- 3 months ago
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00:00:00Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon antagonizing one another seemed to be an endless narrative
00:00:12for the WWE as their rivalry raged well into 1999. But The Rock, who had been in hot pursuit
00:00:20of Austin, was now in many ways on equal footing with The Rattlesnake, and their encounter
00:00:25at WrestleMania 15 took their already established rivalry to a level never seen before.
00:00:32A star like Steve Austin comes along once in a generation. Of course, there's an exception
00:00:37to every rule. You have The Rock. You had the two biggest sports entertainers arguably in
00:00:42history and they were both in their prime at the same time in the same company.
00:00:55Every month there would be an amazing pay-per-view and my friends would all come over to my place
00:00:59and I was always a Rock fan and my friends were always a Stone Cold fan. So let's just
00:01:05put it this way, I lost a lot of money on those pay-per-views because Stone Cold always ended
00:01:10up on top.
00:01:12Who was better on the microphone, Rock or Steve Austin? Who was better in the ring, Steve Austin
00:01:16or The Rock?
00:01:17Steve always just seemed to be a little more critically acclaimed than The Rock. His pops
00:01:21are just a little bit bigger, in my opinion. I was in the ring with both of them at the
00:01:24same time during those years.
00:01:25Who did the fans like more? Who to cheer for? Who to boo? I think that's one of those organic
00:01:30things that you can't fake. You just have these two enormous larger than life personalities,
00:01:37you stick them in front of a television camera and you just sit back and you see what happens.
00:01:43We're so opposite. I mean, he is Stone Cold Steve Austin, here's The Rock, so opposite
00:01:49but yet parallel each other in terms of desire and commitment and wanting to be the best.
00:01:59When I sit here right now, I'm talking to you about WrestleMania 15, it was in Philadelphia,
00:02:02that's what I know. I know it was a good match. I really don't remember a whole lot about that
00:02:06match. I remember at the time, I'm not going to sit here all day long and talk about divorces,
00:02:10but I was going through a divorce right during that time, and I walked to the ring in a Stone
00:02:16Cold Steve Austin t-shirt. I was so damn pissed off when I opened my bag at night to get dressed,
00:02:22to go to work, I'd forgotten my vest. It was everything that the audience could have imagined
00:02:29and more. I don't think The Rock could have been The Rock without Stone Cold Steve Austin,
00:02:35and I don't think Stone Cold could have been Stone Cold without The Rock because those two
00:02:39together were just incredible.
00:02:44We were in Philadelphia, and the crowd, I mean, just was going out of their minds. And, you
00:02:50know, those, you know, one, two, the kickouts. You know, you could feel the building shaking.
00:02:56I just felt privileged to have been part of that match. I mean, maybe I would have liked to have been in that match,
00:03:03but if I couldn't have been in it, it was so, I would feel so fortunate I was part of it.
00:03:10It was a damn hell of a rollercoaster ride. I ended up coming out on top in WrestleMania 15.
00:03:22I enjoyed every minute, but I had to get through some personal problems to make that match.
00:03:29The business was sky high, and I was living pretty fast at the time, man.
00:03:38I like to equate it with you're living three lives in one body.
00:03:41You know, on one hand, you're a professional athlete, because you're going out there and you're beating yourself up,
00:03:47and you've got to train, you know, every single day to stay in top shape, and your body takes a lot of punishment.
00:03:52And on the other hand, you're a rock star. Man, everywhere you go, people want to be around you or a part of you
00:03:57and they're clamoring to get to you. And on the other hand, you're also a truck driver.
00:04:01You've got to take your ass from show to show to show, catch airplanes, and, you know, it's a rough grind.
00:04:08I don't know if he, you know, was a stop and smell the roses type of guy.
00:04:14I don't know if the outside appearances, things like that, I don't know if that was overwhelming to Steve.
00:04:20But I do think that there was that sense of isolation. It's part of what we do.
00:04:28Almost every guy, once he gets to that point, becomes something of a loner.
00:04:33Steve was dealing with a lot of stuff, you know. He's still walking around with a bad neck.
00:04:37He's being asked to represent the company. And when you are the guy, it comes with enormous pressure and responsibility.
00:04:45When you're in the middle of it and that's what you do, one day runs into the next week, month, year, time goes by.
00:04:52And, you know, I started to have some side effects from getting dropped on my head in 97 by Owen at SummerSlam.
00:05:00And I went to a doctor and started doing some tests on me and they started doing some MRIs on me.
00:05:07And what had happened was I had spinal stenosis, so I didn't have a whole lot of room for my spinal cord to begin with.
00:05:12And that's what caused the bruised spinal cord when I got dropped on my head.
00:05:15But now also I had a bone spur growing directly into my spinal cord.
00:05:20I probably could have kept going, but it wouldn't have been a smart decision to make.
00:05:26You don't want to let your fans down. You don't want to let the company down. You enjoy your work.
00:05:32And Steve kept going and going and eventually, you know, I guess they told him, if you keep going that way, you won't be able to walk.
00:05:39And then he had no choice. It's scary. It's dangerous.
00:05:43While the decision was a difficult one for Steve, surgery was ultimately decided as the best course of action.
00:05:51Since Steve's recovery time was uncertain, plans had to be made to explain Austin's absence on television.
00:05:58At the Survivor Series, this plan was executed in dramatic fashion.
00:06:04What is this?
00:06:05Wait a minute.
00:06:06Good God Almighty! For God's sakes! That car just ran over Austin!
00:06:11Stone Cold has got run down!
00:06:16I put my body on the line by pushing the limits and taking calculated risk,
00:06:21but this is one of those things where I was a pretty young guy, and I need to live a long time,
00:06:25and I need to be injury-free and pain-free, so I had to go in there and have C3-4 fused.
00:06:30I drilled off that bone spur, and I remember it was real hard to take myself away.
00:06:38Whenever anyone is injured and you're put on the sideline, it really does affect you in so many different ways.
00:06:44You know, you want to be, you want to get back in the game, and it kills you that you have to be on the sideline.
00:06:51And you watch, and it's like, oh man, I could have done this, and I could have done that, and it's passing me by now.
00:06:57I'll never be the same that I was before. And you have all these doubts, you know, that you'll ever return to what you were before.
00:07:04I remember waking up in my hospital bed and opening my eyes, and the first guy I saw was Jim Ross,
00:07:12sitting there waiting at the edge of the bed for me to wake up, and I said, hey man, what's going on?
00:07:16And we started talking, and he had come down from my surgery, and he'd watch me heal up,
00:07:21and we talked that day and talked about what was going to happen in the future,
00:07:25and I was going to be gone for some 12 to 15 months because you can't rush anything.
00:07:30That bone has to fuse, and you have to go through the healing process,
00:07:33and it always meant a lot to me that Jim Ross showed up.
00:07:38You really find out who your good friends are when bad things happen,
00:07:41and hey, I didn't expect all the boys to come watch me have surgery because they've got to be on the road working.
00:07:46When Steve got injured, it was a very nervous time for us because that affected business.
00:07:52At the same point in time, the business was a little different then,
00:07:56and what made Steve successful and what made all of us successful was we were all a bunch of sharks,
00:08:02and Steve's injury was like chum in the water.
00:08:09For the first few months, it was real hard to be home, and I can't remember if I watched the show or not.
00:08:14You know, I wanted to see what the guys were doing, but I didn't want to see what the guys were doing either,
00:08:19and I kind of got away from the business here for a little bit,
00:08:22and I really didn't think I was ever going to get back into it.
00:08:24I remember finally the healing process was starting to come around.
00:08:29My neck was in still pretty bad shape, but I was out of my hard collar, out of my soft collar,
00:08:34and I was tooling around my ranch on my four-wheeler and my cell phone rings, and it was Vince.
00:08:40You know, hey, Steve, I just wanted to call and let you know I'm thinking of some plans for you to come back.
00:08:44Well, man, that's news to me. I just had major neck surgery, and I didn't think I was coming back.
00:08:51I told him, I said, Vince, I don't know if I'm coming back.
00:08:55Man, he got real quiet on the other end of the phone, and he hung up, and I hung up,
00:09:01and I just kind of kept riding around on my four-wheeler.
00:09:03I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't know if I wanted to go back.
00:09:06I didn't know if I wanted to take a chance with my neck.
00:09:08But that's what happens when you're still fresh out of surgery.
00:09:11My neck started coming around, and I started talking to my doctor, and he says,
00:09:15okay, you can get ready to go back into action.
00:09:17And, boy, that's when there wasn't no ifs, ands, or buts. I was going back.
00:09:22He was determined to come back, determined to really cut loose, you know,
00:09:27and at the same time recognizing that there was a chance he was taking here, you know, in terms of his injury.
00:09:34And he had to be careful because he could be permanently injured, and none of us wanted that.
00:09:42In the time Steve was away, the landscape in the WWE had changed.
00:09:47Superstars such as Mankind, Triple H, and The Rock had dominated the scene.
00:09:53The Rock would become the face of the company, continuing the WWE's ratings dominance
00:09:59and outstanding live event attendance figures.
00:10:02With a return looming, Steve had doubts on his role within WWE.
00:10:08I remember when I went back, I was nervous if the people would accept me after being gone for so long.
00:10:14Because to be gone for so long from action, that's career suicide.
00:10:18The rattlesnake it back! Austin is like a man possessed!
00:10:22It's been almost a year since Austin was back in the ring!
00:10:26Man, it was like I'd never left.
00:10:28When I came back, they just embraced me with open arms.
00:10:31And that was one of the coolest things I think that ever happened to me,
00:10:34but it was how the fans accepted me back.
00:10:35Man, when I got back in the mix, Rock was extremely hot.
00:10:46And then we started building the angle to head into WrestleMania 17.
00:10:51One night in Detroit, we started trading toast with some beers.
00:10:55And the beer started flying, and that erupted.
00:10:58Hey, wait a minute!
00:10:59Austin and The Rock!
00:11:00Exchange, it blows!
00:11:01Austin and The Rock!
00:11:02The main event at WrestleMania!
00:11:05Going on right here!
00:11:06The rivalry between the two was really awesome.
00:11:10It was just getting better.
00:11:12The fact of the matter is this, is I will give you every drop of sweat,
00:11:17every drop of blood, every ounce of energy I have.
00:11:21Win, lose, or draw, you are going to get the absolute best.
00:11:27They were the two biggest stars in the industry at the time, and of that generation.
00:11:33And they were colliding head on, and both wanting to be the best,
00:11:40and knowing that they can only look the best if the other guy looks equally as good.
00:11:47I need to beat you, Rock.
00:11:49I need it more than anything that you could ever imagine.
00:11:52Man, that's a recipe for a match that could go down as the best of all time.
00:11:58The stage was set for one of the biggest nights in WWE history.
00:12:03The two greatest superstars of the Attitude Era would face off at the show of shows.
00:12:10The match was the most must-see attraction in all of entertainment.
00:12:17They started putting some videos together with the Limp Bizkit song, My Way,
00:12:21and we headed into WrestleMania 17 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
00:12:25My stomping grounds.
00:12:27Here's where I grew up.
00:12:29When my glass broke, the pop from that crowd, the light bulbs that went off,
00:12:33was astronomical.
00:12:35Our journey has culminated here tonight from spinal surgery.
00:12:40When he made his entrance, everything, the flash bulbs, astronomical.
00:12:45We locked horns, and everybody came unglued.
00:12:48It's on!
00:12:49They didn't waste any time, and nor did we think they would.
00:12:53Working with a guy like Steve Austin at WrestleMania,
00:12:56the pinnacle event of the year,
00:12:59working with a guy who I have an incredible amount of chemistry with,
00:13:04who I absolutely, unequivocally love doing things with.
00:13:08I had the best seat in the house for Austin vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 17.
00:13:11And for a kid that grew up as a wrestling fan,
00:13:14holy cow, man.
00:13:15What a vicious side of Steve Austin!
00:13:18You can tell just how badly he wants the title!
00:13:22At WrestleMania, Vince always likes to do something special.
00:13:25We didn't know what we were going to do at WrestleMania 17.
00:13:27We just knew that Stone Cold was going to fight The Rock and it was going to be a hell of a match.
00:13:31Well, I had gotten the feeling that I was feeling a little bit stale.
00:13:36I wanted to turn heel.
00:13:38I've always liked to be a bad guy, and The Rock was doing so good as a good guy and a top guy.
00:13:43I figured this would be a premiere time for Stone Cold to turn heel.
00:13:47What won't Steve Austin do?
00:13:50What, wait a minute!
00:13:51What the hell is this?
00:13:53We are witnessing something that will be talked about for years to come!
00:13:58When the gun smoke cleared,
00:14:00Old Stone Cold had ridden off.
00:14:02The sunset was the most vilified man in WWE.
00:14:06Come on, Steve!
00:14:08What the hell is this?
00:14:10It's a new champion!
00:14:13Dr. Bernie!
00:14:18I kept thinking of a sound bite of what to say when the moment happened.
00:14:25And I couldn't think of one.
00:14:27Because the vision itself was unthinkable.
00:14:32Don't call this shaking hands with Satan himself!
00:14:36For the love of God,
00:14:38someone tell me this is not happening!
00:14:41When I look back on my heel turn that night,
00:14:44and when I look back at my heel run,
00:14:46which would happen from that point on,
00:14:48if I could go back in time, I would have never done that.
00:14:51I simply would have beat The Rock the same way with the chair,
00:14:54done nothing different as far as executing that match.
00:14:57It was flawless, five-star match.
00:14:59But at the end, when Vince McMahon got in that ring,
00:15:03and stuck out his hand,
00:15:04if I could go back in time,
00:15:05I wouldn't have turned heel out of stunned Vince.
00:15:08He and I have had talks about this a lot.
00:15:10You know, Steve's, I think, of the same belief that I am,
00:15:12that, you know, hey, we thought it might work.
00:15:15It was certainly worth a try, but it did work.
00:15:18For both John Wayne fans,
00:15:20it's like making John Wayne a Nazi general in a movie.
00:15:26Who's going to buy that?
00:15:28What the hell?
00:15:30Son of a bitch!
00:15:32Son of a bitch!
00:15:33I don't believe this!
00:15:34But I was dead set on being a heel,
00:15:36and I thought I was going to need a little bit of help.
00:15:39So I wanted to line myself with Triple H.
00:15:41And if I lined myself with him,
00:15:44people would buy into the fact more and more that,
00:15:46hey, yeah, Stone Cold was this bad guy.
00:15:49The rattlesnake, the game, and the boss
00:15:53on one vile, ugly, nasty page!
00:15:58Anyway, we were just killing people with chairs,
00:16:01Undertaker Kane, the Hardys,
00:16:03and just doing dastardly things to get heat.
00:16:06And I remember people were starting to dislike me.
00:16:17To a degree, they did dislike me.
00:16:19Some really disliked me.
00:16:20But by and large, nobody wanted to hate me.
00:16:25While the Stone Cold as a Villain experiment
00:16:27wasn't exactly what Steve and the WWE had envisioned,
00:16:31it did, however, offer Austin a unique opportunity
00:16:34to develop his persona in new and unexpected ways.
00:16:38We're in Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey,
00:16:40and Booker T was making his debut.
00:16:42What the hell?!
00:16:44Wait, that's Booker...
00:16:46That's Booker T!
00:16:48He's the WCW champion!
00:16:51He picks me up and dumps me on the announce table.
00:16:54Oh, my God!
00:16:55A sidewalk slam!
00:16:57Well, I broke three vertebrae in my back at night,
00:17:00in my lower back.
00:17:01You knew he was hurt, so it came that time
00:17:04where he had to change his role a little bit,
00:17:07and he got involved in the backstage vignettes
00:17:11with Vince, Angle.
00:17:13Hey, Kurt!
00:17:14Hey, how you doing, Vince?
00:17:15How you doing, man?
00:17:16Good to see you.
00:17:18I couldn't do anything.
00:17:19I was trying to work.
00:17:20You know, I was right in the middle of my heel run,
00:17:22and I was thinking to myself,
00:17:23I'm trying to get heat, I'm trying to be hated,
00:17:25it's kind of flat-lining, it's not working for me,
00:17:28but I needed to do something to be entertaining.
00:17:30It's when the friendship started.
00:17:32I know you think I'm going overboard,
00:17:34but it's, uh...
00:17:36I kind of look at it like this, Mitch.
00:17:37It's like that old Dionne Warwick song.
00:17:39That's what friends are for.
00:17:43That's a really good song, ain't it?
00:17:45But it was just a fun time
00:17:47because I got a chance to do a bunch of real interesting stuff,
00:17:50and I wouldn't have had any other reason to do them
00:17:53had I not broke bones in my back.
00:17:55Like it?
00:17:57Delicious.
00:17:58Really?
00:17:59I told you.
00:18:00First, I think it tastes like crap.
00:18:03The best thing I like to do them
00:18:04is skim them across a real calm pond.
00:18:06Well, there's another dimension of Stone Cold Steve Austin,
00:18:09and one that the audience really enjoyed
00:18:10because that was a really entertaining individual.
00:18:13And Steve loves to entertain.
00:18:15He loves it.
00:18:16Here he goes.
00:18:17Put it on, partner.
00:18:19If anything, you've got to be entertaining on TV,
00:18:21so that's how I came up with the idea
00:18:23to do the cowboy hat thing with Kurt Angle.
00:18:26Hey, guys, how's this look?
00:18:32Yippee-ki-yay!
00:18:34It was just like some of the goofiest stuff you'd ever seen,
00:18:37but once again, you give Kurt his dude, too.
00:18:40They just played it so perfectly.
00:18:42Give me the hat back.
00:18:44You're not getting my hat.
00:18:46Give me the hat back.
00:18:47No way!
00:18:48No way!
00:18:49Give me the hat.
00:18:50If I give you my hat back, you're an Indian giver.
00:18:52You're a jackass.
00:18:53You're calling me a liar, I call him a jackass.
00:18:55Liar, jackass, kept going back and forth.
00:18:57Stop it!
00:18:58I'm not a jackass.
00:18:59You're an Indian giver.
00:19:00Jackass!
00:19:01Indian giver!
00:19:02You're an Indian giver!
00:19:03Indian giver!
00:19:04Damn it!
00:19:05Damn it!
00:19:06Please!
00:19:07A guy like Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was a bad son of a bitch,
00:19:11and Kurt Angle, who is a legitimate 1996 gold medal winner,
00:19:15acting like a couple of damn idiots with your boss,
00:19:18who's worth a billion dollars, trying to entertain the world.
00:19:21It's an interesting day at the office.
00:19:23This is inspiration, man.
00:19:25Can't you feel it?
00:19:26This is like, it's like chicken soup for the soul.
00:19:31Steve singing and, you know, strumming the guitar or whatever,
00:19:34I mean, it's like, it's something you're not supposed to see.
00:19:38That's a little attitude.
00:19:41Better?
00:19:43Kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya, kumbaya, my lord, kumbaya, kumbaya.
00:19:58You told me 25 years ago I was going to be on TV in a pair of blue jean shorts
00:20:03and two knee braces, strumming a guitar, and singing to Vince McMahon a kumbaya.
00:20:08I'd have told you you're a crazy son of a bitch, but it happened.
00:20:11Cause I am the champion.
00:20:15I am the champion.
00:20:19No time for losers.
00:20:23As Stone Cold Steve Austin, the good guy,
00:20:26there's no way I can sit around playing guitar
00:20:29and then going out on a live mic in the middle of the ring
00:20:31and singing Margaritaville.
00:20:33Wasted away again in Margaritaville.
00:20:37I can't sing worth a sh**.
00:20:39But as a hill, you can go there.
00:20:41And it doesn't matter that I sing like sh**.
00:20:43That's what makes it even better.
00:20:45And you know her from singing to Vince and playing the guitar,
00:20:49trading that stupid cowboy hat with Kurt Angle and calling Molly a bimbo.
00:20:51You sign it, your little bimbo girlfriend can sign it too.
00:20:55What did you just call her?
00:20:57Molly.
00:20:58Molly.
00:20:59Molly.
00:21:00She's a bimbo.
00:21:01And you heard it.
00:21:02And one time Vince is giving a rally the troops speech and Undertaker's right there.
00:21:03And boy, every time he says something, I, you know, I'm second in command and I'm saying
00:21:04exactly what Vince said.
00:21:05And you, Chris Jericho, Kane.
00:21:06Kane.
00:21:07Undertaker.
00:21:08Undertaker.
00:21:09We do have a deal.
00:21:10We got a deal.
00:21:11Stone cold.
00:21:12Shut up.
00:21:13Shut up.
00:21:14Total suck ass stuff, you know, totally kissing Vince's ass and, you know, Undertaker sitting
00:21:16there.
00:21:17I, I think I'm about to crack the guy up.
00:21:18And, you know, rally the troops speech and Undertaker's right there.
00:21:19And boy, every time he says something, I, you know, I'm second in command and I'm saying
00:21:20exactly what Vince said.
00:21:21And you, Chris Jericho, Kane.
00:21:22Kane.
00:21:23Kane.
00:21:24Undertaker.
00:21:25Undertaker.
00:21:26We do have a deal.
00:21:27We got a deal.
00:21:28Stone cold.
00:21:29Shut up.
00:21:30Total suck ass stuff, you know, totally kissing Vince's ass and, you know, Undertaker sitting
00:21:41there.
00:21:42I think I'm about to crack the guy up.
00:21:43We're going into invasion.
00:21:45Invasion.
00:21:46We're going into this with both WCW and ECW breathing down our necks.
00:21:53Breathing down our necks.
00:21:54They're breathing down.
00:21:55He never did, but I damn, I thought I had him.
00:22:02The fans didn't really want to live vicariously, throw me doing the evil things to people.
00:22:07They wanted to celebrate and have a good time.
00:22:09Quite frankly, I don't think the audience ever bought a villainous side of Stone Cold Steve
00:22:14Austin.
00:22:15They wanted him to stay the same and they moreover saw this as just an added dimension of his character
00:22:20more than anything else.
00:22:21It didn't last that long.
00:22:22But it was another added dimension which later on he embraced.
00:22:27The backstage antics of Stone Cold were instant classic entertainment that revealed a new side of Steve Austin.
00:22:45But it would be a simple catchphrase that would endear him to the WWE Universe once again.
00:22:51One day I was just on the phone.
00:22:54I decided to call Christian up.
00:22:55I guess he's in the gym.
00:22:56And, you know, his phone went to voicemail.
00:22:59And I just started kind of leaving this stupid message on his phone.
00:23:02He's like, you know, why'd I get your voicemail?
00:23:04What?
00:23:05I said, why'd I get your voicemail?
00:23:06Anyways, I'm driving down the highway right now.
00:23:08What?
00:23:09What?
00:23:10I said, I'm driving down the highway.
00:23:11Where am I?
00:23:12And then he just kind of going on with that.
00:23:13And he rambled on for about five, six minutes.
00:23:15What?
00:23:16And I kept the message going.
00:23:18It was just a goofy, stupid message.
00:23:20But I hung up the phone.
00:23:22And I said, you know what?
00:23:23That's an interesting thing there.
00:23:25What?
00:23:26I got to the arena.
00:23:27I was like, man, what's with the voicemail?
00:23:28I was like, he's like, I don't know.
00:23:29I was just messing around.
00:23:30And we had a couple of laughs.
00:23:32And then the next thing you know, a month or two later, I heard him out in the ring.
00:23:35And I could hear it.
00:23:36I heard the what.
00:23:37And I was like, oh, my God.
00:23:38He can't believe he's doing this on television.
00:23:40And he made it work.
00:23:41Your name is Hugh Morris.
00:23:44What?
00:23:45Your name is Hugh Morris.
00:23:48What?
00:23:50Is that funny?
00:23:52Is that humorous?
00:23:54Here I was as a heel.
00:23:56And you go out there and you talk all this trash.
00:23:58And if someone gives you a verbal threat and they're trying to intimidate you,
00:24:02and you just look at them and say, what?
00:24:05What?
00:24:06What?
00:24:07What?
00:24:08What?
00:24:09What?
00:24:10That threat has just disappeared because I'm not threatened by it.
00:24:13I don't really even give a damn.
00:24:17What?
00:24:18What?
00:24:19What?
00:24:20What?
00:24:21What?
00:24:22What?
00:24:23Basically, when I turned back babyface, my psychology was I can still ask these people
00:24:28questions, but before they can answer them, I'll ask them what just to cut them off.
00:24:33What are you getting all nervous for?
00:24:35What?
00:24:36A little uptight?
00:24:37What?
00:24:38A little rattle?
00:24:39What?
00:24:40A little nervous?
00:24:41What?
00:24:42A little skittery?
00:24:43What?
00:24:44I remember one time we did a pay-per-view, Insurrection, and we did this highlight reel,
00:24:50and it was one of the best things I've ever done.
00:24:52It was like 20 minutes long, and just told a preposterous, so many what's about, like
00:24:56we went through the band names, like here we are in England, what?
00:24:59Home of the Beatles, what?
00:25:00The Rolling Stones!
00:25:01What?
00:25:01Home of the Who, what?
00:25:03Ozzy Osbourne!
00:25:04Iron Maiden!
00:25:05Oasis!
00:25:06David Beckham!
00:25:08The Spice Girls!
00:25:09The Roll the Dice Girls!
00:25:11Like, it was just fun, and if you asked me, give me one word to describe Steve Austin when
00:25:16you were working with him, I would say fun, always.
00:25:19What?
00:25:22Despite Austin's growth as an entertainer, fatigue and frustration were starting to set
00:25:27in, heading into Wrestlemania 18.
00:25:30Going into Wrestlemania 18, I really thought I was starting to lose a little bit of my momentum,
00:25:35and I didn't really like the creative direction we were going.
00:25:39NWO had come in, and all of a sudden, heading into Mania, and it's Rock vs. Hogan.
00:25:44Well, that's the big match, that's the main event, Stone Cold Steve Austin's going to work
00:25:49with Scott Hall.
00:25:51And so, I mean, all due respect and props to him, but you know, Hogan was the guy that
00:25:56I needed to work with, not Scott Hall.
00:25:58So, I think about that time, a little bit of frustration was starting to set in, and the
00:26:06wheels were starting to fall off.
00:26:08I was running hard.
00:26:10I was beat to shreds, and I was drinking a lot.
00:26:13And, uh, just a lot of elements going on there, and the train was about to go off the track.
00:26:20Steve was dealing with a lot of stuff, you know.
00:26:22He's working a succession of one-night stands, night after night, week after week.
00:26:27He's still walking around with a bad neck that could end his career at any time.
00:26:33He knew he was burning the candle at both ends.
00:26:35We're going to do a Monday Night Raw in Atlanta, Georgia.
00:26:40But that Sunday, we're in Columbus, Georgia.
00:26:43So, I'd flown in from San Antonio.
00:26:46While I was laying there, Jim Ross calls me up and gives me a creative for Monday Night
00:26:49Raw and says, Vince would like to see Brock Lesnar go over on me in a King of the Ring
00:26:55qualifier match.
00:26:58And I said, really?
00:27:03You guys want to beat me?
00:27:04In a qualifier match?
00:27:08Unannounced?
00:27:08You're not going to do a one- or two- or three-week build for this match and get a number out of it?
00:27:13Man, I don't have a big head, but guys like me are pretty damn hard to find.
00:27:19That didn't make any business sense to me.
00:27:21I'm always about being business.
00:27:23I'll do business with anybody.
00:27:25Getting beat doesn't mean a damn thing to me.
00:27:27When it's right.
00:27:28If it's right.
00:27:30I told Jim, I said, well, if that's going to be creative, I said, I won't be at my
00:27:34Monday Night Raw.
00:27:36So he calls Vince, lets him know what I said, and I'm driving to Columbus, and my phone
00:27:39goes off, and Vince calling.
00:27:41I ain't going to take the call.
00:27:43Leads me a message.
00:27:44Steve, it's Vince.
00:27:45Whenever you get a chance, no matter what time it is, just give me a call.
00:27:47I'd like to talk to you about Monday Night Raw.
00:27:49I get in my hotel room, and I call him at 2 a.m. in the morning, and he answers, first
00:27:55or second ring.
00:27:56Steve, what's going on?
00:27:58He said, oh, nothing.
00:27:59Jerry told me I needed to call you.
00:28:01He said, yeah, I wanted to talk to you about creative tomorrow at Monday Night Raw.
00:28:05And Vince ran over what he wanted to do again, exactly as Jim Ross said, and I said, really,
00:28:09that's what we're going to do?
00:28:10And he goes, yep.
00:28:11And when I said, really, that's what we're going to do?
00:28:14I mean, like, really, that's what we're going to do?
00:28:16Because if we are, I ain't f***ing coming.
00:28:19That's what I meant.
00:28:20Well, hung up the phone, and right then I made up my mind, I'm taking my s*** home.
00:28:26Well, I believe, you know, again, we had a difference of view in terms of, quote, creative,
00:28:30as Steve would say.
00:28:32It was more than that.
00:28:34It was, again, the pressure that Steve put on himself.
00:28:38It was eating him up.
00:28:39At least that's my point of view.
00:28:43Is Stone Cold Steve Austin really gone?
00:28:49Sadly, sadly, the answer to that question is yes.
00:28:54I mean, when you first heard it, you don't really know what to make of it.
00:28:57But thinking about it, I think Steve was 100% in the right.
00:29:00I believe the plan was for Brock to beat Steve that night,
00:29:02which I don't think Steve would ever have a problem with.
00:29:05But that's about six months of buildup and six months of revenue thrown out the window
00:29:09in one night.
00:29:10And I think that's what Steve disagreed with.
00:29:12I think Steve's a businessman.
00:29:13I think when the time is right, he'd put, you know, his mom over if it was right.
00:29:18Austin owes an apology for walking out to every superstar in that locker room.
00:29:24Austin owes an apology to the company he helped build.
00:29:34Austin owes an apology to each and every one of you for walking out on you.
00:29:40There were wrong things done on both sides.
00:29:43But if you have a problem with the company, fine, there's other ways to work it out.
00:29:47But to say, I'm going to walk away, it wasn't a one-man band.
00:29:51It was never a one-man show.
00:29:53You don't do it by yourself.
00:29:55And to say right in the middle of that, I'm out of here, you know,
00:30:01it's not the right thing, my opinion.
00:30:04If I could go back and do it again, I'd change everything about it.
00:30:09But what I did then, in my mind, was the only way I could get out and get out with my sanity.
00:30:15It's a rough business.
00:30:16And sometimes it's a rough life.
00:30:18And sometimes you make decisions you regret.
00:30:21That was one of them.
00:30:22And I own up to it.
00:30:25With time away to recharge and recuperate,
00:30:28Steve Austin was ready to complete the healing process with the help of an old friend.
00:30:33I remember being at the house in San Antonio.
00:30:36Went out and got my mail, and I saw this little card in there.
00:30:40And it was from Jim Ross.
00:30:41And just a small card.
00:30:43And it said, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here.
00:30:49I put that card down, and I called Jim Ross up.
00:30:53And we talked for two or three hours.
00:30:56It was just so great.
00:30:58It meant everything to me.
00:31:00It meant a lot.
00:31:01And I remember him saying, he goes, hey, man, do you think if I put you and the old man together in the room,
00:31:06you can get your differences aside and come back to work?
00:31:10And I said, yeah.
00:31:10I said, I'd love that.
00:31:12So there was a meeting set up.
00:31:13There wasn't going to be anybody but me and Vince.
00:31:16I didn't know what was going to happen.
00:31:18Are we going to fight, hug?
00:31:21Are we going to throw each other through the window and fall 30 stories to our death?
00:31:25I didn't know.
00:31:26And anyway, Vince walks in the room.
00:31:30And we shake hands.
00:31:32And it's about as uncomfortable as you can get.
00:31:34Finally, it gets down to what happened.
00:31:37And we talked, and we talked, and I told Vince I was sorry that day in that high rise because I had handled myself the way that I did.
00:31:48And that I would never do anything to screw him over and cause harm to him.
00:31:54And that's what I did.
00:31:55And so anyway, he accepted my apology.
00:32:00We got back on track.
00:32:02And I came back to work.
00:32:03Well, Stone Cold Steve Austin is back.
00:32:06What?
00:32:07And I didn't bring a ball with me.
00:32:09What?
00:32:09I brought a big fat can of whoop ass.
00:32:12What?
00:32:12It was good to be back in the mix, do the little match with Eric.
00:32:16And that was an interesting day at the office because, you know, I could have went out there and taken a million liberties with the guy
00:32:21because he had fired me all those years before.
00:32:24The match was what it was.
00:32:26It was snug and it was stiff.
00:32:27That's just the way I worked.
00:32:29And I was back in the fold.
00:32:30And then we were starting to ramp up.
00:32:32And Rock was doing his thing.
00:32:33And he was hot as a firecracker in Hollywood.
00:32:35And there was one more match that needed to be happening.
00:32:38The Rock has done it all.
00:32:39He's done it all.
00:32:41The one thing that The Rock has not done is whoop that bald candy ass at WrestleMania.
00:32:49So what do you say, Stone Cold?
00:32:51What do you say?
00:32:51And WrestleMania 19 was happening in Seattle, Washington.
00:32:55And that was the main event.
00:32:57Stone Cold versus The Rock one more time.
00:33:00It's definitely the only match in history that headlined WrestleMania three times.
00:33:03And I bet you those buy rates were all through the roof.
00:33:06I mean, they headlined WrestleMania with the same match three times.
00:33:10How much bigger does it get?
00:33:11Austin and The Rock had three WrestleMania main events.
00:33:16And that pretty well tells you everything you need to know about arguably the most profitable,
00:33:23timely, meaningful rivalry in this company's history.
00:33:27When I was rolling into WrestleMania 19, a lot of physical problems were starting to come back.
00:33:37A lot of things were starting to catch up to me.
00:33:40I had some nerve issues.
00:33:42It was about getting time for me to ride into the sunset.
00:33:44I didn't want to go.
00:33:46I was okay mentally now.
00:33:48My brain was okay.
00:33:49But my body was just saying, Steve, get your ass out of here.
00:33:54I'll never forget.
00:33:55It was the day before WrestleMania.
00:33:56And I was at the gym with Kevin Nash, a good buddy of mine.
00:34:00We were on the little recumbent bikes.
00:34:01And we were just kind of pedaling around.
00:34:03We just had a pretty good workout.
00:34:04I noticed that my legs were really trembly that day.
00:34:09For some reason, my legs were just kind of shaky.
00:34:11Things were a little off.
00:34:12And I didn't know what was happening.
00:34:14So we're pedaling on the bicycle.
00:34:15And I say goodbye to Kevin.
00:34:16I go back to the Grand Hyatt where I'm staying.
00:34:19Everybody's staying for WrestleMania.
00:34:21And I get off the elevator.
00:34:23And all of a sudden, man, the hits the fan.
00:34:26My heart starts pounding out of my chest.
00:34:29Man, it wouldn't stop.
00:34:30And I guess it was like an anxiety attack times 20.
00:34:35I don't know what I'm going to do.
00:34:37I think, hey, man, I'm fixing to die in WrestleMania tomorrow.
00:34:40Well, at that time, I looked up.
00:34:42And coming down the hallway was a lady who was employed by WWE, Liz DeFabio.
00:34:46And as soon as she saw me, she knew something was wrong.
00:34:49And I looked at her.
00:34:50I said, Liz, I need help.
00:34:51And she called 911.
00:34:53So I go to the hospital.
00:34:54They're doing all these tests on me.
00:34:56Well, basically what happened was my damn system just wigged out because I was drinking
00:35:01too much horse, not taking care of myself.
00:35:04And my system hit the fan.
00:35:06And so they put in four pints of fluid in me.
00:35:09I was severely dehydrated.
00:35:11And I remember laying there.
00:35:12They said, we need to keep you overnight for observation.
00:35:14I said, all right.
00:35:17I just remember coming out of the hospital.
00:35:19I don't remember whether the doctor passed me or cleared me or whatever, Russell.
00:35:24I made sure that I was able to, and I did.
00:35:28But I don't even remember the paperwork coming out of that deal.
00:35:31Knowing this would be his swan song, Stone Cold's final match would come against a man
00:35:36who had been a rival and friend every step of the way, The Rock.
00:35:42With mixed emotions and a lot of things going on inside my gut, I go out there.
00:35:46And that arena there, that stadium in Seattle was just phenomenal.
00:35:51WWE had just lit that thing.
00:35:53And it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen in my life.
00:35:57He has earned the reputation as the toughest son of a bitch in the WWE.
00:36:04There is no one that has ever laced their boots any more intense, any more with a will to win.
00:36:13That's Stone Cold Steve Austin.
00:36:19I'm proud to call him my boy.
00:36:20He's my friend.
00:36:21And it's an honor.
00:36:24It's a privilege to be out there, not only in front of 50,000, 60,000 people,
00:36:28but to be out there with a guy who I always have the best matches with, the best times with.
00:36:36It's emotional.
00:36:39It really, really is.
00:36:41Pretty much an A to B match.
00:36:42It was as good as matches I was comfortable in giving due to the straights that I was in the previous night.
00:36:49I remember laying on my back at night and that referee counting, one, two, three.
00:36:58And I just got beaten.
00:37:00The Rock has defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania.
00:37:08I was cool, which is just having been beaten.
00:37:11That was business.
00:37:13After the one, two, three, I kind of just sat up.
00:37:16And I really didn't know what I was going to say.
00:37:17I just wanted to say something to him.
00:37:19And after all the years of helping me and bringing me up, because, you know, you're only as good as your opponent.
00:37:28He basically said, I love you, brother.
00:37:31And he appreciated it.
00:37:33And that's what he said to me.
00:37:35And, you know, told him I love you, too.
00:37:39That's what I said.
00:37:41Yeah, I told him, man, I love you and thank you.
00:37:43I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me.
00:37:46And I meant that.
00:37:47I meant that.
00:37:48And he kind of, you know, love you, too, man.
00:37:52It was something else.
00:37:54Something else.
00:37:55It was a hell of a moment.
00:38:04Two guys who had been through so much together.
00:38:09And this is time for us to separate and go down our separate roads.
00:38:13And it was a real emotional, real emotional moment and a real special moment.
00:38:17And I've always loved The Rock, working with him and all that stuff.
00:38:23So that was real hard to do.
00:38:29You are looking, ladies and gentlemen, at perhaps two of the greatest when it's all said and done
00:38:35that this business will have ever offered you.
00:38:38They gave you everything they had here tonight in a night that I know in my heart
00:38:44I will never forget as long as I live.
00:38:48Rock told me what he told me and he rolled out of the ring.
00:38:51And, you know, normally it's the champion that stands there in the ring.
00:38:54And especially after being beat the previous two matches by all rights,
00:38:57it was his time to stand that ring and to soak it all up.
00:39:00But because it was going to be my last one, he left the ring to me.
00:39:05And a classy thing to do.
00:39:07And I think the people knew.
00:39:09That's one hell of a proud man who gave us everything he had.
00:39:13Every fiber of his being, he laid it out there tonight.
00:39:19Austin saluting these fans here at Wrestlemania.
00:39:23There's only one Texas Rattlesnake and there'll never be another like it.
00:39:28Right then, I was feeling that a 100-pound weight had just been lifted off my back.
00:39:34It was my time to finally be able to take in a breath of fresh air and just relax.
00:39:44And I was looking forward to that.
00:39:46As emotional as that day was and as hard as it was that day leading up to that match.
00:39:52And even now, I got a little emotional, you know, because I was thinking about the future.
00:39:59And then, but at that time, that release was like just being able to take a breath of fresh air.
00:40:06And it was relaxation.
00:40:07And it was appreciation for those people giving me the response that they'd give.
00:40:11Because I've always, you know, whether the good times or bad times,
00:40:14I've always broken my ass, you know, to give everything I got to the crowd.
00:40:18And then they were giving it back to me like they always have.
00:40:22And, you know, that's why, you know, I love my Twitter account.
00:40:26I love my fans.
00:40:26I love being able to keep in touch with them.
00:40:29They supported me through everything that I've been through.
00:40:32Always.
00:40:33They've always welcomed me back.
00:40:35When I f***ed up, they have always forgiven me.
00:40:38They've been there for me.
00:40:39And they were there for me on the last one.
00:40:41And it was just satisfaction and appreciation on my part to them.
00:40:48With his health and the balance, Stone Cold could no longer compete at the level fans and he himself had come to expect.
00:41:00But the horizon remained bright for Steve Austin, as Austin would seize any opportunity that allowed him to fulfill his number one passion,
00:41:09entertaining the WWE universe.
00:41:11When you take away the performance aspect of being in that ring and that 20 by 20 ring, I mean, that's the be-all, end-all.
00:41:19That's your proven mark.
00:41:20That's the proven ground.
00:41:22Once you eliminate that, you just kind of take away that base of that's why you're there.
00:41:29It's all about that in-ring product.
00:41:31When that was kind of taken from me and I didn't need to be in that ring anymore, that was when I felt a little bit hollow inside.
00:41:38And I really kind of had to try harder to manufacture different situations for myself because I didn't have that base to go back to.
00:41:44And that's why I was able to push the envelope in such a different direction, in so many different directions,
00:41:49in order to entertain that crowd and not use physicality to do it, but use my common sense or my comedic sense to get reactions.
00:42:00Let me just bring out the new co-general manager of Raw!
00:42:07Oh, no!
00:42:10Stone Cold Steve Austin is the new co-general manager of Raw!
00:42:16Oh!
00:42:28Wait!
00:42:29Oh!
00:42:29Gunner!
00:42:31Gunner!
00:42:33I was pretty banged up, but I still wanted to be able to go out there and perform, but be used in a different capacity.
00:42:38I didn't really want to be a manager, per se, and so they decided to make me the co-GM of Raw,
00:42:43I wish I would split duties with Eric Bischoff.
00:42:46Did you talk to me about it?
00:42:48As co-GM, you gotta talk to me before you make these kind of decisions.
00:42:51You can't fire this man without talking to Stonewall.
00:42:54You brought in JR without talking to me.
00:42:55I can fire anybody I want to fire.
00:42:57You can't fire him as chief of staff.
00:42:58Yeah, that's right.
00:43:00That means I'm still the chief of staff, right?
00:43:05Hell no, you're fired.
00:43:08Where are you gonna quit?
00:43:09Work with me, work with me.
00:43:11Watch out, watch out.
00:43:11Put your beard, get your beard, what do you mean?
00:43:14Come on, you can't do this.
00:43:16This is our office, our office.
00:43:19That was a deal that I really enjoyed doing because I had such an on-air chemistry with
00:43:23Eric Bischoff and we worked well off of each other in an ad lib fashion.
00:43:28We kind of knew where we needed to go, but then we just did it and it happened.
00:43:32Oh, congratulations, Eric, old buddy.
00:43:41You do like poon-tang-pies, Sue?
00:43:46I mean, because if you don't, we're-
00:43:47Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:43:50I mean, if you're in.
00:43:51I can't drink anymore.
00:43:52I can't eat more.
00:43:53I'll give her the good luck kiss.
00:43:55Give her a good luck?
00:43:56I'm not gonna kiss that walkie.
00:43:57Give her a good luck kiss.
00:43:58Go on.
00:43:59Oh, man.
00:44:00Oh!
00:44:01Paige and Eric Bischoff.
00:44:02Paige and Eric Bischoff.
00:44:03Paige and Eric Bischoff.
00:44:04Paige and Eric Bischoff.
00:44:07How about a son?
00:44:08Bring it back.
00:44:09You got your ears on.
00:44:10How about you, Eric Bischoff?
00:44:11You got a copy?
00:44:12Bring it back.
00:44:13I thought that was a run that was too short-lived.
00:44:17I don't know why they split us up.
00:44:20The things that we were doing backstage were entertaining.
00:44:22The people were engaged in them.
00:44:24We had a great on-air presence.
00:44:27Over here.
00:44:32And then it all stopped, and I never knew why that was.
00:44:34But I enjoyed working with Eric Bischoff.
00:44:36Hold on.
00:44:37I got something else for you.
00:44:38It's a little bit better than that.
00:44:39Hold on.
00:44:40You can feel better.
00:44:41Hey, hey, hey.
00:44:42Wake up.
00:44:43We got a show to do.
00:44:44We got a show to do.
00:44:45We got a show to do.
00:44:46We got a show to do.
00:44:47Feel better?
00:44:48Hold on.
00:44:49The stone-cold ass-kicker that you saw on TV when he got injured
00:44:53all of a sudden now was allowed to show you the other side of Stone Cold,
00:44:57the humorous side, the funny side, the sarcastic side.
00:45:02And look at this, and everybody can listen to me.
00:45:03They can understand this.
00:45:05Trust in me, and I will never let you down.
00:45:11And so then Vince came up with the idea that I'd be the sheriff.
00:45:14Kind of, you know, be the law of Monday Night Raw
00:45:19to make sure right is done and wrong isn't.
00:45:22There's a new sheriff in town.
00:45:24And his name is Stone Cold Steve Austin.
00:45:29No!
00:45:32A new sheriff in town!
00:45:36The rattlesnake is back!
00:45:39I remember getting a phone call from Vince, and I believe it was him who broke the ATV news to me.
00:45:44And I was thinking to myself, man, it was a damn good idea.
00:45:47I said, I can have a lot of fun with this.
00:45:49Let it up!
00:45:50Let it up!
00:45:51Let it up!
00:45:52Let it up!
00:45:53Let it up!
00:45:54I really didn't mean to you.
00:45:55I'm gonna throw it up!
00:45:56No!
00:45:57No!
00:45:58No!
00:45:59No!
00:46:00No!
00:46:01No!
00:46:02No!
00:46:03No!
00:46:04No!
00:46:05No!
00:46:06No!
00:46:07No!
00:46:08No!
00:46:09No!
00:46:10No!
00:46:11No!
00:46:12No!
00:46:13No!
00:46:14No!
00:46:15No!
00:46:16No!
00:46:17No!
00:46:18No!
00:46:19We got fit in the walls, and man, you gotta rip the ORR and and let it fly and those people
00:46:24want adrenaline, you gotta give it to them.
00:46:26I'm feeding off what they're giving me, and they're giving me everything they got.
00:46:27It was a lot of fun.
00:46:29Great idea by Vince McMahon.
00:46:31Are you wearing a badge?!
00:46:34badge like who could get that over do you see this badge yeah i just don't mean i'm in charge
00:46:41it means stone cold steve austin is the law he did and that's why he's one of a kind i mean he
00:46:48could be on the show until he's 90 years old uh just talking i mean he's he's such an idiot he's
00:46:55so funny like he's got such a great sense of humor he doesn't take himself seriously at all
00:47:00and that's why it's fun to watch him and it's fun to have him on the show steve is one of these guys
00:47:06where you know you look at him and you know you may be quick to judge him by his looks you know the
00:47:10bald head the goatee you got a problem with balding people but then when you get to talk to him he's
00:47:15pretty funny and he's really witty and has a real dry sense of humor you can tell he's so good off
00:47:25the cuff he's so good at feeling an audience and that's what so few people are good at
00:47:29is being able to do that even though steve couldn't wrestle he still was able to entertain
00:47:34better than almost anybody i mean there was a whole summer where steve was the general manager
00:47:39there had been a verdict that he couldn't touch me unless i touched him first if you think that
00:47:44rule completely sucks give me a hell yeah so we'd be like you know i'd be like come on what are you
00:47:52gonna do what's we gonna do get him christian and then finally you know he'd go to give me a beer
00:48:01we'd cheers so i'd give him a pat on the back and drink and of course as soon as they gave him a pat
00:48:05on the back he'd give that look to the crowd and he'd stop me and that'd be that'd be it so it was like
00:48:12the best summer ever and one of the most entertaining segments on the show just by talking stone cold steve
00:48:18austin had the power to captivate and enthrall the wwe universe and it was steve's passion to entertain
00:48:25the masses that led him to go above and beyond the time constraints of network television one of the
00:48:32coolest things about the stone cold steve austin era was the show really got started once the cameras
00:48:42went off everybody's staying late and a lot of kids got to go to school tomorrow a lot of people got
00:48:46to go to work tomorrow these guys got to catch a red-eye flight i got a couple red eyes i'm not
00:48:51leaving till tomorrow because i'm gonna stay up all night and drink all the organs beer steve saw that
00:48:57extra time as being his time to connect with his universe my new year's what what what what what
00:49:08some bitch got a y2j shirt on he gonna talk to me
00:49:11i think that started because he felt bad that he couldn't give them the show he used to
00:49:18as a performer and so he knew he could get them with his words what i gotta say what i want to tell
00:49:27you what i want to just say what you better stop it what i want to say jesus christ you got a microphone in
00:49:35your hand use it will you
00:49:44will you give me another beer
00:49:47just a bunch of uh nonsensical light-hearted fun stuff almost proposed to her last week you almost
00:49:54proposed to her yeah what happened i ran out of beer
00:49:58you know we're on the air so you have certain restrictions naturally um but when we're off the
00:50:05air no restrictions at all and steve just had a blast i was gonna give you my hotel key
00:50:15he'd drink beers and he'd run around with the camera guys what about you you feel like doing a
00:50:19nice man rooney you do and you never knew what was going to end you just knew that you didn't want it
00:50:24to end guys we've got to uh wrap it up in a little while now it was to the point where camera guys
00:50:33were like i want to go home
00:50:41he wants to go home and we just keep doing stuff and keep goofing around and then you'd think steve was
00:50:48gone he'd go all the way up he was gonna go out the curtain he'd run back down and you know hit more
00:50:52stunners and you know drink beer and pick us up and we'd shake his hand and drink the beer and he'd hit
00:50:58us with another stunner and that period of time was just so much fun
00:51:05got the most electrifying man in the history of sports entertainment and you got the most electrifying
00:51:10beer drinker in sports entertainment and there's one thing that i always look forward to it's the beer
00:51:16bashes excuse me never planned anything out whether i'm gonna throw the cooler in there or how many
00:51:24beers i'm gonna go through who i'm gonna share one with who i'm gonna spill one on just for the record
00:51:30i do have a designated driver tonight i remember kind of doing a beer bash with myself and i got in
00:51:38one of the chairs it was with rollers on it and i got in that thing and just said hell man let's see
00:51:44what happens and i kick that thing off and started rolling backwards and i remember hitting the rubber
00:51:50mat down there and damn near hit my head on the ring but it was a safe landing until i guess that's
00:51:55the first time i'd ever been done he was having fun and the audience was just lapping it up because
00:52:09stone cold steve austin had fun who doesn't love stone cold steve austin
00:52:18well steve austin will always be valuable um whether he's wrestling or not
00:52:22he could be a general manager he could be the sheriff he could probably be entertaining
00:52:26doing whatever and i think the fans are so in love with him and his character
00:52:30they'll pay money to see him you know do anything stone cold steve austin cooking show
00:52:35license to print money stone cold steve austin hunting show a license to print money but
00:52:40whenever he comes back whether it's a guest appearance um just to pop in to be a special referee
00:52:46i think it's a moment i think the fans remember all these things and they will always tune in to
00:52:51see steve austin no matter what he does with time on his hands after retiring from a full-time wwe schedule
00:53:00steve found himself venturing onto new horizons this time in front of the silver screen
00:53:05i was originally supposed to do the marine well my agent didn't really like the script so much so
00:53:13i said steve man this is not gonna be a good movie uh will kill your career boy that was a stupid
00:53:19decision thanks i didn't have a career it was a starring role anyway john cena made the marine
00:53:25hell of a movie i enjoyed it well it took all these years later after that to find the condemned
00:53:31just you and me
00:53:43we'll kill you we'll kill you too sweetheart
00:53:51i really enjoyed the condemned let's go sweetheart
00:53:57you're drawn to that movie i think because of
00:53:59the charisma of stone cold steve austin game on i thought steve was a very good action star
00:54:10very believable can i go now likable what were you doing in alex alvador working on my tan
00:54:17why'd you blow the building up i was blocking my son yeah tough and rugged
00:54:22it's the type of guy you want to root for you stay down we don't have a problem i jumped right in
00:54:34there and with a bunch of gusto and i didn't know what the hell i was doing me and you we got a lot
00:54:40in common we got nothing in common you and me very impressed with how he's you know adjusted to to
00:54:49you know the films it's you and me it's dancing oh his first movie i mean his his looks and his timing
00:54:59is is fantastic
00:55:00he trained hard as an actor and that's something he takes very seriously we're like years from out
00:55:11man and uh he's very very goodness you're not making sense on all levels and i'll tell you what
00:55:19that was a learning experience thank you for the show show ain't over yet steve um is a
00:55:25logical movie star it's funny because you you just look at him you would typecast him but you know
00:55:31he has so many different ways he go with his personality his talents have not been used well
00:55:35when we did the condemned one he was a straight up ass kicking type guy there weren't as many dimensions
00:55:42as looking back on it you know as i would like to have done well good for you steve's so much bigger
00:55:49and so much better than just straight up kick ass steve could do comedy believe it or not steve would be
00:55:54a leading man i mean he really could wwe gave steve the leading role but this time it was back
00:56:02on television as he was asked to host the return of wwe's tough enough a reality program that gives
00:56:08those with a dream of making it to the wwe the once in a lifetime opportunity to win a contract
00:56:15they had to keep saying hosted by stone cold steve awesome that was a selling point first and foremost
00:56:20without steve awesome the show would have been okay at best that spot couldn't have been for
00:56:27anybody else it was made for him the last 10 minutes of that show was almost must see tv
00:56:33non-existent or brutal would be a better explanation of your technique you didn't know what he was going
00:56:38to say don't be meek and don't be weak you better bust your ass and that's where he excels he's
00:56:46he's he's very good off the top of his head you thick-headed i've been bamboozled and flabbergasted
00:56:52can you not be taught no i want you to fly to me do not absorb information you gotta be the biggest
00:56:59dumbest sum itch i ever laid my eyes on do you know it all you better get your ass hungry are you better
00:57:07than us you need to wake up you know a secret that we don't know thanks for the psychology lesson did i miss
00:57:14something that's all i was just being me i was living and being in the moment because it's it was
00:57:21all real i didn't have anything to remember safe ain't gonna get you in this world i could tell
00:57:28just from the very onset from the first day i got there that it wasn't a role it wasn't a character
00:57:35role like where he's just doing this and it's like oh they need me in a minute it's like okay i gotta
00:57:39pretend i'm teaching these guys he was really into it and really focused on it steve was a natural
00:57:46and tough enough it was an opportunity for steve to perform yet talk about what he loves so much and
00:57:51talk about you know what it takes to be a wwe superstar no one knows that better than stone cold
00:57:58steve austin i think if steve austin sat down for a couple minutes and give you a couple pointers on
00:58:02little things that you might might help you the most valuable advice you could ever get he's not a guy
00:58:08that's gonna waste words should i start shaking he's not afraid to hit you right between the
00:58:13eyes with the truth you're damn right you ain't showed me he's a guy that's very direct and very
00:58:19forward give me one good reason why you're here because you shouldn't be and he's a guy that knows
00:58:25what he's talking about me talking to you right now don't light a fire under your mother ass something
00:58:32wrong with you on tough enough it's a wake-up call that's how it is on tough enough that's how it is up
00:58:36here that's how it's gonna be for your entire career as a sports entertainer it doesn't get any
00:58:40easier coddling somebody and like telling oh it's gonna be okay just as soon as you make tv
00:58:46that doesn't help anybody it doesn't make good tv it doesn't do a service to the person that you're
00:58:50trying to coach stone cold knew that he got right in their faces and told them how it was stop
00:58:56pussyfooting around that tough extremely tough on us your ass better show me something tomorrow
00:59:02he definitely made his pair of dues in that house that's for sure silent rage sound like a goddamn
00:59:10christmas girl son he has a keen sense of observing and evaluating young talent perfect
00:59:20he can process what he sees quickly and give feedback that's 99 times out of 100 right on the money
00:59:28just take your time don't get in the rush that's the number one thing green guys do is rush you saw
00:59:34another side of stone cold and tough enough a little should i say as i like to say that you never
00:59:40really saw before put up or shut up people this is your ass your ass is on the line right now he
00:59:46could be humorous he could be compassionate you got to believe in yourself he could be sensitive i don't hug
00:59:56a whole lot of people give me a hug thank you so much same point in time he could be tough get up
01:00:03get up the passion he has for it he believes that he lives it so for him to host that show
01:00:11took it greater than anybody would have thought god dang that was some good
01:00:20the texas rattlesnake devoted his life to sports entertainment
01:00:24and now it was time for the wwe to bestow its greatest honor upon him
01:00:29on april 4th 2009 the wwe recognized stone cold steve austin for his undeniable accomplishments
01:00:37as he was inducted into the prestigious wwe hall of fame i thought that the magnitude of steve going to
01:00:49the hall of fame was that the chairman of the company was the man that inducted him
01:00:56i was so proud of steve being an inducted hall of fame and god knows if anyone deserved to be there
01:01:02it was steven i was proud to induct him i've never inducted anyone else
01:01:05no question he is if nothing else the greatest wwe superstar of all time
01:01:16i just remember the the ovation those people gave me
01:01:19sent chills down my spine and gave me goosebumps
01:01:23i want to tell each and every person here and each and every person that ever watched stone
01:01:28cold steve also know the world wrestling entertainment
01:01:31i want to thank you so much for always sticking with me
01:01:34it has been my pleasure and a privilege to make my living in a squared circle 20 feet by 20 feet
01:01:50i think that the strangler ed lewis's and the thezz's and the pat o'connor's and all these wrestlers from yesterday that are no longer around
01:02:05they would want to shake the hand of steve austin and say you're one of the greats you're in our league
01:02:12and when you look at you know in a retrospective aspect of steve's career i i think you'll see
01:02:24someone who was absolutely extraordinary someone who was as we say on fire
01:02:32really made wwe what it is pioneer who changed the business for the next 10 generations everybody's
01:02:41gonna still aspire to be that guy i've been on the road now dang near all my life i do love to sing a song
01:02:57i can say i've worked hard put in my time now it's time to go home
01:03:07i'll be somewhere down in texas if you're looking for me
01:03:30i'll be somewhere down in texas if you're looking for me
01:03:50that's where i got started where i was born and bred it's a fire inside of me
01:04:07i couldn't have imagined this texas highway land
01:04:13far beyond my wildest dreams i'll be somewhere down in texas if you're looking for me
01:04:41he's done it all and then some stone cold steve austin emerged as a star in this industry bigger
01:05:09than anybody had ever been before him i've made so many friends
01:05:17i've made so many friends hope we meet someday again
01:05:27till then
01:05:30i had one hell aces ride
01:05:32i loved every bit of it i had my share of injuries i had my share of bad times and good times and i
01:05:39always got back on my horse
01:05:49i had to ride off in the sunset a little bit sooner than i would have liked but i'm the happiest son
01:05:53bitch on earth right now and that's the bottom line because i said so
01:06:23you
01:06:39i had one that's shooting in my face so it's fun that's going to happen on my head and that's going on
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