Steve Austin On Why He Feels That Ring Work Is Regressing In Today's Wrestling
Recently on The Steve Austin Show, 'Global Icon And National Treasure' Steve Austin weighed in on a number of professional wrestling topics. Notably, Austin put over his fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry 'The King' Lawler as being severely underrated and one of the best ever. Austin shared his observation that actual ring work has declined in recent years, as performers are out working with little experience. Additionally, Austin talked about the two biggest mistakes newcomers to professional wrestling can make: going too fast and bumping too much.
According to Austin, Lawler is one of the best professional wrestlers ever and very underrated. The 1996 King Of The Ring said that 'The King' has one of the best working punches in professional wrestling and is one of the best talkers in the history of the professional wrestling business as well.
"To me, Lawler is so underrated and he is one of the best to ever do it," Austin declared. "And he basically worked a brawler style. You didn't see him do [any] chain wrestling. He'd grab a headlock, but I mean he was a brawler. Yeah, and he wasn't the biggest dude in the world. I mean, it wasn't like he was going to the gym. He wasn't a body guy is what I'm saying. But his s–t looked good. He had one of the best working punches in the history of the business, so psychologically sound, and just what a promo! I always hear, 'ehh, so-and-so is the best promo' or 'this guy is a better promo'. And I've never seen Lawler on [anybody's] list. Lawler is one of the best talkers in the history of the business period!"
Austin, who has given his blessing to WWE Superstar Kevin Owens to use the Stunner as a finishing move, shared his view that ring work has regressed as the game has sped up in recent times.
"There's a lot of demand for new people in the business, so sometimes they're not as honed up as they need to be, so you see a lot of holes out there. It's not an indictment on the system or anybody because you still have your veterans out there doing a lot of solid work and people doing athletic things and that's cool." Austin said, "but the work – the work – has regressed as things have sped up, just as far as being able to see through the illusion."
Austin said that inexperienced professional wrestlers see bumping as a way to get noticed, but bumping without a good reason is pointless.
"When you're green, you think bumping is the ticket," Austin explained. "'I've got to bump a lot because that's what's going to elicit a response,' or 'taking bumps is the ticket,' or 'that's the way to do it.' Eh, it's a means to an end and there needs to be a reason that you're taking all those bumps."
In Austin's learned view, the biggest mistakes a green professional wrestler can make are going too fast and bumping too much.
"The biggest mistake that green guys make is doing things too fast," Austin claimed. "Maybe the second one would be taking too many bumps. Nobody goes out there and wants to give the bumps, they want to take them! And you know because you're on the receiving end, you think, 'ah, I'm impressing people by how I'm flying around.' Bumps are great when they're needed."
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