Steve Austin was recently interviewed for The London Sun, discussing several topics including the match that never happened with Goldberg, on the possibility of wrestling Hulk Hogan, his thoughts on the
ECW One Night Stand show, and much more:
On Wrestling Hulk Hogan: "I'd be happy to get it on with Hulk Hogan. I've heard what he's been saying - and that match is something that could definitely happen. If they can build it right, the money is right, the event is right and if the story can be told correctly then, yeah, I will fight him. I've never wrestled the guy before and I think it would be an important match. Because it would be the two biggest draws in the history of the wrestling business one-on-one for the first time ever."
On ECW One Night Stand: "I loved that PPV. It was exactly what ECW was about - violence, calamity, bloodshed, brutality and some very interesting characters. I was a part of ECW for a short time and basically started honing my character there, before I came into the WWE. But I don't think One Night Stand will have a tremendous affect on the business, as far as like, 'oh, we'll have one every month now'. I think this thing happened for a reason, because it needed to happen, and I'd love to see one or two a year. But you don't want to prostitute it out by doing anything more than that. When you look at the business in the long haul, that was a great shot of adrenalin, a little burst, but you really have to tell stories through gradual transgressions. You can't go out there every week and hit them with everything you've got."
The Reaction of WWE Performers to the ECW PPV: "Everybody was certainly affected by what they saw and felt. Because if you went to that event - and I don't care if you've wrestled for 20 years, one year or zero years - and didn't notice how into that show the crowd was then you probably don't have a pulse."
The Match with Bill Goldberg That Never Happened: "When Vince bought WCW out in 2001, Bill was still making guaranteed money (from his AOL/Time Warner contract) by sitting in the house. So OK, I respect the fact that he's a businessman and he made his money. But had he jumped to the WWE when I was running strong and going crazy - and everything was just unbelievable business wise - it could have been the biggest feud of all time. He could have made more working with me than sitting on his butt taking WCW's money. I'm not knocking what he did but no one can say WWE missed the boat and no can say I missed the boat - Bill Goldberg missed the boat."
His Relationship with Vince McMahon: "In most business instances we've always seen eye-to-eye. But sometimes, where I thought maybe Vince was being influenced by someone else, that was when that contact broke down. For example, when I found out about that one deal when they wanted to beat me on Raw with Brock Lesnar in an unadvertised match. I said: 'I'm the guy who picked this company up from nothing and carried it for many years on my back and all of a sudden you want me to go out and do a job to this guy who's trying to get over? No, it doesn't work like that.' It was a bad business decision and I wasn't going to have any part of it. My answer was to say: 'F*** you, I'm walking out.'"
-C
