Steve Austin Talks Issues He Has With How WWE Is Using Braun Strowman, Titus O'Neil Trip And Fall
Recently on The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall Of Famer Steve Austin discussed whether WWE Monday Night RAW Superstar Braun Strowman is being used for comedy too much. Also, Austin weighed in on Titus O'Neil's tumble at The Greatest Royal Rumble.
According to Austin, Strowman is being used for comedy too much. In Austin's view, 'The Monster Among Men' should be presented in a more serious fashion.
"Well, I want to see, what do they call him, 'The Monster Among Men'? That's what I want to see out of Braun Strowman. A couple of weeks ago at that pay-per-view when he picked out that kid as his tag partner. Man, if you're the kid, Nicolas, man, props to you. That'd probably be like, no pun intended, being a kid in a candy store, one of the greatest days of your life, being able to go out there in a 20x20 [foot] ring with a WWE Superstar the magnitude of Braun Strowman, and go out there, and be right there, front row, well, he's on the apron, while Braun was taking care of business. That must've been a blast." Austin continued, "I want to see Braun Strowman in serious mode and you want to have moments of levity of moments of character development, and advancement, and in pushing the creative envelope in certain aspects. But, yeah, man, I knew several months ago when I talked to Braun on the podcast, well, a couple of years ago, I just liked what I saw in the kid. I knew that he had the gift of gab. He's a very interesting person. He's very articulate. He's very eloquent, very well-spoken. He's a big ass strongman from Kentucky or wherever the hell he's from [North Carolina, USA]. I want to see him in situations of impending danger. I want to see him in situations of? and that's with respect to the [pro] wrestling business? I want to see him with title shots on the line and stuff like that. I want to see him respond to things that they're going to throw at him from a creative standpoint more than being a comedy guy. I don't need Braun Strowman at 6'8", 370 lbs. I like for him to make me say, 'holy s–t! I can't believe this guy just did that.'"
Austin went on to point out that he only went to comedy in his own professional wrestling career when he was injured and wanted to entertain people somehow without requiring a physical payoff.
"When I broke those three bones in my lower back and I needed time to heal, that's when I started doing all the comedy stuff because I figured, 'I'd better entertain people if I can't get heat because I can't work with these three [broken] bones in my back – I need to do something.' So there was a reason for what I did. And I think, probably, the creative team is trying to think, 'okay, what can we do to expand Braun Strowman's fanbase?'" Austin added, "maybe they're trying to show the versatility in him, so that he appeals to different people, but, to me, I think his greatest appeal is the fact that he's 'The Monster Among Men' and you need to focus on that."
On the subject of O'Neil's most recent stumble on WWE TV, Austin said that the former WWE tag team champion was lucky he did not injure himself on that accidental dive.
"Well, I'll tell you what, I did see it. Titus O'Neil came down there and he tripped. He caught that little edge of the foam padding that's out there surrounding the ring, and just totally ate it, and he slid all the way underneath that ring. And I'll tell you what, he actually got lucky that he tripped the way he did and went underneath the ring because had he tripped a foot or two further down the road, he probably would've went head first, right into that apron, and that is steel structure, and 2x12s, and all kinds of s–t right there. So first of all, he could have been hurt by anything under the ring as well. He got so lucky that he didn't get hurt. It's unbelievable. And they replayed it a million times and I popped and you just pop at things like that when you see that the guys are okay." Austin said, "I wouldn't say I felt bad for Titus. I mean, those things happen. I wish it wouldn't have happened, but I'm sure he wishes it wouldn't have happened. But I'm sure he [has] laughed it off and I wouldn't say anything to him. Titus has been around for a long time and he was a heck of a college football player, so that's just one of those things where you say, 'hey, s–t happens.' You get a laugh about it and then you go on down the road. Hell, I've s–t my pants in the ring before, or s–t my trunks, so I've done worse things than tripping on my way to the ring. As a man, Titus is pretty much a badass, so when you're a badass like 'Stone Cold' and you go out there and trip, you do have some egg on your face, so you've just got to laugh it off, act like it never happened, and just conduct business, and that's what Titus did."
In addition to soiling himself in the ring, Austin recalled a time when he got himself stuck in the ring ropes in the heyday of the 'Stone Cold' run.
"I'll tell you what, man," Austin remembered. "I've done the same thing. I've never tripped on that kind of entrance, but I've stumbled getting through the ropes. I've tripped getting in the ropes as 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, the hottest thing on two feet in the wrestling business. That one time, we [were] in Minnesota, Jesse Ventura was the special guest referee. Shane McMahon around the ring. A triple threat match between myself, Triple H, and Mankind. And Shane was out there messing around. I was standing on the bottom rope. I took a swipe at him, and I ended up ass over tea kettle, tied up in the ropes, upside-down in front of 18,000 people on a live pay-per-view. And I'm sitting there yelling, 'Jesse! Jesse!', trying to get him to help me because I'm stuck and no one will help me. Paul, Triple H, he's the heel. I'm the babyface. He has no reason to help me from a logic standpoint because why would you help out your babyface, but from a business standpoint, he knows he needs me in the match, so we continue. He comes over there, he straightens me up, and we're laughing out asses off, but you can't see it during the pay-per-view."
What? If you use any of the quotations that appear in this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Steve Austin Show