Steve Austin Discusses How John Cena Would Have Fared In The Attitude Era, Paul Heyman's Influence

WWE.com has published the second part of their interview with WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin about WWE '13. During the interview, Austin was asked how John Cena would have fared in The Attitude Era.

"Yeah, had he been placed in it, and been dealt with accordingly, the John Cena you see now ? the face of the franchise, the leader of the pack? Not so much," Austin admitted. "But I guarantee if you'd have gotten him face to face with 'Stone Cold' in an interview, and you know John cuts a good interview himself, if I slapped the s*** out of that son of a b****, I think we're off and running to make a lot of money.

"All he needs is to be poked and prodded in the right way. I think John Cena has a hell of a lot of fire and he needs to be in the ring with the right opponent, or the right cat, to bring that out. So in the current environment, you really don't see that in him. Place [Cena] back 10 years in the ring with 'Stone Cold'? You'd have rung the cash register, big time."

Austin also credited Paul Heyman for his promos.

"I always give credit to Paul for helping me to understand what a promo was," Austin said. "And giving me a chance to cut them and giving me the confidence and the platform to cut promos. Man, if it hadn't been for Paul Heyman offering me a job in ECW, I don't know if "Stone Cold" would have ever been."

Austin also discussed his rivalry with Bret Hart, the greatest promo in wrestling history, his thoughts on ECW and more. You can read the full interview by clicking here.