Stone Cold Steve Austin on his regrets; The Rock; WrestleMania XXX match against Punk
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin spoke with The Boston Herald for the promotion of WrestleMania XXX. The Texas Rattle Snake shed light on his first WWE heavyweight championship, his deepest and biggest regrets, before also speaking about the why CM Punk left the business.
On winning his first WWE heavyweight championship at WrestleMania XIV in a match against Shawn Michaels:
“I only worried about taking care of business in the squared circle,” said Austin. “WrestleMania is the biggest stage you can be on as far as sports entertainment goes — though I still like to call it pro wrestling — but you want to knock it out of the park, grand slam style, for the fans.”
The match which has left a lingering regret in Austin, who refers to is as “mediocre.”
“Shawn was in a bad way,” said Austin. “He was in a bad place in his head, and along with his bad back came a bad attitude. I remember telling Vince McMahon right after, ‘That match was half-ass,’ but Vince told me, ‘We got that done and it’s over with. Now we’re going to take off and put the jets to the rocket.’”
On the three WrestleMania matches against arch-rival Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson:
“We just tore into each other,” remembered Austin. “Any time we stepped into the ring, good things were going to happen. That’s a testament to chemistry, mutual respect, and our desire to prove we’re the best. People were going to leave damn sure getting their money’s worth.”
His biggest regret which occurred during the WrestleMania XVIII:
“I don’t know what the hell was in my head,” said Austin. “I didn’t really care to work with him. At the time, I just didn’t really think that much of Hogan. I was caught up living pretty fast and being Stone Cold and didn’t care for it to happen.”
On CM Punk walking out of the WWE:
“Punk’s fed up with not main-eventing WrestleMania,” said Austin.
On one final match against Punk at WrestleMania XXX:
“I could get more out of that guy than anybody else walking Planet Earth,” said Austin. “He could have that ultimate ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting with me. Punk’s been around for a long time and he’s a smart guy, but he never stepped into a damn squared circle with the intensity of a guy like Stone Cold Steve Austin.”