WWE legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin‘s promotional work for his new talk show, Straight Up Steve Austin, brought him to another unique talk show that’s been the staple in my YouTube recommendations for years, Hot Ones. The day after one of Austin’s interviews took a surprisingly serious turn with a discussion of his views on gun control, the Texas Rattlesnake answered more light-hearted questions while eating increasingly spicy hot wings.
Austin is the third wrestler to appear on the web series after Sasha Banks and Chris Jericho, and though he said early on that, “I might be the biggest sissy you ever had on the show,” it turns out he handles his hot sauce pretty well.
After sharing wrestling stories that include anecdotes about Dynamite Kid and Jake “The Snake” Roberts, the first time Austin sort of loses composure is at 16:19 in the video above, though his response to the wing he eats is, “I was actually timing my heartbeat. I’m thinking, ‘Something ’bout to go wrong here!’ If my heartbeat hits about a hundred and fifty, there’s something wrong. These aren’t laced with amphetamines, are they?”
At 18:49 he discusses wrestling lingo after eating a wing that makes him say “My lungs are burning,” but he has very little reaction to the final, hottest wing at 25:22. Host Sean Evans sounds pretty impressed with Austin, remarking, “I don’t see a drop of sweat on you” and saying he seems “calm, cool, and collected,” before a toast ends the show.
Though the reactions aren’t as over-the-top as they are in other Hot Ones episodes and there likely isn’t much new information for fans who have listened to or watched other shoot interviews with Austin over the years, if you enjoy Stone Cold’s personality, you’ll probably enjoy this episode.
