John
08-11-2010, 08:26 AM
WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin gave an interview with The Sun where he praised the WWE's change in direction to a PG product, talked about MMA vs. wrestling and more. Some of the highlights are below:
On The WWE's PG Product: "You will hear wrestling fans all over the world groan when they hear me say this but I think WWE is doing the right thing. Cena is leading the way now. It is a PG flavored WWE theme and I think it's great for the longevity and the growth of their product in today's world."
On Why MMA Is Taking Older Viewers From the WWE: "UFC interviews are based on a shoot and they are non-scripted. Those guys out there are trying to sell tickets for a fight and they talk accordingly. It's a serious product that's in the ring. Wrestling is supposed to be that serious product in the ring as well. That's not to say that you can't laugh, smile, and have some humor in there, but you don't want to do slapstick Three Stooges comedy while you're trying to draw main event money at a big PPV."
On Whether They Pushed Things Too Far in the Attitude Era: "I remember one time Vince came up to me, I was flipping the middle fingers and all that. Vince said 'Steve, we were wondering if you could come up with a different hand signal than the middle fingers. Something that everyone watching could do.' I guess it's not so politically correct for a six-year-old kid to throw up the middle finger. I said, 'No. I'm going to be who and what I am.' And Vince kind of said, 'Okay' - or at least the ratings and the merch sales said 'okay.' So that's the direction we went with the WWE, and everybody else followed suit."
Source : pws insider
On The WWE's PG Product: "You will hear wrestling fans all over the world groan when they hear me say this but I think WWE is doing the right thing. Cena is leading the way now. It is a PG flavored WWE theme and I think it's great for the longevity and the growth of their product in today's world."
On Why MMA Is Taking Older Viewers From the WWE: "UFC interviews are based on a shoot and they are non-scripted. Those guys out there are trying to sell tickets for a fight and they talk accordingly. It's a serious product that's in the ring. Wrestling is supposed to be that serious product in the ring as well. That's not to say that you can't laugh, smile, and have some humor in there, but you don't want to do slapstick Three Stooges comedy while you're trying to draw main event money at a big PPV."
On Whether They Pushed Things Too Far in the Attitude Era: "I remember one time Vince came up to me, I was flipping the middle fingers and all that. Vince said 'Steve, we were wondering if you could come up with a different hand signal than the middle fingers. Something that everyone watching could do.' I guess it's not so politically correct for a six-year-old kid to throw up the middle finger. I said, 'No. I'm going to be who and what I am.' And Vince kind of said, 'Okay' - or at least the ratings and the merch sales said 'okay.' So that's the direction we went with the WWE, and everybody else followed suit."
Source : pws insider