WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin talked about his recent visit to Monday Night Raw on the latest edition of his “Steve Austin Show” podcast. Here are the highlights from the show:
On advice to younger talent and John Cena wanting challenges for the top spot: “Let me tell you something, there ain’t nobody holding nobody down in WWE. Now it’s true that the powers that be do not believe in certain people. It is up to the talent to make management believe in them and give them a push. There is a pretty thin roster of talent in that locker room. There’s a lot of guys and gals, but when you talk about the cream of the crop, you’re talking about the best.”
“Vince McMahon will let anybody be a star that has the potential be a star. John Cena wants different dance partners. Triple H would love a different dance partner. Randy Orton would love a different dance partner. Daniel Bryan would love a different dance partner. C.M. Punk, if he comes back, would love a different dance partner. So, hey man, the doors are wide open, the ceiling is unlimited. I hear that all the time, man.”
On John Cena’s status as top dog and his work ethic: “John Cena is the top dog. He would love for someone to be in contention for that top dog status because he’s an alpha male, he’s a competitive cat and he wants to battle it out and fight for his job. All he does is keep going up and down the road, doing his best, giving it his all in the ring, and that’s all you can ask from a WWE superstar. All the cats I just mentioned are working their asses off and doing their deal. It’s gotta be up to the talent coming up to make some noise, not be afraid to go out on a limb and take a chance.”
On what current WWE Superstars should do: “You cats in the back who listen to my show in the back, do something, wake somebody up, grab that f—ing business, that company by the throat and say, ‘Hey, mother—-er I want a push!’ The sky is the limit, cats.”
On meeting the Divas: “I saw all the Divas: the Bellas, Cameron from Tough Enough – it was good seeing her. She was the first person to leave Tough Enough. But I told her back then, ‘you’ve got a place in the business. You’re beautiful, you’re articulate, you’re eloquent and you’re intelligent. There’s a spot for you.’ And there is a spot for her. She’s got it, and she’s doing fantastic.”
On Rey Mysterio: “I laughed at ole’ Rey. I said, ‘god d**n Rey Rey, number 30 in the Royal Rumble. Who the **** do you have heat with? Don’t **** Rey over like that. He’s a babyface – they should have stuck a heel in there. That just goes back to booking. You can’t have a guy like Rey in the 30 spot when the whole crowd is wanting and cheering for Daniel Bryan. I still don’t understand that booking decision. That would have been a very oportune spot for a real hot heel. That would have been a hot spot for Wade Barrett. Let the people boo him. Common sense booking.”
On hanging with Dustin Rhodes, aka Goldust: “When I came to WWF back in the day I came in as the Ringmaster. Goldust at the time was already in WWF; they were pushing his ass and he was hot. He had a ton of steam on him. He had some heat, and was working on top every night with Shawn Michaels, and they were having some killer matches. Shawn Michaels can go with anybody in the ring, and Dustin can work his ass off … WWF at the time was catching a lot of flack from the organizations about the character of Goldust, and they just kinda chopped his legs out from underneath him. He just kinda fell by the wayside.”
This week’s Steve Austin Show Unleashed is available now on PodcastOne.com.
