The Steve Austin Show – Unleashed!
Release Date: June 29, 2017
Recap by: Chris Gaspare
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Top Newsworthy Items
– The Road Warriors gave Austin the idea for the Smoking Skull title belt.
– Austin has a lot of praise for Roman Reigns this week.
-Austin said his favorite Stunner of all time was on Vince McMahon.
Timestamps
00:00: Sponsor Ad
01:18: Introduction to the show
6:27: Listener calls on Roman Reigns, the most important factors in a wrestler, and who he’d like to work for
24:02: Sponsor Ad
25:55: Listener calls on the Legion of Doom, the lack of competition in the wrestling business, and his favorite people, places, and Stunners
38:45: Sponsor Ad
39:13: Austin and Wade Keller on Enzo/Cass and Roman Reigns’s improvement
56:40: Austin and Keller on Lesnar/Joe, Carmella, and Sasha/Nia/Alexa
1:11:24: Recommendation, plugs, and end of show
Show Highlights
Introduction to the show
Austin is finally airing listener phone calls this week. This will be part one of three with the other two parts coming in July and August during the weeks that he will be filming the latest season of the Broken Skull Challenge. He will have Wade Keller on at the end of the show to discuss this week in wrestling, even though he could only watch highlights as his DirecTV went out and prohibited him from watching Raw and Smackdown.
Listener calls on Roman Reigns, the most important factors in a wrestler, and who he’d like to work for
The first caller wanted Austin’s reaction to Roman Reigns. Austin thinks he’s got a “great physique” and is a “pretty damn good worker.” He thinks his storylines have been hit or miss so far, but he thinks there is “a lot to like” and he loved his series of matches against A.J. Styles. He wouldn’t turn Roman heel simply to turn him heel. He thinks a heel turn with him should happen more “organically.” He compares his reactions to John Cena’s “divided chants.” He said that Cena had a lot of confidence to weather those chants, and he sees the same confidence as Cena. He doesn’t think Roman needs the title because the “title means nothing right now” and he just need great opponents and good storylines.
The next caller asked what Austin would be looking for in a wrestler if he were running talent relations. Austin said he’d look for someone that could “grab your attention” and has charisma. Talent relations doesn’t need to always look for the “biggest and best looking.” For instance, he said most people wouldn’t have picked Jerry Lawler to be an “it” guy by looking at him, but he’s one of the best five talkers in the history of the business and drew major money in his market. Austin asked what the caller wanted, which was people who were “genuine” and worked hard always, even on house shows, like he saw Austin and The Undertaker do.
The third caller asked Austin what he would have done had he not gotten into wrestling. Austin said before he was a wrestler he was driving a forklift and unloading freight trucks on the management track. When he went to wrestling school, he didn’t have a Plan B. He was going to work until he succeeded; he defined success in wrestling as being able to pay his bills and sustain himself. If he hadn’t made it in wrestling, he probably would have been in management in the trucking company.
The following caller asked if Austin had to choose to work for either Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon, Eric Bischoff, or Paul Heyman, which would he choose. Austin said he had great “chemistry” with all of them, but he was “a Paul Heyman guy.” Heyman, he said, helped him develop his promos and character too much for him not to be loyal to Heyman.
The last caller before the break asked Austin what he thought about Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. Austin gave the same answer from a couple weeks ago, which was that he would bet on Floyd but thought McGregor had a “fighter’s chance.” Ultimately, he didn’t know what to think.
Listener calls on the Legion of Doom, the lack of competition in the wrestling business, and his favorite people, places, and Stunners
The first caller after the break said his favorite tag team of all time was The Road Warriors and wanted to know if Austin had any stories about them. Austin said that they were “always forward thinking” and they “got along on a personal level.” He then said that they were the two that approached him when he won his first World Title and suggested he needed his own title belt. Austin took the suggestion to management, and that’s how the Smoking Skull belt came to be. Austin lamented the lack of lifelong tag teams and tag team wrestling in general. He praised The Revival for being like the old school teams.
The next caller wanted to know if he could drink a beer with three people, alive or dead, then who? Austin said that he’s choose Evel Knievel, John Wayne, and Elvis Presley. He would also consider JJ Watt and Stevie Ray Vaughn. The following caller then asked where Austin would stay in the summer. He sold the Broken Skull Ranch, so he can’t say that anymore. Instead, he would choose riding ATVs with his brother-in-law in Sparks, Nevada.
The female caller asked if he thought the lack of competition between wrestling companies was hurting the business in general. Austin thinks it is. He “wish[ed] another WCW was around.” Competition is “paramount” because it forced both companies to “strive to be best” which resulted in a stronger and more enjoyable product. The final caller wanted to know what his favorite Stunner ever was. Austin said he loved giving The Rock the Stunner because he didn’t know what Rocky would do to sell it. However, his favorite Stunner was the first one he gave Vince McMahon because he made his career.
Austin and Wade Keller on Enzo/Cass and Roman Reigns’s improvement
Wade Keller joined the show to discuss wrestling. Keller announced that his show will start on July 17th on Podcast One. The show will run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Monday will be on Raw, Tuesday on Smackdown, Thursday will be the flagship, and Friday will be an interview. Next, Keller brought up the importance of Cody Rhodes’ match against Kazuchika Okada this weekend for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship after having just defeated Christopher Daniels for the Ring of Honor World Title. Keller thinks both New Japan and ROH have placed a lot of trust in Cody and it will be interesting to see if he can deliver a “great” instead of “good” match.
The two men move onto talking about Raw, and the first topic is Enzo and Cass’ segment. Austin loved it. Keller thought the reconciliation was “convincing” and that Cass looking out at the audience after attacking Enzo was a “money moment.” He also said that if WWE didn’t have plans for Enzo during the past two weeks, then they should start because Enzo has shown a lot of acting range and is making himself valuable.
Keller asked Austin if he could recommend that Cass watch someone’s tapes, who he would recommend. Austin said that he would say heel Barry Windham even though he thought Windham was a better babyface. Keller suggested Kevin Nash and Rick Rude. They moved onto talking about Roman Reigns next. Austin thinks Roman is “loosening up” and he likes it. Keller said that Reigns is definitely “less corporate” and following a more natural path than “white knuckling it through babyface promos” as he has before. Austin said he’s getting an even bigger reaction which means he’s getting over. Keller worried that even if he’s more over, if WWE insists upon putting him only against heels, then he continue getting booed. Austin agreed that some adjustments needed to be made to give him a clearer direction, but that this is a step in the right direction.
Austin and Keller on Lesnar/Joe, Carmella, and Sasha/Nia/Alexa
The next topic was Samoa Joe’s choke-out of Brock Lesnar. Austin thought it was “executed awesomely.” Keller asked Austin if he thought Lesnar and Heyman were trying to “make” Samoa Joe in this angle and match. Austin said they are “trying like hell to get him over.” Austin was impressed by seeing the “intensity” he has been wanting to see from Joe in these segments. He predicted, “Joe will come out of his, win or lose, further up.” Keller also commended Heyman’s promo later in the show and admitted that he “popped” for it. He said that the handling of Joe has been “pitch perfect.” Austin likes that it’s serious. He said that there can be “a dash of humor,” but “serious” wrestling draws more viewers and money.
In terms of the Raw main event, the women’s gauntlet match, Austin thought Nia looked like a million bucks.” He was, however, surprised by Sasha Banks not getting a loud of a pop as he expected. Keller explained this diminished pop as people starting to like Alexa Bliss and wanted to see her use her wit on heels and also gaining respect for Nia after she was out there for thirty minutes.
Lastly, they talked about Carmella reclaiming the Money in the Bank briefcase. Austin still likes Carmella now that she’s showing more character, and he finds Ellsworth “entertaining.” Keller is glad Carmella won because she needs the briefcase. He also claimed this helped Becky Lynch continue on her frustrated journey of trying to do the right thing. Keller did criticize Ellsworth getting back in the building and how it could hurt Daniel Bryan’s credibility if Bryan doesn’t punish him in some way next week.
Recommendation, plugs, and end of show
Austin recommended that listeners go on the WWE Network and watch Sasha Banks and Bayley at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. He then gave plugs to end the show.
Score and Review (7/10)
Even the dullest of Austin’s shows is still a good show. The caller questions weren’t ground-breaking in any way, but it was good to hear the humble side of Austin as he talked to nervous callers and asked their opinions on the topics they were asking him about. It’s a reminder that Austin is the real deal, a bonafide every man. His talk with Wade Keller is the highlight. Without repeating previous week’s comments, the chemistry these two men have is quite strong, and Keller can get more out of Austin about the business and his thoughts than other interviews can. While there is nothing pressing to listen to, if you like hearing Austin talk about the current product, skip to the 39-minute mark.
About Chris
Chris Gaspare is a teacher from Maryland who has been watching wrestling since 1989 when he saw his first WCW Saturday Night episode and quickly rented as many NWA and WWF VHS tapes he could find in local stores. He also attended Tri-State Wrestling Alliance and early ECW shows in Philadelphia, which really kicked his fandom into high gear. He lapsed in the mid-2000s, but returned to the wrestling fold a few years ago.
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