Stone Cold Steve Austin Pushes Back Against Uptick In WWE Product Transparency

For whatever reason, WWE has been going out of its way to lift back the curtain over kayfabe even further; in the past few months, Paul "Triple H" Levesque and others have had out-of-kayfabe interviews, and on top of this, the promotion is set to release "WWE: Unreal" on Netflix, which will peel back the curtain even further.

However, WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin is against the promotion's new approach. "I'm a little old school on that, and you know, it's just like... I'm a big magic fan, but you know, if Harry Houdini's still around, you know, I don't want him to tell me how he does it," the veteran noted during an interview on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I want to figure out he does it, and if I can't then I'm gonna keep wondering and I'm gonna keep watching, but I'm gonna keep wondering." Austin further emphasized that he knows that magic is an illusion and has no misconceptions about its legitimacy, but noted that the wondering is what kept him watching, suggesting that it's the same with wrestling fans.

While Austin isn't too happy about the further loss of kayfabe and "WWE: Unreal," Jeff Jarrett believes that the docuseries could make it or flop based on how WWE executes the concept. Jarrett posits that wrestling has become more of a hybrid form of entertainment but noted that it will likely take away the mystique of wrestling either way. However, Jarrett's opinion does align somewhat with Austin's, as he concluded that revealing all the magic will make the product less compelling.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Ariel Helwani Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.