The latest edition of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s live WWE Network podcast on Monday night actually started out with a nod to Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but after that, we quickly dove into a conversation with AJ Styles. Now entrenched in a bitter rivalry with John Cena, what did the Phenomenal One have to say? Here are some of the highlights.
On growing up with an alcoholic father: “When he was drinking, he was a terrible father. He took it too far sometimes, coming home looking for a fight. Took it out on his kids, sometimes his wife. There were some difficult times, but even though bad stuff like that happened, I still knew that my dad loved me.”
On how his high-school friends talked him into pro wrestling: “They said, ‘Hey man, we’re going to be pro wrestlers.’ I said, ‘I’ll tell you what … when you find a place, I will go with you.’ They called me, maybe two or three weeks later, and they found a place in Cornelia, Georgia, maybe 20 minutes from my house … I said, ‘I can do this. I can do this all day.’ ”
On making his wrestling debut while wearing a mask: “It was the promoter’s idea … I didn’t care. Just put me in the ring and let me wrestle. It was against another guy who trained with me, so we just went out there, and I’m sure I’d be so embarrassed if I watched it now, but I was so happy to be a part of it all.”
On Shawn Michaels: “Everything he did meant something. That’s what I admired about him, and I really tried to figure out how to be more like him and do what he does. I felt like he was the kind of guy that adapted to everyone he ever wrestled, and that’s what made him great.”
On his career after WCW went out of business: “Johnny Ace was the one that basically gave me my job in WCW, and was also the one who told me, ‘They’re not picking up your contract.’ That’s a little bit of a blow … At that time, I didn’t need to be there [in WWE]. That wasn’t the place for me. If WWE would have picked up my contract from WCW, I would have fizzled out. There’s no way I would have made it. I wasn’t ready.”
On working with TNA: “As far as I know, I was the first guy they ever signed to a deal… Even though [Dixie Carter] bought it from the Jarretts, Jeff was highly involved in the storylines and stuff like that. So, that was a good thing, because you had that wrestling mindset still there … We, a bunch of guys who wrestled on the independents, came together and we were doing something special.”
On TNA’s six-sided ring: “When we were in the six-sided ring, I thought it made us different. I thought different was good, and I still think that to this day.”
On the decision to leave TNA: “I feel like when you work hard, you should get paid for that. I worked hard, I never got in trouble, I never did anything to embarrass the company, and yet I was taking a pay cut. At least, they wanted me to. I didn’t think that was right … I believe in myself. I bet on me, and it worked out.”
On the different energy from a Japanese crowd: “I remember one specific time where I had [Hiroshi] Tanahashi in the Calf Crusher … We’re feeling it, we’re seeing it. And I thought, ‘What’s going to happen here?’ And then you see fans crying in the front row because they were afraid that Tanahashi was going to tap out. Right then and there I go, ‘Wow. That’s the beauty of telling a great story.’ That’s what it’s all about.”
On his reception at the Royal Rumble: “I was so worried that they wouldn’t know who I was. I thought it was the perfect place, because it was Orlando. I had a chance. So I was hoping for that, I was hoping to come out early, but the way we did it was perfect.”
On finally jumping to WWE: “Triple H called, we had a great conversation. 30-minute conversation, first time I ever talked to the guy. I knew the place I needed to be was here. Lo and behold, here I am. I had to tell New Japan, which is very difficult … it was a big blow, but they were so good to me. When I left, they were still good to me.”
