Did you expect ‘The What’ chants to be still around?
“You know, no because that’s the funny thing, I’ve been gone for 10 or 11 years or whatever it’s been. So that’s a whole generation removed. I mean there are some youngsters that have never seen or heard of Stone Cold. So for that to be still around, for them to still be doing it. It’s a testament to the staying power of one word and I had no idea what I was creating back in the day when I did.”
But don’t you feel, these days, ‘The What?’ chants have become hurtful?
“Yeah but you know what, here’s the thing. To anybody delivering a promo in the ring, if you don’t give those pauses in your delivery of your promo speech, whatever business you’re doing. If you don’t give them that spot to put the what in, they cannot. So all they have to do is speed up their cadence a little bit. You ain’t gotta rush through your promo but you can still make your points. Also stagger the pauses so they can’t get into a rhythm. So there is a way around the what. It’s just a lot of people aren’t smart enough to figure it out.”
Will Stone Cold be back at Wrestlemania 30?
“Oh I’m healthy enough. My knees coming around just fine, it’s better than it’s ever been because I’ve been doing my do diligence on my rehab. I’ve got two new ligaments. Everything else is pain free. I’m still in shape been working out harder than I’ve ever worked out. But here’s the deal. When you’re gonna try to commit to do a Wrestlemania 30, you’re looking really at, at least a two to three month commitment, if not four. So you know you’re talking about, taking everything else of the table. I can still do my podcast but take everything else off the table and focus specifically on that task. To do it the way I would do it, to do it the way Stone Cold Steve Austin would do it, at a 120 percent. Because to go out there and to try to perform at 85-90 percent because you didn’t prep enough. That would be bogus, that would be BS that would be letting the crowd down. And that would be representing the Stone Cold Steve Austin that I know and love to a degree that is not acceptable. So once you throw a legitimate, real deal offer down on the table and say let’s talk, then we’ll talk. But until then, conjecture.”
Are you upto the challenge though?
“Well if I’m gonna agree to the challenge, accept it and go into it because I want to and the business makes sense, then absolutely.”
Can Punk vs Stone Cold turn out to be all time great match?
Oh it definitely could. It brings a lot to the table from a verbal standpoint with his well thought out promos, the way in which he conducts his business. I like his product in the ring. I like to see him turn it up more in the mainstream. I like to see a little more physicality, laying in stuff a little more. I like to see him be a little bit more aggressive. That’s just off the top of my head. Other than that, I like everything about the cat.”
Wouldn’t it be huge to see Stone Cold wrestling at WM 30?
“Well I’m not going to put the cart in front of the horse. I’m not lobbying for a match. If the starts lined up, then it would happen, but it’s going to take a lot for those stars to line up. No sense in beating a dead horse. To think about it is one thing, to actually go out, come to terms and go through the business prep and actually accomplish a match, it’s a whole different ballgame and a major process.”
Source: WrestlingInc