With WWE Raw rolling through Dallas, Stone Cold Steve Austin couldn’t resist the chance to host another live edition of his podcast in his beloved Lone Star State. His guest this time was none other than Brock Lesnar, who’s destined for a collision with The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell. What happens when the Texas Rattlesnake gets candid with the Beast Incarnate? Here are some of the best bits of their one-on-one conversation.
– On his preference in cars and trucks: “I’m a Dodge guy. I always have been, and I always will be. I’m a Mopar fan, I’ve got Mopars myself. I’ve got a ’68 Road Runner, my dad’s got a 1969 Super Bee. I’m driving a 2014 Dodge Ram three-quarter ton… that’s my baby, I left that one for last.”
– On his approach to grilling: “I don’t like seeing my neighbors. I like to see my land and grill a steak and have a cold beer, or a cold Coke and rye whiskey and grill me a ribeye, medium well… It’s got to be charcoal. Big Green Egg, I’ve got four of ’em.”
– On his favorite music: “Probably my all-time favorite is David Allan Coe… And then on the other side of things, I’m hardcore. Metallica, AC/DC, Motley Crue. I grew up with all that… I like hearing young guys coming up in the country world, too. I came across this kid out of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, a kid by the name of Colter Wall… He grasped me from the very first time I listened to his record, and I haven’t let go of it since. I’ve been listening to it every single day.”
– On pro wrestling vs. sports entertainment: “I would have to say that I’m in the entertainment industry. We sell tickets, and we put asses in the seats.”
– On playing football: “When I made the leap of faith, when I left [WWE] and went to try my hand in the NFL, I was only there for two days and I realized that I was a fish out of water… I lasted eight weeks, I toughed it out, I didn’t want to be a quitter. So, I was the last guy cut from the Minnesota Vikings [in the 2004 preseason].”
– On nearly joining the military: “When I was 17 years old, a junior in high school, the Army National Guard recruiter came to school… This guy’s telling us, ‘You can come and train next summer, they’ll pay for school…’ I looked at [my friend] and said, ‘Man, I’m out of here. I’m going, are you going with me?’ And he’s like, ‘I’ll do it if you do it.'”
– On working with The Rock: “People can say what they want about Dwayne and the business, but I tell you what… He taught me to be selfish, he taught me to watch my back, and if you’re going to thrive in this business, you gotta be selfish. The night that he was not selfish to me, I won the WWE Championship from him. It’s a give and take, but at certain times, you take.”
– On his TV persona not being very different from reality: “I’m no different on TV than what I really am. I really don’t like people. I’m sorry, I don’t… I just don’t like being around a bunch of people, and it’s kind of ironic, because I can go out in an arena full of 20,000 people and be all right with it… That’s just who I am. That’s why I live out in the middle of nowhere, that’s why I got an eight-foot fence around my property…”
– On his failed shooting star press at WrestleMania: “That was a moment in my career where I failed to take advice from other veterans… I was talked into doing that. I wasn’t comfortable with doing it, and I’m not going to say who talked me into it… I had done it before, I was young and stupid at the time.”
– On becoming disillusioned with WWE around the time of WrestleMania XX: “I felt like I was a trapped animal. I can remember times being on an airplane and wanting to punch the door open and jump out of the plane. That’s what I felt like… I tell Vince to this day, ‘I was built to be in the ring. I wasn’t built to get from ring to ring.'”
– On his first meeting with UFC President Dana White: “There was a fight coming up, Randy Couture vs. Gabriel Gonzaga for the heavyweight championship… I said, ‘I’ll buy my own seats.’ I went and sat as a spectator down at Mandalay Bay. And after the fights, I jumped the security railing, ran to the octagon, grabbed Dana by the shoulder, spun him around and introduced myself… He pulled me back and we had a meeting, and he took me seriously. We talked about everything but money at the time.”
– On his battle with diverticulitis: “I don’t know if I’d be a pro wrestler if I hadn’t gotten sick. I may not be here. I’d probably still be banging heads [in UFC].”
– On breaking The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania: “It was almost bigger than me winning the WWE Championship… I get a lot of criticism for it, but quite honestly, who in the wrestling industry has enough credentials to break the streak? Is there another man out there with enough believability, enough credibility? Honestly, is there someone else out there? No, I don’t think so.”
– On the Hell in a Cell match: “When you step inside that cage, that cage isn’t very forgiving. I’ll guarantee you this, there’s going to be a lot of carnage.”
Mopar and David Allan Coe. Brock is the manliest dude who ever lived. Also, I really hope Dana White can back up that story of their first meeting. Can you imagine the look on his face?
