Credit: Brian Washington & PWInsider
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin was on the McDonnell/Douglas show for the full three hours. They talked about a variety of topics ranging from Austin’s upcoming appearance on “Piper’s Pit” to boxing, especially after boxing legend “Sugar Ray” Leonard arrived in the final hour.
The show began with Joe McDonnell, Doug Kirkorian and Steve ripping Barry Bonds after they listened to a small snippet of his press conference earlier that day. Austin said that Bonds was a crybaby and needed to just shut up. Steve also kidded with the boys by saying that he would have brought sandwiches and beer, but someone had stolen the refrigerator that he had on his front lawn.
The interview really took off when Austin gave a major pop to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who was going to interview the Austin on his special edition of “Piper’s Pit” at Wrestlemania 21. He also took the opportunity to announce that he would be inducting Piper into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The interview turned to the current state of the business. Austin pretty much said that there is currently no one out there at the moment to fill the void left when he, the Rock and Mick Foley stopped working on a regular basis. However, he did say that Batista could be the one to really break out, provided that he is allowed to be himself, much like the “big three” were in their heyday.
Next, Austin shared his views on steroids. He pretty much agreed with Joe and Doug that steroids really weren’t that big of a deal and he also said that he didn’t think they were really that big in wrestling. This then led to the congressional hearings and Austin was asked about his opinions on Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco. He pretty much called Canseco a rat for “dropping a dime” on his friends and pretty much said McGuire was stupid for not being more forthcoming.
They then began taking calls and the first caller asked Austin about his past work on the television series “Nash Bridges”. Austin said that he enjoyed working on the show and that he was even offered a series of his own playing the character Detective Jake Cage. However, he turned the show down due to his wrestling commitments.
The next caller, who said he was a local independent wrestler, asked Austin about his feelings on Brock Lesnar. Surprisingly, Austin supported Lesnar and said that he didn’t begrudge him for leaving to go play in the NFL. In fact, after the caller hung up, Joe pretty much felt that Lesnar’s leaving may have opened up the door for Batista’s run nearly a year later.
Next the conversation moved to Austin’s burgeoning film career. He said that he pretty much looked forward to it, but nothing will ever replace the feeling he got from his days as a regular in ring performer.
Austin then brought up the various injuries he suffered during his career, especially the triceps tear and the neck injury. He then went into the details of how his neck was injured during his match with Owen Hart. At this point, Joe pretty much praised Austin for being able to work through injuries. Joe also mentioned the night that Triple H tore his quad and did what he could to complete the match. It was also at this point that Joe brought up the Wrestlemania 13 match between Austin and Bret Hart. He said it was this match that he, as well as millions of other wrestling fans, became a fan of “Stone Cold”, especially after seeing the almost iconic image of Austin covered in blood while in Hart’s sharpshooter.
Joe also asked Austin about the health crisis he went through prior to his Wrestlemania 19 match with The Rock. Austin attributed it to too much coffee and energy drinks and not enough water. However, he did mention the fact that even after being in the hospital overnight that he was able to have a great match with his buddy.
The conversation then switched to favorite opponents. Austin named Ricky Steamboat, Savio Vega and the Rock. However, he really said the person he really loved working with was Bret Hart. He said that he and Hart had a great chemistry and that their matches were something special. Austin also said he enjoyed working with Kurt Angle, especially for the comedic spots they did during Austin’s heel turn.
In the third hour, boxing legend “Sugar” Ray Leonard joined the show to promote the reality show “The Contender”. They also got a call from Texas Tech assistant coach Pat Knight, the son of coach Bobby Knight. Pat pretty much was in awe due to the fact that two of his favorite athletes were in the studio. He especially popped for “Stone Cold” saying that he still owned an “Austin 3:16” t-shirt.
After the Knight interview, Sugar Ray pretty much said he admired Austin for the way he worked a crowd and said that whenever he entered the ring for one of his fights that he used a lot of the stuff he saw on wrestling to work the crowd. Steve also said that the feeling was mutual and that he admired Ray.
All in all, it was a really fun show and Austin, just like most of the wrestlers that have appeared on the show, really bonded with Joe and Doug.
Credit: Brian Washington & PWInsider
