STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN ON HOWARD STERN TO PROMOTE MOVIE, TONS OF WRESTLING TALK
Here are the highlights:
-- He's been on the road promoting the movie for 3 weeks.
-- His main goal in life was to be a professional wrestler, but realized you can't do it forever.
-- Howard asks if Austin banged any of the hot chicks in the movie. He said no.
-- The movie character is more along the lines of his real personality, not necessarily the Stone Cold character.
-- He can't legally talk about his messy relationship with ex-girlfriend Tess Broussard from a few years ago.
-- The Condemned took two years to make.
-- He originally wanted to be the bad guy, but Vince said he wouldn't fund the movie unless Austin was the good guy.
-- When Howard asked about Austin walking out in 2002, Austin said he had creative differences with the writers and he "hauled ass". No mention of Brock Lesnar was made. When he was asked why, he said he "didn't want to look at the lights," a reference no one in the studio understood and was met with confused silence. He said what they wanted him to do made no business sense whatsoever, and he refused.
-- When Howard expressed concern for Austin leaving since there was no other wrestling company to go to, Austin said he saved every penny he ever made and is "very comfortable".
-- He respected Vince for calling him first and not holding out after the walkout.
-- Jim Ross sent him a card saying that if he ever needed anything, he was there for him.
-- The Condemned's budget was $20 million, but it looks more expensive.
-- Vince paid him for the movie upfront and Austin will get a cut of the "back end" money.
-- When Howard asked if he could really trust Vince to pay him, Austin said Vince is a straight shooter who honors his word even if it's just on a handshake.
-- Howard steers the conversation to Austin's new girlfriend. They split time at each other's house and don't live together.
-- He is not a clubhopper and prefers to stay at home.
-- Howard then brought up Hulk Hogan. Austin said while he doesn't hate him, he's not interested at all in working with him. He believed that a Hulk Hogan vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin match would not come anywhere close to living up to the hype it would generate because of a "style clash". Austin was trying his best to say that Hogan is a shitty worker without actually saying it, but no one caught on. Howard said it would be hard to decide who wins and loses and Austin agreed.
-- Austin talked about TNA for a little bit. He says it's great because it gives more wrestlers work. He wishes them well, but believed Vince will never have any real competition anymore. He said WCW kicked their ass for two years, but then when Vince got back ahead, they were smoking WCW worse than what WCW ever did to them to the point that AOL Time Warner kicked them off TV and sold it. And since they had no TV, the only person that would buy it was Vince. He says that competition is good for everybody.
-- He talked more about his new girlfriend, saying she has been a special education teacher for 18 years. Howard replied, "18 years? That means she's old." Austin said she's a few years younger than him. When Howard asked "Why not have a 20-something-year-old?" Austin said he wants to be with someone he can actually have a conversation with.
-- Howard asked if his previous divorces left him penniless. Austin said he was broke and just starting working for Vince during his first divorce, so that wasn't a problem. And on his second and third marriages, he had a pre-nuptuial agreement. He said the divorces were "smooth sailing".
-- Howard remarked that Austin looked in really good shape. Austin said he had to improve his diet on the movie set.
-- Howard steers the chat towards The Rock. He wants to know what happened to him.
-- He says he hasn't talked to Rock in a long time. Howard tried to stir some bad blood between Austin & Rock, but Austin said there is no feud, and Rock was one of his favorite people to work with.
-- The only wrestling people he keeps in touch with are Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, and some WWE guys who call him for advice.
-- He can't see himself ever wrestling again unless it was a really huge match and the payday was nice. He also doesn't see himself as a regular on TV anymore because WWE needs the time to get over new talent.
-- When asked who he likes coming up, he only mentioned Mr. Kennedy by name. He said some other guys are good but are having trouble putting it all together and didn't name names. He says it's hard to do and it took him 7 years to finally put it all together, and they need to realize that it's just not going to happen over night. He said you need to be smart when putting your character together, and to remember that the laws of physics and gravity apply as you get older.
-- He says his neck is 100% healthy but both his knees are in really bad shape.
-- A caller asked Austin if it was true that he refused to lose to Lesnar and that Lesnar is now banging his ex. He said he was correct on one part, but dead wrong about the ex. He clarified he never dated Sable.
-- Another caller asked if Vince was gay. Austin said Vince is about as straight as you can get.
-- Another called asked if Austin ever fucked Stacy Keibler. He said no, and then Artie Lang started reminiscing/fantasizing about Keibler's ass.
-- When Howard asked Austin why he never has celebrity girlfriends, he says it's because he just doesn't go to parties. He said the movie was filmed in Australia and there, he's monogamous.
-- Another caller asked if Austin was pissed that his Stunner on Donald Trump at WM23 looked terrible. He said you have good days and bad days, but gives Trump a lot of credit for even getting physical with his flying tackle of Vince outside the ring and taking the Stunner since he has tons of money and didn't have to if he didn't want to. He said Trump has been a huge wrestling fan for decades and had a lot of fun working with Vince & WWE.
-- Howard mentioned how Vince called him and wanted to work with him for SummerSlam 2002. He told Vince to send him some ideas, but he said all the ideas were wacky and involved Howard mixing it up in the ring.
-- Howard mentioned Chris Kanyon. Austin said he never worked with him, but knows him and says he's a good guy. He said he knew him for a long time and had no idea he was gay. He said he found out he was gay from DDP and his response was, "So he's gay. Who gives a shit?"
The interview then wrapped.
