Steve Austin On His First Impressions Of Triple H And The Rock

During a recent edition of his podcast (transcript via wrestlinginc.com), WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin spoke about his first impression of both The Rock & Triple H. Here is what he had to say:

On The Rock: “I remember when The Rock came in, Rock, man, you knew this guy had potential when you saw him.” Austin continued, “he was a good looking guy. You just knew the gimmick wasn’t right at first. And then, he ended up changing his gimmick around. He joined the Nation and then turned into The Rock. And then, me and Rock started working together. I was always cool with The Rock. I knew he had potential. I think everybody did. He had the right frame, the right look, really smart, charismatic, so you saw a lot of potential in him as he came in, but the gimmick wasn’t right. But, boy, when he turned into The Rock and joined the Nation and started turning heel. I mean, the people rejected him first as a baby, but they took to him as a heel and he had some serious, serious heat. And then, of course, when he turned baby, he was mega over.”

On Triple H: “I met Triple H when he first came into WCW.” Austin remembered “and here he came in, good looking dude, good worker, even back then. He wasn’t too long out of Killer Kowalski’s school. I think he’d probably been working. He worked several matches because he was already very polished even when he came into WCW. We hit it off right off the bat. Same sense of humor. I was a little bit older than him, but I hadn’t been in the business too much longer, if any. So, man, we introduced ourselves, to each other and I knew he had a bright future in the business. And I don’t know what he thought about me. We always hit it off. Same sense of humor, same taste in music. He was a huge bodybuilding, powerlifting fan, always hit the gym. He wasn’t a drinker – I respected that. Good dude, great sense of humor, low-key, one of the boys. So that’s how I met Triple H and we hit it off from day one. And, to this day, whenever we see each other, it’s like old times. We didn’t run in the same crowds. We didn’t travel together. He had his crew and I had mine or I was traveling solo at the time. But nothing but good things.”