Unmittelbar nachdem die aktuelle RAW Episode aus Denver, Colorado, "off-air" ging, gab es auf dem WWE Network eine exklusive LIVE-Episode vom "Steve Austin Show" Podcast zu sehen, in der WWE COO Triple H bei Stone Cold Steve Austin zu Gast war und sich vielen Fragen stellte.
U.a. sprach Triple H dort über CM Punk, einer möglichen Aufnahme von Chyna in die WWE Hall Of Fame, die Zukunft von Brock Lesnar, NXT sowie dem 2015er Royal Rumble Sieg von Roman Reigns.
Hier die komplette Zusammenfassung der Show im englischen Original:
ZitatAlles anzeigenThe Stone Cold Podcast starts right off with Steve Austin asking Triple H about the fan reaction to Daniel Bryan being tossed out of the Royal Rumble and the fans booing Roman Reigns' win. Austin said when he asked for questions, he received a ton from fans upset about the Rumble. Good, he's asking the right first question and I give him and HHH credit for even addressing the elephant in the room. Austin noted a large part of the audience was behind Bryan. Austin said he feels like kayfabe is dying because back in the day, the fans reacted to what was going on in the ring, but now when fans don't get the story they want, they get mad at the writers. Triple H said it's tough to write but that's what you have to deal with today. HHH said they want to keep their finger on the pulse of what is going on but there is a contingent of fans on the Internet and who know about the behind the scenes that don't get behind what they decide to push. He compared it to going to certain towns back in the day where all the babyfaces except guys who were super super over, such as Austin, were going to get booed and the heels were going to be cheered. The idea of fans accepting a storyline just as a storyline is gone because while there is a portion of audience that accepts it, there is also a portion that knows as much or more then WWE does about what's going on behind the scenes and react opposite to what WWE is trying to present. He said that in some cities where they do TV, Reigns will get booed now but at live events, he will get cheered.
Austin talked about changing plans and how HHH was going to win the 1996 King of the Ring but was punished for the Kliq curtain call the month before in Madison Square Garden so Austin was tapped to win. Austin said that when Vince told him he was going to win KOTR, his response was "OK, cool" not, "Hey there are guys here who have been here longer who deserve it more then me." He said what was else was Roman going to say when he's told he's winning the Rumble. HHH said, "OK, thank you very much" and they laughed. Austin said that a portion of the crowd doesn't feel like he hasn't earned it and perhaps it could have been booked better but the way it went, he got the heat for the writing staff. HHH said it all comes down from Vince and the Rumble was "debated and poured over" but there's one guy who takes all that and that's where they are going. HHH said Vince, himself and creative aren't perfect. They don't always make a right call but Vince has a good track record.
Austin asked if tonight's Raw is a reflection of Vince feeling the pulse. HHH said you can look at it how you want, but the business hasn't changed. He said a smart storyteller reacts and changes stuff on the fly. He said they did it in the ring together. HHH said they can change things at a drop of a hat and they can always tease things and make fans think they are going one way and then go back. He said Vince was listening to the fans in Minnesota and if they hadn't gone nuts for Hulk Hogan back in the day, Vince wouldn't have brought him here. It's a cause and effect. Same thing with Austin and same thing with today.
Austin noted it's tough to feel out what the fans want. HHH said it's a tough environment. He said he reads people asking why they aren't listening and why they still present John Cena on top. He said there was a time half were booing and half were cheering but he was beyond everyone from a reaction standpoint and was moving tickets and merchandise. It's hard to find someone that appeals to everyone. The Attitude Era was almost easier as they were focused on one demographic while today they are trying to appeal to every age group, race and religion. It's hard to say point at someone and say everyone is going to like that. HHH joked the worst thing you can do today is to make someone a good guy.
Austin went back to the Attitude Era. HHH joked it was his glory era and he's hanging on by a thread. Austin said the show had more of an urgency then. Austin questioned why today is called The Reality Era. HHH quoted Austin earlier on the show as saying kayfabe is dead. HHH said the reality is it's more opened and before you had to find the newsletters but now the major papers are writing from an inside perspective. He said the reality is the business now. HHH said that when they don't tell a story well for whatever reason, people are critical of the writing and the execution. Austin said that people want to go along for the ride and HHH agreed.
HHH talked about back in the day, fans would accept that Roman won, but now fans see it as WWE holding back Daniel Bryan and they don't want Reigns because he's getting pushed. HHH said for Wrestlemania 30, where they ended up with Bryan isn't where they started and planned for him to be. He said there were times when Bryan said he had to lose or not be victorious on certain nights because it wasn't right for the story.
Austin said that tonight's Raw showed Reigns shining tonight and his helping Daniel Bryan actually helped him. HHH agreed and said that's part of putting your finger on something and asking what he needs. HHH said people say all the time that Roman isn't ready yet. HHH said that no one is ready, including himself back in the day. He said that as a performer, you think you know, but when you are in that position it's all on you and it's a whole different level of pressure on you.
HHH also said that when they decide to go with someone, everyone tries to get on board and suggest different things. Austin said that you have to wonder how meaningful those suggestions are. HHH said that you have to trust your guts but for a lot of these guys they haven't been doing it long and you start to question your guts and then everyone is telling you different things and suddenly you are second-guessing yourself.
HHH said that in 1996, he thought he was ready for his push but in hindsight, he wasn't and Austin was ready. HHH said in 1996, he would have failed bad. When he got the opportunity came later, he still wasn't 100% ready but was far more along and was far more ready.
Austin said he was looking forward to where they go with Bryan and Reigns. HHH said they are the book that never ends, so when people say that WWE has to do something "today", he asked,"Where are we going tomorrow" and that they will always be there. He said that even with Wrestlemania, they still have to go to Raw the next day and they can go back and revisit things that they move away from down the line. They are never done telling their stories.
Austin said that he watched the "Thy Kingdom Come" documentary on HHH and said it was awesome. He wondered what HHH's exit strategy would have been if he hadn't married Stephanie and end up on the corporate end of the WWE. HHH said that doesn't know that there was an exit strategy. He admitted that the Stephanie criticisms bothered him and he felt that everything he worked to accomplish was negated. He said that people thought he had what he had because of the relationship, not because he earned it. Undertaker once told him, "What do you care what they think?" HHH said that he feels he would have ended up in a similar position as he was in, but maybe in a different way. He said once he got into the business, he fell in love with all the behind the scenes and the creative and coming up with entrances and music and set design and costuming. He said that Vince McMahon gave him an opportunity way before he was with Stephanie to come to the writing meetings. He said Vince would come up with a crazy angle and then leave him and Pat Patterson to figure it out and when they did, it was a big joy to get there. He said going to NXT in Florida and helping the developmental talents is a great joy and having the responsibility to just create and do in NXT without having to ask for Vince as a fall back or even asking him for things is a big deal to him. He says Vince claims he's never worked a day in his life but then you watch him and he's a workaholic because he loves it so much and he feels the same working with talent here and in Florida.
They went to a Twitter question as to whether it's better for a guy to go to wrestling school or the indies first or just going directly to the Performance Center. HHH said it depends on the guy. He said knocking bad habits some guys picked up on the indies is almost harder than training someone from scratch. He said some indy guys come in and are a sponge but others have a belief of "This is what I do." He said that football is football but if I bring you to a team, I want you to run our playbook. He said he's not changing indy guys completely but wants to get them to work and perform in a way that their fans will react to.
Austin began speaking about NXT. He said the show is awesome and he loves the wrestling and the promos. He loves the lighting and the show feels organic. Austin asked him how he modeled the template. HHH said he tries to do what he would want to watch and like and he listens to the fans and also remembers who the show is airing for. He said it's for the Network and it's for the most ardent fans and males of a certain age who want action. He said he tries not to script as much and let guys figure it out. It's high stakes and pressure is on and it's succeed or fail. It can be looser and fun there. He said that when you come to WWE, you need to learn all the camera angles and production, etc. In NXT, you are learning that system so when you are brought up it's the same thing, just on a grander scale.
Austin asked if it's still a developmental territory. He said that it is because everyone who is there wants to be up here but it's also turned into an alternative. HHH said being on the road is the best thing for guys to learn. He told a story about helping Finn Balor with his entrance and Balor said he was overwhelmed because in Japan, all they did was point him to the ring and he had no idea if the cameras were there and where they were.
Austin asked if the NXT talents can come to him to pitch ideas. HHH says they can and said guys help them on different aspects, such as Dusty Rhodes helping with promos. HHH said he doesn't want anyone playing wrestler, but people who believe it. He said that he has a camera feed to the PC, so he can see what's going on and make different suggestions.
A Twitter question asked if anyone on the roster can be the next ultra-star in the Hogan/Austin/Rock/Cena vein. HHH said there are a lot of guys and girls where you can see the "it" factor but the business has changed and you can't just be a promo guy or a big guy or an in-ring guy anymore. Austin said there are also types who can make the complete puzzle but that doesn't mean they can draw. HHH said at the end of the day, it's also up to the guys. He talks about how Undertaker was Vince McMahon's idea but had they given it to another 100 guys, it would have died an immediate death. But, with "Mark", he's taken it to a level where it's become the greatest, most unbelievable character in the history of the business. It's up to the guys to get over the hump.
Austin said he got asked about the brass ring comment and said that sometimes fans feel it's being handed to Roman while it's being taken away from Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler. HHH says sometimes you will see someone write, "They work hard." He said that everyone works hard but the business isn't about, "Well, this guy works hard, so we have to hand him something." He said when you get to the top, are you going to coast because you have stroke now or are you going to work harder.
Austin told a story of a fan hitting the ring and angry because Austin, a babyface, hit a Stunner on Chyna and HHH grabbed him and nailed a back suplex and began beating him down. Austin said Chyna had a hell of run in WWE and asked if she would ever go into the WWE Hall of Fame. HHH said that's one of those questions that gets asked a lot: does she deserve to go in? He said, "Absolutely." He said it's a little bit of a double sided-edge. She transcended and changed the business and did what no woman had ever done before. He said "all the other stuff that happened, there is no beef on this side." He said she absolutely should go in, but there's another aspect. He said he has an eight year old kid and she goes to the Hall and she thinks, "I've never heard of Chyna" and punches her up on the Internet and "there's all this stuff." HHH said he's not criticizing anybody or lifestyle choices, but just the fact of what it is, it's a difficult choice.
HHH said the Hall is a funny thing in that it's not as simple as someone had a legendary career. "We can't becayse of this legal thing. We can't because of this political thing." If you call someone and want to to put them in and they say No, what can you do? He said that he's such a huge fan of the history of the business and that's why it's been a thrill to help Bruno Sammartino and Ultimate Warrior get into the Hall. They talked a little about bringing Bruno into the Hall. Austin asked if it was harder to get Warrior or Vince back in. HHH said it was different but it was about a lot of listening and earning trust. Bruno, he called cold and Bruno didn't know him and had to learn to trust him. Warrior and he had no trust and that made it more difficult. Warrior said you live and you learn and you grow. HHH said he was in a different place in his life and his career when he worked with Warrior. He had a bad personal experience but his first Wrestlemania was against The Ultimate Warrior. It was rough then and over the years, things are said and they had to get past that for themselves and a wehole lot between Warrior and Vince. He said that as he opened up to the process, Warrior was very misunderstoood and didn't know how to communicate. Austin said he's the same way and when he goes into that DTA mode, he makes a lot of mistakes.
Austin asked what was more influential - the NWO or DX. HHH said initially it was NWO because of the reality they brought to the business but it quickly got watered down and fell apart. HHH said over time, DX did more over the various incarnations to influence how they did things and do things in the business and not take them too seriously but still keep them something that were worth fighting over.
HHH was asked if he could go back and time and face anyone, who would it be He immediately said Buddy Rogers and talked about how Rogers transcended the business and could talk the talk and walk the walk and was amazing at manipulating the crowd. He was the first larger than life character and was different from say a Lou Thesz, who was a guy who worked in the ring.
Austin asked him about CM Punk and their personal issues. HHH said "Yeah" when he asked if they were cool. He said he heard stories when Punk was in OVW that he didn't like him and was out to bury him. HHH said he didn't even know who he was and had never seen tapes of his work. He saiod that when Punk came to WWE, he felt that somehow carried over. HHH said, "I don't lknow to be honest. I never had a beef with him." He said when they worked together in the ring, "it was done for the right reasons. It was done to get us into him and get him more over, but the decisions that were made were Vince's and they were done to help [Punk] and then they didn't work out for whatever reason...Nash couldn't hang and couldn't be here...but he held a grudge on that. He's a weird cat and I don't mean that in an insulting way. He's hard to get to know. He doesn't talk. He doesn't communicate well. I would hear from everybody now in my role as, you know, talent relations that he's livid today, he's quitting and I'd go to him and ask him what was going on and he was like, 'Nothing.' It's tough."
Austin asked if Punk could ever come back to WWE. HHH said you never say never and pointed out that Hogan and Bruno came back. He said if the fans want it...."It's my regret that we couldn't get past all this stuff with him. He didn't want to be here anymore. If this isn't his passion anymore, you can't be here anymore. You can't."
They did word association:
Shawn Michaels - Greatest In-Ring Performer Ever.
Ric Flair - Greatest all around ever.
Kevin Nash - Very underrated mind for the business, but just hard to get past his personality and he's very blunt.
Scott Hall - The guy HHH learned more from walking into WWF then anyone else.
Eddie Guerrero - He misses him. When he could let go of insecurities, he was amazing.
Goldberg - A guy he credits with changing the intensity of the business. He was explosive. He started to cross the line.
Brock Lesnar - Freak and that's a positive.
Paul Heyman - There's a fine line between crazy and genius and he rides it like a razor blade.
Owen Hart- One of the nicest and finest guys he knew. His passing was a tragic situation. Owen would just tell you that he was going to stink the joint out and then go do it in the ring.
Bret Hart - Unbelievable technician and maybe sometimes takes yourself too seriously.
Undertaker - Respect.
Kane - The constant. Underrated.
Pat Patterson - Genius for the business who he respects so much. Pat was the guy who no matter what, when he opened his mouth, it was the smartest thing ever.
Michael Hayes - So underrated for his contributions to the business. Austin said the Freebirds should be in the Hall in Dallas.
Austin said there's a disconnection between pro wrestler and sports-entertainer and asked where HHH is. HHH says he can recognize the differences, but anyone can play football but few make it to the NFL. You can be a wrestler but if you make it to WWE, you are in a small percentage. The sports-entertainer part is because you have to explain it to people.
Austin closed out asking about Brock Lesnar's contract status. HHH said they had a great working relationship right now and it's all up to Brock. They are in discussions but perhaps Brock feels there is unfinished business with MMA. >P>Austin had one more and asked if the Streak should have been broken. HHH says he can see both sides but to him, it's the home run record that shouldn't have ever been broken. He said that for Taker to give all that back and let someone else benefit...he can see both sides. He said that what you have put Brock through to get him where he is now didn't happen by accident and that was part of it.
HHH said he has stroke like Vince and decided they would keep going. Austin said Kevin Dunn was trying to wrap him up. They kept going. They talked about how promos have changed. Austin asked if they didn't trust the talents today to cut their own deals. HHH said it's a trust thing and a different era and live TV and they have to be careful with what is said because of different sponsors. Some guys are better scripted. Some do bullet points. some change it into their own verbiage and some are on their own. In NXT, they do their own promos and then get feedback so they can learn and perhaps one day get back to when it all was all guys doing bullet points.
HHH was asked if he could change one thing about Raw. HHH said it would be go back to two hours because the third hour makes it a difficult show to write. He didn't definitively say they are "married" to a three hour show, as Austin called it. HHH said he'd also like if stories developed slower because he's a slow burn guy. HHH said you can't please everyone and some fans today are certainly a short attention span theater thing. He'd also like to see the women get more time.
HHH said he was training twice a day to prepare for an in-ring return and said "Stay tuned" not wanting to give away the Sting story.
That was it. A good hour.
(Quelle: PWInsider)