Steve Austin On Kenny Omega Being "A Lightning Bolt," NJPW G1 Special In USA, Okada's Reaction, Cody
Recently on The Ross Report, 'Good Ol' JR' Jim Ross was joined by his close personal friend and fellow pro wrestling podcaster Steve Austin. During the conversation, Austin shared his thoughts on Night 1 of NJPW's G1 Special In USA. Also, Austin shared his thoughts on the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and what makes 'The Cleaner' quite possibly the most buzzworthy pro wrestler in the world today.
Austin attended Night 1 of the G1 Special in Long Beach, California and named Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Juice Robinson and Cody vs. Kazuchika Okada as his two favorite matches from the show. Austin said ZSJ and the former CJ Parker have bright futures ahead of them.
"It was a night of, I thought, really great in-ring action. And two of my favorite matches were Zack Sabre, Jr. versus Juice Robinson [and Cody vs. Okada]. The technical aspect Zack brings to the ring, I loved him working that arm. I'll tell you what, I didn't know this, but Juice came out of the NXT system or the WWE system just for a cup of coffee. But I'll tell you what, I'm really impressed with that guy's fire, his work, everything, so I think that guy [has] got a bright future and both those guys do. It was great."
While Austin stated it was great to see Cody and Brandi Rhodes in the main event, he was curious to see how over Okada would be stateside.
"It was great to see Cody in the main event against Okada. And I know it was a New Japan show, but I was wondering how over Okada would be, and, holy smokes, I mean, man, he was the hottest guy there. He is an elite babyface and that transferred over to the States."
In Austin's learned opinion, Okada did a masterful job selling his leg injury in the match.
"If you want to check out some selling, watch Okada sell that leg. Goddang, it was like Shakespearean theatre. I came out of my chair – I was clapping in the truck."
According to Austin, Cody was "impressive" in what may have been 'The Grandson Of A Plumber”s best match to date.
"Both guys worked hard. Cody was impressive. Here's a guy who left New York, went out on his own. He's the Ring Of Honor [World] Champion. Now, he's main eventing New Japan in Long Beach with Okada, so very well done by Cody. Very well done. It was a hard-fought match that I thoroughly enjoyed."
Austin went on to say that it will be interesting to see if Cody goes back to WWE.
"It takes a lot of gumption to go out there and do that and he did. Maybe he'll end up going back to WWE one of these days and it will be exciting to see if he does, how his career will unfold at that point or what he does from here. But his future is in his hands and he's loving it – he's having a good time and I wish him nothing but the best."
When asked what makes Omega so special, Austin responded by pointing to 'The Best Bout Machine”s dynamic in-ring work and frenzied charisma.
"Man, I'll tell you what, just watching that match he had with Okada, that first one, and the second one. The first one's about 47 minutes. Okay goes over. The second one is a broadway and it went 60 minutes. And I just think the guy is just very dynamic in the ring. I got a chance to watch him on YouTube doing some promos and I've never seen him talk before, who's fluent in Japanese and he was just talking so much trash. I mean, talking about real trash. It was about getting paid, and about fulfilling his destiny, and a lot of other things. I just think the guy's a lightning bolt and he just transferred energy. And I just think he's a dynamic showman, and he has a lot of charisma, and I just think he's a lights-out performer."
Austin opined that the IWGP US Championship first round match between Omega and Michael Elgin started off a little slow, but ended up being a good match.
"[Omega] had a match the first night with Michael Elgin. Michael's somewhat of a bigger guy. Somewhat of a slow-moving match, kind of, in the beginning, but it was really built, the last five minutes, it was really built. It was really, really good, but [Omega] is just a hellacious performer, bottom line."
Check out this edition of 'Slobberknocker Audio' by clicking here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Ross Report with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: The Ross Report