WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson recently spoke on his podcast, “ARN,” about a variety of professional wrestling topics including Steve Austin.
Anderson stated that when he first saw Austin in WCW, his work reminded him of Ivan Koloff.
“When I first started seeing Steve work, I put him in the Ivan Koloff class. Those of us that know Ivan Koloff, and really [were] around when he was working, and could be in arenas and watch him work house shows… he’s a machine. He’s an animal. He never quit coming forward.
“If you’re working with him, same with Steve, if you were gonna have a competitive match with Steve, you better be prepared to fight him, and meet him halfway. Because he was just gonna keep coming, and he was a machine, as well. Until you gave him a reason to sell for you, brother, he was all about getting himself over, and offense.”
“In those days, that’s how a heel got over. Even though you might get outwrestled, or outflanked, or outpunched, man, you just kept coming. You were looking for one opening. If you could find one opening, you were gonna kick the door down. That was what Austin was exemplifying already. He was a cardio machine. Having a big gas tank in those days. His pace was really fast, so you better be in shape if you’re gonna work fifteen minutes with Austin because, man, he was a go-getter.”
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
