Was There Ever a Time Where Things Got Contentious Between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon?
On today's Pardon My Take, we welcomed on recurring guest Stone Cold Steve Austin. The WWE legend caught up with us on his TV show being back for season two, us being friends with him, and much more. He also got into it with Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter regarding the relationship Stone Cold has with Vince McMahon, which led to Mr. Cat asking about a potential instance where the two once didn't get along. Has that ever been the case?
Mr. Cat: What was the maddest that Vince [McMahon] has ever been with you behind the scenes? What was the most contentious moment between Steve Austin and Vince McMahon behind the scenes and what caused that?
Stone Cold Steve Austin: You know, I don't think there ever was that time. Now, I wasn't there in the building when I no-showed in Atlanta, so it wasn't face-to-face, I'm sure he was mad as a hornet, but I was on an airplane drinking Bloody Mary's, headed back to San Antonio, so I can bring it up, but I can't speak to it. I'll never forget, Stone Cold character started getting hot, so automatically the two biggest things back in the day were Stone Cold and The Undertaker, or should I say, The Undertaker and Stone Cold.
Stone Cold Steve Austin: They were just going to put us together in a match because we were the two biggest things going at the time. And so, you know, Taker was a babyface, and I figured, hey, if they're going to book this match, I think it was in The Garden, I went out there and cut this scathe and heel promo, just to try to elicit and get some heat. And I went back to the dressing room after the interview, and Vince calls me aside, it was almost like a learning lesson or putting us, you know, put me under the learning tree, and goes, "God dang it, Steve. What were you doing?"
Stone Cold Steve Austin: You know, because I'm figuring, this is back in mid, late 90s, I'm thinking, "You got to have a good guy, you've got to have a bad guy. And if he's kind of a good guy. I'm going to be the bad guy. So that was a learning lesson, and not even a stern talking to. But that would have been one of those moments.
Mr. Cat: Yeah, I mean, that stuff fascinates me just because Vince McMahon, you know, through the years, I think his eye for the story and the talent is what has made it all work. And like knowing, it's the famous line, "I know what you want more than you know what you want." And that's that's really true, right. And I would assume that you got to that point too, where you knew what the fans wanted before they knew what they wanted.
I'd imagine having Vince McMahon get mad at you has to be unpleasant, and that's probably an understatement. Luckily for Stone Cold Steve Austin's sake, it was nice to hear that this hasn't necessarily been the case. This was a great interview, and there is no better way to imitate thee man himself by smacking together some Coors Light (our newest sponsor).