time and I said hey man, this is a really good way to F with people and get on their nerves and under their skin. Because if you tell me something I just say ‘What?’ and I throw it back at you, and it’s irritating, it’s what it was designed to be. Then I turned it into something that worked for me as a babyface as a way to mock a certain situation. With cadence and delivery, people can escape it as far as talent doing a promo. But it’s very, it’s flattering to still see it around, but I have had so many people cussing me out and hating it. We ended up putting it on the t-shirt for God’s sake, and it sold a ton. So, I am thankful for the word, but if it disappeared tomorrow then I wouldn’t complain. I’m honored that it is still here.”

What scared him the most while filming “Stone Cold Takes on America”: “Yeah, predicting the weather on live television scared the hell out of me. I made a living being on live TV, and you know, we went up there. First of all, it was a 12:45 wakeup call, I didn’t sleep, 2:15 call time, I’m not a morning person. Then I go in and this wonderful lady Madison Macay is breaking down how she does the weather, and she is taking a [big] paragraph and taking the pertinent information and just condensing it down just on the fly. I am thinking, hey, I’ve got to do it just exactly how she is. And you’re never going to step into someone else’s shoes or someone else’s job and be that good automatically, but that’s what I expect out of myself. So, moments like that crushed me, because I thought I did terrible. I love live television, because when that red light is on, I am at my best, and I failed. But anyway, it was a ton of fun to make this show, I’m happy to have the opportunity.”