– On last week’s Steve Austin Show (transcript via wrestlinginc.com), Steve Austin spoke about the Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay match that was causing a lot of discussion. Here is what he had to say…
On The Match: “The athleticism, incredible. The timing [and] the precision, unbelievable! Off the charts! A 10 out of 10! How these guys pulled off some of the the stuff that they did is beyond me.” Austin continued, “as an athletic endeavor, a spectacle, it was just absolutely fantastic. I give both guys a big thumbs up for their performance. And it was almost as if this match was a little bit kind of performance art more so than wrestling, so to speak. But again, some of the moves Prince Puma or Ricochet just hit off the ropes, the kid hit him with a wheel kick in mid air. Again, the timing, the precision, the athletic ability, how they pulled this off, I have no idea.”
On What He Could Compare it To: “For something to kind of compare it to, I got on YouTube and I pulled up ‘Dynamite Kid’ versus Tiger Mask going all the way back to 7/23/1982. ‘Dynamite Kid’ versus Tiger Mask. That’s another one for you to watch. I’ll give it to you right now because I’m talking about it. So, just to have something to compare it to, I’ve never seen two guys so athletic at the same time in the squared circle and the way they executed this, the timing, it was just off the charts.” Austin added “but when I compare this to ‘Dynamite Kid’ versus Tiger Mask, it’s like no one can deny just the intent or the intensity of ‘Dynamite Kid’. It was just off the charts. The guy was a real bad ass and laid his stuff in and it looked so vicious. And Tiger Mask, of course, was unbelievable, so I just thought the match was tremendous.”
On What Ospreay Can Work On: “The [professional wrestling] business just keeps evolving. When you see a match like this, I don’t think you could see a whole entire card of action like this, first and foremost because I don’t think there [are] too many other human beings on the planet that could have executed this match. I think Ricochet and Will Ospreay are two of the most talented, athletic guys in the squared circle in the world right now. If I had a [professional] wrestling promotion and I was looking to hire two individuals, these are two individuals that I would hire. Now, I might modify and ask them to sell a little bit more.” Austin said, “to Will Ospreay: sometimes the facials are a bit over the top. That’s just me critiquing the guy, just being very critical.”
