WWE veteran says former superstar "made" Stone Cold Steve Austin
Vince Russo believes Savio Vega played an important role in Stone Cold Steve Austin becoming one of WWE’s all-time greats.
Austin, who was initially known as The Ringmaster in WWE, feuded with Vega throughout his first full year with the company in 1996. The rivalry included a match at WrestleMania 12, which The Texas Rattlesnake won.
Russo, WWE’s head writer in the late 1990s, discussed Austin’s career during a recent appearance on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast. He recalled how the wrestling legend received a lot of help from Vega during their series of matches.
“There are certain guys that made certain guys,” Russo said. “And I will tell you this flat out and Austin will tell you this too, before Austin hit big, he was going around the towns with Savio Vega. Savio made Austin. Savio really, really helped make Steve Austin.” [29:10-29:33]
According to Cagematch.net, the former on-screen rivals faced each other 41 times in 1996, including at live events. Steve Austin won the majority of those matches, which often had a No Disqualification stipulation.
Vince Russo compares Savio Vega vs. Steve Austin to Ken Shamrock vs. The Rock
The Rock & Steve Austin both lost their first WWF singles match to Savio Vega. https://t.co/DEKeR0E8pH
In 1998, The Rock cemented his status as one of WWE’s next megastars during his run as a member of The Nation of Domination. One of the highlights of that time came when he feuded with MMA legend Ken Shamrock over the Intercontinental Championship.
Looking back, Russo believes Shamrock and Vega were instrumental in helping The Rock and Austin, respectively.
“The same with Shamrock,” Russo added. “Without that feud with Shamrock prior to Rock exploding… bro, that was so integral to Rock’s rise, and I’ve said that a million times. Those two guys [Shamrock and Vega] were very, very, very instrumental in Austin and Rock getting to the heights they got to. I don’t think those two guys ever get enough credit for that.” [29:33-30:02]
Austin and The Rock became two of WWE’s biggest attractions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. To this day, they are often mentioned on fans’ Mt. Rushmore lists of the four greatest wrestlers in history.
Last month, Austin returned to the ring for the first time in 19 years to defeat Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. It has been widely speculated that The Rock could also make an in-ring comeback next year against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
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