Black Widow
12-04-2007, 12:06 AM
- The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Eck participated in the Steve Austin conference call last week to promote the 15th Anniversary of RAW and here are some of the highlights:
His favorite Raw moment: "I had so many classic moments with Vince McMahon and all the vehicles I got to drive. I think really one of my favorites was whacking Vince in the head with the bedpan when he was in the hospital. I really enjoyed my moments in the ring working angles with Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Anytime I was in the ring with him was a lot of fun also, and he really kind of helped put me on the map in my career. Man, you’re talking about 15 years. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite. I remember when the show first started. It was just a different kind of wrestling show, a different kind of energy, and really just kind of reinvented the sports entertainment business."
How he’s doing physically and why he hasn’t gotten back in the ring to wrestle: "Where I’m at physically right now, I feel pretty dang good. When you last 15 years in the ring with my type of style, which was very physical, very aggressive, you’re going to have some wear and tear. But where I’m at in my life, I feel really good. I’m down at my ranch right now. I’ve been deer hunting for three weeks. I’m heading back to Los Angeles tomorrow; I’ve got some projects going on there that we’re going to start in January. I could probably, if I really wanted to and if I needed to, I could go out and get two hard years in the ring, but at this point it’s not worth it. I feel really good, and in 10 years when I’m in my fifties, I want to still feel this good, so it’s time to hang it up."
Which young wrestlers will make the biggest impact in WWE: "John Cena just gets better and better; unfortunately, he’s sidelined with an injury. Ken Kennedy was doing really good there for a while, but I think he kind of lost track a little bit. I think it was too many people trying to give him too much advice, and he needed to go back to what he was doing, but I think he’s going to get there. MVP, physically, as a mechanic in the ring, is really good. I like the guy. He still needs to think about the entertainment part of it. I think Randy Orton is really, really good in the ring. I’d like to see him a little bit better on the microphone still, and have an extra gear in his work, but he’d be one of the top guys. I could go on and on and pretty much go down the roster, but those are the guys that are up there right now. Umaga has really impressed me. All of the Samoan guys have always been great workers in the ring and he’s no different. He’s a great big man, and I wish they’d keep pushing him and using him even more than they are. He’s really, really good."
What distinguished Raw from other wrestling shows: "Just it being a live show – it’s sink or swim time out there. … Just the energy and the feel of the show. It’s hard to describe. … Raw’s a pretty fast-moving two hours. They’re pretty aggressive with the story lines and it’s really action-packed. Some of the story lines have changed a little bit. I like the championship-oriented stuff, more wrestling stuff. The business has changed, just like every other sport has, so it just continues to evolve.
The one match he wished he had gotten to wrestle on Raw: "I wouldn’t have minded wrestling Bill Goldberg. It probably would have been a pay-per-view match. … I thought he should have come to WWE way before he did, but he was getting guaranteed money and I can’t fault him on that decision. But it probably would have been fun to work in a program with him."
His favorite beer: "Probably Miller Lite. … Every now and then on a Saturday or Sunday, [I’ll have] a couple Coronas with some lime and salt in there, but if I had to go to the store right now and buy a 12-pack, I’d buy Miller Lite. When they were throwing me all those beers – for a while it was Budweiser, and it was Coors Light, and it was Natural Light and it was Miller Lite – I always wanted to switch up beers because I felt like it was giving them some pretty good advertising."
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His favorite Raw moment: "I had so many classic moments with Vince McMahon and all the vehicles I got to drive. I think really one of my favorites was whacking Vince in the head with the bedpan when he was in the hospital. I really enjoyed my moments in the ring working angles with Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Anytime I was in the ring with him was a lot of fun also, and he really kind of helped put me on the map in my career. Man, you’re talking about 15 years. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite. I remember when the show first started. It was just a different kind of wrestling show, a different kind of energy, and really just kind of reinvented the sports entertainment business."
How he’s doing physically and why he hasn’t gotten back in the ring to wrestle: "Where I’m at physically right now, I feel pretty dang good. When you last 15 years in the ring with my type of style, which was very physical, very aggressive, you’re going to have some wear and tear. But where I’m at in my life, I feel really good. I’m down at my ranch right now. I’ve been deer hunting for three weeks. I’m heading back to Los Angeles tomorrow; I’ve got some projects going on there that we’re going to start in January. I could probably, if I really wanted to and if I needed to, I could go out and get two hard years in the ring, but at this point it’s not worth it. I feel really good, and in 10 years when I’m in my fifties, I want to still feel this good, so it’s time to hang it up."
Which young wrestlers will make the biggest impact in WWE: "John Cena just gets better and better; unfortunately, he’s sidelined with an injury. Ken Kennedy was doing really good there for a while, but I think he kind of lost track a little bit. I think it was too many people trying to give him too much advice, and he needed to go back to what he was doing, but I think he’s going to get there. MVP, physically, as a mechanic in the ring, is really good. I like the guy. He still needs to think about the entertainment part of it. I think Randy Orton is really, really good in the ring. I’d like to see him a little bit better on the microphone still, and have an extra gear in his work, but he’d be one of the top guys. I could go on and on and pretty much go down the roster, but those are the guys that are up there right now. Umaga has really impressed me. All of the Samoan guys have always been great workers in the ring and he’s no different. He’s a great big man, and I wish they’d keep pushing him and using him even more than they are. He’s really, really good."
What distinguished Raw from other wrestling shows: "Just it being a live show – it’s sink or swim time out there. … Just the energy and the feel of the show. It’s hard to describe. … Raw’s a pretty fast-moving two hours. They’re pretty aggressive with the story lines and it’s really action-packed. Some of the story lines have changed a little bit. I like the championship-oriented stuff, more wrestling stuff. The business has changed, just like every other sport has, so it just continues to evolve.
The one match he wished he had gotten to wrestle on Raw: "I wouldn’t have minded wrestling Bill Goldberg. It probably would have been a pay-per-view match. … I thought he should have come to WWE way before he did, but he was getting guaranteed money and I can’t fault him on that decision. But it probably would have been fun to work in a program with him."
His favorite beer: "Probably Miller Lite. … Every now and then on a Saturday or Sunday, [I’ll have] a couple Coronas with some lime and salt in there, but if I had to go to the store right now and buy a 12-pack, I’d buy Miller Lite. When they were throwing me all those beers – for a while it was Budweiser, and it was Coors Light, and it was Natural Light and it was Miller Lite – I always wanted to switch up beers because I felt like it was giving them some pretty good advertising."
24wrestling.com