WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin recently appeared on the Out of Character podcast for an interview covering all things pro wrestling. During the discussion, Austin talked about what it would have meant to him if he could have wrestled John Cena:
“Working with him would have been a real highlight. I had a bunch of highlights. It would have been a real special thing because there’s something about John that people get so invested in his matches. He’s a very special talent. It would have been great to have a match with him. But will it ever happen? No, but I think very highly of John.”
Austin commented on made him come back for one more match at WrestleMania 38:
“Well, part of the pitch was you know, I did start my career in Dallas, and for you know, all these years to pass by, to go back to Dallas, Texas, where it all started in Jerry’s house, AKA AT&T Stadium, that’s a huge building and it would be an honor to play there, to work there, and so that was a big draw to start and finish in Dallas.”
“I turned them down several times until they kept coming back with different creative. K.O. was always in the conversation. I was down with that because I love that guy. He’s awesome. On the inside, I was knocking his head off so many times because I didn’t throw a punch in 19 years. I told him when we got finished, I said, ‘Dude, I cannot believe you didn’t give me a receipt out there.’ That’s the good-natured heart of K.O. He was thrilled to be out there and I was thrilled to be with him.”
What he did to get in shape for the match:
“Zero in-ring training. I was doing cardio. Here’s an inside tip for you. I love Sheamus. He’s got a great YouTube channel, the Celtic Warrior workout or whatever he calls it. I got on there. I watched Edge’s routine. I watch Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson or whatever his name is. I watched his training routine. But the one that really got me was Becky Lynch’s comeback routine. So I did Becky Lynch’s routine over and over and over again and then I invented my own out of that. So I was training hard at my house, but I didn’t have a ring. Once I got to Dallas, I got there three or four days early because I always do, I ran the ropes a lot with Drew Gulak, who’s absolutely wonderful. He’s a great talent, super guy, and very intuitive in the ring. We did a lot of crisscross stuff, locked up, grabbed a headlock, did a couple of spots, and just a little bit of that and I was gassing. When I tell you I’m in good shape, I was. But doing cardio at the house, as hard as I was working out, it’s not the in-ring activity. It’s very specific, cardio is. So like when K.O. comes in or Drew, they’re Road Warriors. They’ve been on the road. It was short notice, but as hard as I worked out, I still wasn’t in shape because they were doing a specific task.”
If he thinks that was his last match:
“Well, never say never. If the stars align again, hell, I mean, it could happen again, right?”
You can check out the complete interview below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
