Remember the infamous WWE night that Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H broke kayfabe in Madison Square Garden? Stone Cold Steve Austin does and he grilled Nash about what would be known as the Kliq Curtain Call in a fascinating podcast interview.

I have become a huge fan of Austin’s podcasts. Austin has developed an uncanny knack as an interviewer. Austin asks tough questions and always has a unique perspective on controversies discussed on his show. This interview with Kevin Nash is probably Austin’s best and one you should absolutely go out of your way to hear.

Austin had Nash on his show for a two-part podcast. The interview was so good that it was difficult to pick out a segment to highlight as they were all good. Nash was fantastic and had some great stories about his life in and out of pro wrestling. I found his stories about first entering the WWE incredibly interesting but hearing Austin and Nash discuss the M.S.G. Kliq Call was just fascinating.

Nash, Hall, Triple H, and Michaels all ran together back in the 90s and were known as the Kliq or clique in WWE circles. Nash and Hall had given their notice and were finishing up dates on the road with their last night being in Madison Square Garden. After Michaels beat Nash in the main-event, all four guys got in the ring together, broke character, and acknowledged Nash and Hall’s final night in what would become known as the Kliq Curtain Call. Today that wouldn’t be a big deal at all. In May 1996 it was a huge deal as Hall and Michaels were babyfaces wrestling Nash and Hunter and while most knew the deal, the business was still protected. I would go as far as to say that kayfabe was never the same after this night and there were plenty of people in the business not happy about it…including Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Steve Austin: So then we roll into Madison Square Garden and it’s you guys in a cage right?

Kevin Nash: Yep and this was back in the days, and people think that it was bullsh*t, that whole drug testing era…we were drug tested. For three years there wasn’t a f*cker in the WW, from when I walked in that door to the day I left, there wasn’t a f*cker taking steroids, nobody smoking pot. Booze and pills, well you can get them from a doctor and alcohol is legal, but anything illegal was not being allowed in that locked room. We’re driving up to the building and Scott looked at me and he goes, “This is the last time we’re going to be at the Garden. Let’s work this mother f*cker stoned”. I said, “Man I hadn’t been stoned for three years.” We rolled one out, he had a little bit of weed, we smoked one, you walk into Madison Square Garden and the house was like a $350,000 house.

Steve: So what’s the card? You guys come in a little bit lit. What’s the card?

Kevin: The last two matches are Triple H vs. Scott Hall and the main-event is in a cage for the world title, Diesel against the champion Shawn Michaels.

So it was you and Shawn at the end, they had already worked, I was jerking the curtain that night, I worked the third or fourth match and was at the curtain because that’s what I did watching the matches and I watched everything go down. Who was in the main-event, was that Shawn and you?

Kevin: Me and Shawn

Steve: It was you and Shawn, the match is over, and here comes Triple H, X- Pac, and f*cking Scott.

Kevin: No X-Pac wasn’t there. Hunter and Scott came down the aisle way but then came back down the aisle way after the match. Shawn superkicked me, walked over my body AKA Bruno style, walked out the door, hit the floor, and took another two steps, turned back and looked at me and then he kind of shook his head and walked back in the door and then picked me up. If you remember he kind of picked me up by my head like the wounded warrior type thing and I came to, and I didn’t want to not sell his kick, so he went to the ropes to give those guys time to come down, we all did our things, and thing was we said “Hey you know this is our last time at the Garden, can we do this thing?”, and Vince didn’t think anything of it. We were supposed to be going out to dinner afterwards, it wasn’t like we just did it.

Steve: You all didn’t break it down, you all didn’t say, “Let’s go out there and give one big f*cking hug, it was just kind of an in the moment type thing that happened?

Kevin: Yeah, yeah.

Steve: Because man as it was going down you have to understand man. People that listen these days, everyone is kind of smart to what’s going on but back then the business was still, even after all of the exposes, the 20/20s, and all of that bullsh*t, the business was still somewhat protected and damned sure it was protected in Madison Square Garden in a steel cage. All the sudden you guys go out there and hug and I’m thinking, “What in the f*ck is going on!” from the curtain. I can’t believe what I’m seeing, it was shocking dude, that’s a shoot. I didn’t know whether to sh*t or to wind my watch, you guys are hugging in the Garden!

Kevin: Yeah, it was one of those things man, it wasn’t planned, it was organic, it was four guys that had been f*cking through hell and back, through so many years, thousands and thousands, a thousand days at least on the road together, it just kind of. Man, we hugged and we went to the corners, I looked out in the crowd and there were people crying because everybody knew we were leaving.

Steve: People crying in Madison Square Garden, when you get over in front of a Garden crowd whether they love you or love to hate you, they love you, and you’re over, and you are part of that family so to speak and they pay money to see you’re a$s, if you can get over in front of a Garden crowd, you can get over anywhere.

Kevin: Yeah. It was a moment in retrospect you know was it the right thing to do? Probably not but it was never done with any kind of malice. It was asked for, it was done out of respect for the guys, we did a little thing at the end where me and Scott kind of like squared off with Hunter and Shawn. Basically what we had talked about in the car was this isn’t the end of the Clique man, this is just divide and conquer. We’re going to go down south and take over the other f*cking company while you guys still f*cking run this one. We basically looked at it as the Kliq is going to run the wrestling world. That’s the way we looked at it.

What made this exchange so great is that you get to hear how the incident was viewed from two different perspectives. Nash of course was involved in the incident and gives some insight into what he was thinking at the time but you also get Austin’s perspective which was much different. Austin was not only a part of the WWE roster at the time, but he watched the whole thing go down from backstage. Listening to him tell Nash what he was thinking as he watched it may have been the best part of the entire exchange.

Listen to the entire podcast here – http://www.podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=436&pid=260486

Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time

nWo: The Revolution DVD

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There is nothing more exciting than seeing the WWE championship change hands. The most prestigious belt in pro wrestling has been won more than 100 times but only a few are what I’d call shockers. Today I look back on those shocking moments and count down the top 10.

Seeing the WWE title change hands today is nice but it is nothing like watching a title change hands 20, 30, or even a mere 10 years ago. Title changes were rare and when they happened, the world knew about them. Most champions were guys you expected to get the big push at some point, yet there were some that stunned pro wrestling fans.

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at those stunning moments. What I found interesting in doing the research for this is that out of the 100+ times the title changed hands, only a small percentage of switches are what I’d call shockers or upsets. That is why when those shockers did happen, you never forgot about them.

Keep in mind that these ten shockers are in no particular order. Leave a comment if you agree, disagree, or want to let me know I missed one.

The Iron Sheik defeats Bob Backlund to win the WWF championship (December 26, 1983 MSG): I’ll start with one the shocker that had the most impact on me as a wrestling fan. I was 11 and was in a state of shock when I called the WWE hotline and heard the result. It must have been a mistake right? The Iron Sheik was getting a strong push at the time but I don’t think anyone saw it coming. It wasn’t as if the Sheik was beating big names on his way up. He went over Tony Garea the previous show at MSG, not exactly a setup to the strap. Seeing Backlund run through everyone as a kid had me thinking that the Sheik would be easy pickings for the champ. I never took the injury storyline into account and one towel throw later we had a new champion. To me, this was the biggest shocker of all-time.

Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino to win the WWWF championship (January 18, 1971 MSG): Now to me the Sheik’s win was the biggest shocker but to those that lived the era, nothing will be bigger than Koloff beating Sammartino. Nobody expected it! Bruno once told me that he thought he went deaf after he lost because the place was silent. They were so shocked they were speechless! Behind the scenes Bruno wanted a reduced schedule and the plan was put in place to have Koloff transition to Pedro Morales. Koloff bodyslammed Sammartino, went up top, dropped the knee, and won the title in front of a stunned New York crowd ending Bruno’s seven year historic reign.

The Miz defeats Randy Orton to win the WWE championship (November 22, 2010 RAW): The thing about this one was that you had a feeling that The Miz was going to cash in his Money in the Bank at some point but this was a bit of a shocker. I took a look back at results around this time and Miz was barely even wrestling on the pay per views. Orton wrestled Wade Barrett on RAW in a super hot match. Orton’s knee was injured by Nexus earlier in the night and worked on throughout the match. Orton won with the RKO and was leaning on the ropes post match when The Miz came out to cash in. What’s funny about this is if you watch the match back on YouTube the fans really don’t even care when Miz comes out which is ironic because the crowd was super hot during Orton vs. Barrett. Miz reversed an RKO into a Skull Crushing Finale for the win and the title. I’m sorry but MITB winner or not, I never saw this one coming.

Bob Backlund defeats Bret Hart to win the WWE championship (Survivor Series 1994): This is an odd one because on paper, what is so shocking about a former WWE champion winning the title? What you have to understand is that Backlund was a much different wrestler here and was not booked like a former champion. Backlund didn’t have any big wins yet in the run and was stuck wrestling guys like Doink the Clown. The finish of this Throw in the Towel match had Owen Hart swerve his brother and throw in the towel. Bret losing to Backlund wasn’t expected at all and at the time, this was a shocker.

Andre the Giant defeats Hulk Hogan to win the WWF championship (The Main Event): Most of you already know about this legendary match but I still call it a shocker. At the time Hogan had been running strong for over four years as champion, beating everyone and anyone that challenged him. Once Andre fell to Hulk at WrestleMania 3, I never had the feeling that he’d be going over to get the title. He did and we all know how it played out with the Hebners double crossing Hulk. More people watched this match than any other match in pro wrestling history. 33 million people were probably wondering what the heck happened that infamous night in Indianapolis.

Bret Hart defeats Ric Flair to win the WWF championship (October 12, 1992 Saskatoon, SK): Bret Hart winning the title is not a shocker. Bret Hart winning the WWE title in 1992 was a stunner and some may argue after Koloff’s win, the biggest shock of all. The WWE was the land of the giants at the time and Bret did not fit the mold of WWE champion. He was a heck of a worker but he was missing that giant, monster look. The business had changed and Vince McMahon took a gamble and reinvented his company by putting the belt on Bret. We all saw Bret on the rise but if anyone was expecting to win the belt that night in Saskatoon, those people should be playing the lottery.

Sheamus defeats John Cena to win the WWE championship (TLC 2009): Sheamus is an established main-eventer today but in 2009 he was just an ECW guy. Thanks to RAW Guest Host Jesse Ventura, Sheamus had the opportunity to compete to win a title shot and did. Sheamus came on strong and pulled off a major shocker when he defeated John Cena in their first title match at TLC. Cena wasn’t even champion for a month and nobody expected him to lose it so quickly, especially to an “ECW guy.”

Kane defeats Steve Austin to win the WWE championship (King of the Ring 1998): King of the Ring is remembered for Mick Foley’s crazy bumps but what most fans don’t realize is that Stone Cold’s title reign also came to an end that night. When Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 14 most expected he would have a long run at the top with the title. What most people probably don’t realize who weren’t around back then is that Austin’s first reign only lasted a day short of three months. Kane was getting a big push but he was still a bit cartoonish for fans to take him seriously. Kane wound up winning the title from Austin in a First Blood match that shocked most WWE fans. Fortunately for the Stone Cold army he regained the title one night later on RAW.

Sgt. Slaughter defeats The Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF championship (Royal Rumble 1991): Slaughter was red hot at the time but all signs seemed to be pointing to a big WrestleMania rematch between the Warrior and Hulk Hogan. Warrior rarely lost and the idea of him losing to Slaughter didn’t seem fathomable. Randy Savage ran down the aisle and cracked Warrior on the head with the Scepter while the referee’s back was turned to give Sarge the win.

Psycho Sid defeats Bret Hart to win the WWF championship (February 17, 1997 Monday Night RAW): Bret as champion was heading towards WrestleMania 13 in a WWE championship match with Steve Austin. That was the main-event that everyone wanted to see at the time. Bret finally won the championship in a Fatal Four-Way and wound up defending against Sid the next night on RAW. Nobody expected Bret to lose because a) he just won the night before and b) Bret vs. Austin would have been a big WWE title match. Austin ran down the aisle and nailed Bret with a chair as he had Sid in the Sharpshooter. Sid power bombed Bret and three seconds later became new WWE champion.

Pro Wrestling Radio returns live tonight May 22 at 8 PM/EST! Listen live and join the chat on http://ProWrestlingRadio.com/listen!

WWE: Extreme Rules 2013 DVD

The History of the WWE Championship DVD

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Josh Barnett is coming home. The seventh Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion has signed a multi-fight deal to return to the octagon for the first time in over eleven years.

I may be wrong but I can’t remember another UFC star or former champion that had such a large gap between runs as Barnett’s eleven years. MMAJunkie.com broke the news earlier this week that after months of negotiating, Barnett and the UFC finally agreed on a deal.

“USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with promotion officials that former UFC heavyweight champion Barnett has signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to make his return to the octagon later this year. An official announcement is expected soon.”

This is big news to a heavyweight division that has been up and down over the last several years in regards to star power. The signing immediately puts Barnett into the championship mix if you the company wants to play up the storyline that Barnett never lost the belt. The only problem with that tale is that the reason Barnett was stripped of the title was a positive PED test.

I think that the biggest asset Barnett brings to the promotion is his ability to talk. Some would argue that Barnett is the best talker in all of Mixed Martial-Arts. Barnett is a longtime professional wrestling fan and has brought some of those elements into MMA with his promos and style. The one thing you can say about Barnett is that he gets it. You can probably list the good talkers in the UFC on one hand, which is kind of sad if you think about the number of fighters on the roster. Don’t be surprised if Barnett immediately becomes one of the biggest draws in the company.

Now whether Barnett can back any of his verbal attacks up in the octagon is another story. Barnett is 9-1 in his last ten fights. The knock on this record is the quality of competition. There is nobody on that list of nine wins who would impress anyone. I’d say his most impressive wins came in seven years ago when he put together back to back wins over Mark Hunt and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Barnett’s last two fights against quality competition were a Nogueira rematch and Daniel Cormier which were both losses. To his credit he wasn’t finished in any of those two fights.

What do you do with Barnett? Dana White said a few weeks ago that his original plan for Barnett was a fight with Junior Dos Santos. JDS is fighting Mark Hunt at UFC 161 and all indications are that he would get a title shot with a win. I would imagine a loss would set him up for a fight with Overeem. I suppose you can match him up with Mark Hunt if Hunt were to lose. Alistair Overeem is rumored to have a fight agreement in place with Travis Browne but I haven’t heard anything official so I guess you can say he is in the mix. Frank Mir and Antonio Silva (if he were to lose to Cain) are also viable options. Unfortunately nothing really jumps out at me as anything I’d get excited about other than a fight with Velasquez.

Barnett and Dana White have had their issues over the years. However, White has had an eye on Barnett for awhile. When Barnett was signed to fight Fedor I remember White saying he’d consider bringing Barnett back if he won. The fight fell through and Barnett wound up in Strikeforce.

The biggest surprise to me is that Viacom/Spike showed no interest in signing Barnett. Barnett would have been a perfect signing for a TNA Wrestling/Bellator crossover, the same way King Mo was intended to be used. Barnett is a pro wrestler and has even headlined shows in Japan. The marriage seemed like a natural yet from all accounts Bellator and Spike showed no interest.

GSP – The Way of the Fight Book

Anderson Silva – MMA Instruction Manual: The Muay Thai Clinch, Takedowns, Takedown Defense, and Ground Fighting

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Never has a Madden game produced as much controversy as last Madden 13. The backlash was immediate when the game arrived without the coveted franchise mode. EA did the best they could to fix it after the game was released but the big question now is what the franchise mode will look like in Madden 25.

I can tell you that I was one of those angry old-school Madden players that looked on with confusion as I tried to find the franchise mode last year. Yes I saw Connected Careers but that couldn’t be the franchise mode right? Nope it was and it missed some of my favorite elements about the game. It would appear after looking at some early reports regarding this year’s game is that the mode is back with some returning elements.

One of the biggest points of contention for me was the inability to import NCAA draft classes into my franchise mode. The reason the franchise mode appealed to me was that I could play with realistic players well past the end of that current season. Last year’s game took away that option and I quickly found myself bored with the mode after the second season. That won’t happen in Madden 25.

EA will bring back the NCAA draft class import to Madden 25. This is great news and a real bright spot early on as the hype begins for Maddenoliday 25. It also creates a little incentive to go out and get the NCAA game first. I passed on NCAA last year after import classes were abandoned.

Franchise careers as it is called has also brought back one of my other favorite features to the game. Players will now have the ability to control all 32 teams during a season. That was a big omission last year and another reason I grew tired quickly of the connected careers mode. I always enjoyed jumping into a big whether my true franchise team was involved or not. Removing that option made no sense to me and I am glad it’s back.

EA is off to a great start but there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered about the updated franchise careers mode. Is the fantasy draft back? Last year EA added the draft but only to online careers mode play. Quite frankly I didn’t care whether it was on or offline but plenty of players did, I was just happy it was back. I haven’t seen anything confirmed one way or the other on this mode.

Another big problem I had with last year’s game was the use of legends. The only way to play one of the legends like Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Lawrence Taylor, or Michael Irvin was to play them in superstar mode. Superstar mode is probably one of the most ridiculous features I have ever seen in a Madden game. Why can’t I have access to these legends in the franchise mode? I understand that the addition of legends would really blow up the mode, so why not offer it as an option when setting up your league?

The owners mode appears to have a ton of activity and options for players that desire to have a hands on approach to running their entire franchise. Again this is a mode that I never had time for. I really don’t care how much I charge for hot dogs or parking. I am playing Madden to win games! However, you are in luck if you are into that kind of activity.

Quite honestly I am still on the fence about whether I am going to buy Madden. I grew tired of last year’s game faster than any other Madden game and I have been playing since year one. The playbooks rarely change year to year and the game play has grown stale to me. The returning elements to the franchise mode certainly has me interested, but they still have some work to do before I place my annual pre-order.

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I haven’t watched many WWE DVD documentaries lately but when I came across Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time I immediately ended by Netflix search. The home video offers the fascinating story to Austin’s rise and a flashback to one of the most fun eras in WWE history.

I have always been an Austin fan, even going back to when I first saw him come into USWA so I was hooked the second the movie started. Austin does a great job throughout the movie of remaining true to his Stone Cold persona yet opening up about his career highs and lows. I have to admit that I felt old pretty fast watching the old footage of Austin in USWA and his early WCW run.

They breezed through his career in WCW fairly quickly considering he had a pretty solid four years there. They briefly touched on his run with the Dangerous Alliance, although Paul Heyman had comments throughout the video.

Austin did spend a little bit of time talking about one of my favorite teams of all-time, the Hollywood Blondes with Brian Pillman. It was interesting hearing all of the booking inconsistencies that were going on behind the scenes right around this time. Ricky Steamboat talked a lot about his run against the Blondes on my radio show years ago and how the upper card guys would get upset that they would work hard on house shows. Austin never mentioned that, although he did talk about his singles series with Steamboat.

Austin talks about being fired by Eric Bischoff over the phone and then later via Fed Ex. Austin has matured quite a bit over the years because he was very diplomatic here, even going as far as to say that he agrees with the decision Bischoff made. In the past Austin has cut promos on WCW and Bischoff for the firing so this was a new twist on it. I guess it’s easy to understand when the decision ultimately led to Austin becoming the biggest draw in WWE history.

Austin’s run in ECW was covered and what a memorable run it was. Quite frankly Austin started to reveal his Stone Cold character here in ECW before he unleashed it in the WWE. Austin enjoyed his run in ECW and was surprised he was going to get paid to just come in and cut promos.

Austin then goes to the WWE and struggles a bit early on. Austin talks about the origins of the Stone Cold character which unveils a pretty funny story about WWE creative. Austin said he went to the WWE with the Stone Cold idea and they sent him a bunch of new names back. The names are shown and they all look like someone you’d see today in FCW. Austin pushed back and of course the rest is history.

Austin’s WWE run was covered and he opens up about some behind the scenes issues that were never or rarely addressed. He goes in detail about his serious neck injuries and it really is a reminder about a) how close he was to having his career ended at his peak and b) how much pain he was probably in for most of his run. Austin shows a real personal side when he reveals his insecurities with having to sit out while The Rock was getting red hot.

Austin’s infamous heel turn was covered in great length. Austin says it was his idea to turn heel and he pushed for it. Austin says in hindsight that he wishes he’d never done it, as do most of us. It’s funny because people remember it now as a real fail but I didn’t think it was that bad at the time.

Austin goes into great detail about the time he walked out after WrestleMania 18. Austin says he was frustrated going into WrestleMania that he wasn’t working with Hulk Hogan in the main-event. That is funny because I always heard that Austin didn’t want to work with Hogan. He says he was having a lot of personal issues at the time and was done when he heard the plan was for him to lose to Brock Lesnar on RAW in a King of the Ring qualifier. Austin emphasizes, “A qualifier?” Triple H comments that it wasn’t the right thing to do. What I found slightly disappointing here was that McMahon never actually explained why he was going with that plan in the first place. That is what I left the segment wondering. Was Vince planning on jobbing Austin out? Did Vince think Austin was done? What exactly was the motivation behind it? Austin was still red hot at the time so even in hindsight it doesn’t make sense. Austin says he wished he handled it differently, yet I kind of think he was right here unless there was some master plan that wasn’t so obvious.

The absolute best part of this documentary is the numerous clips that are shown throughout the movie, a lot of them which are available on the Blu-ray and DVD versions. I was always a big Stone Cold fan but I even forgot about how much fun it was to watch Monday Night RAW and WWE television when Austin was coming into his own and at his peak. I found myself popping and laughing several times as if I had just watched them for the first time.

This leads me to another question I’d love to know. Why in the world is Stone Cold not on WWE television today? I wrote a lengthy blog on this last week and it just boggled my mind when I finished the DVD. Here you have the biggest draw in WWE history doing nothing in pro wrestling. He can’t be on television every week if he isn’t wrestling but the video shows how much versatility he had as a performer. Not having Austin on television every 6-8 weeks is criminal at this point. I don’t know if there is some kind of heat between both sides which quite honestly I hope there is because if there is not, the WWE are just clueless.

Austin begins to wrap up the documentary by thanking the fans. There are some wrestlers you have seen thank fans on their videos that don’t seem authentic and others that do. Maybe he’s working but I really found Austin humble here the way he showed his appreciation for the fans. Austin mentioned his Twitter account and how he uses it to stay in touch with fans and answer questions.

All in all this was one of the fastest 2 and a half hours I have ever spent watching a WWE home video. I can’t imagine anything much better coming along anytime soon from the home video division. Next to some of the old school documentaries this was far and away the best documentary that the company has ever produced and a must watch for anyone who had the honor of watching pro wrestling during the Stone Cold era.

Disc 1

Football and Wrestling
Rookie of the Year
From Hollywood California
A Platform
Fang McFrost
Main Event Momentum
1% Tough, 99% Lucky
Raising Hell
Tyson & Austin
Austin Era Has Begun
Cultural Phenomenon
Stooges
The Boss
Rattlesnake vs. Brahma Bull
Difficult Decisions
Return to Mania
Stone Cold Comedy
Really? I’m Not Coming!
One More Round
The Law of Monday Night RAW
The Show Never Ends
New Horizons
Somewhere Down In Texas

Disc 2

Stunning Steve Austin vs. Gentleman Chris Adams
USWA – May 1990

Stunning Steve Austin & Ric Flair vs. Sting & Ricky Steamboat
WCW Saturday Night – July 30, 1994

King of the Ring Final
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Jake The Snake Roberts
King of the Ring – June 23, 1996

Submission Match
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
W/ Alternate Commentary By: Steve Austin & Jim Ross
WrestleMania 13 – March 23, 1997

Intercontinental Championship Match
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock
In Your House: D-Generation X – December 7, 1997

WWE Championship Match
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels
W/ Alternate Commentary By: Steve Austin & Jim Ross
WrestleMania 14 – March 29, 1998

Disc 3

Hardcore Match for the WWE Championship
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Dude Love
Over the Edge – May 31, 1998

WWE Championship Match
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker
SummerSlam – August 30, 1998

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Big Show
RAW – March 22, 1999

No Disqualification Match for the WWE Championship
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock
WrestleMania 15 – March 28, 1999

No Disqualification Match for the WWE Championship
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Rock
W/ Alternate Commentary By: Steve Austin & Jim Ross
WrestleMania 17 – April 1, 2001

Disc 4

A Flare for the Old
WCW Saturday Night – June 5, 1993

A Bunch of Violent Crap
ECW Hardcore TV – October 10, 1995

WCW Monday Nyquil
ECW Hardcore TV – October 31, 1995

Flat Out Disgusted
ECW Hardcore TV – December 19, 1995

My Exact Opinion of Bret Hart
In Your House: Mind Games – September 22, 1996

Stone Cold on Livewire
Livewire – October 19, 1996

Home Invasion
RAW – November 4, 1996

1996 New Sensation Award
Slammy Awards Show – March 21, 1997

Freedom of Speech Award
Slammy Awards Show – March 21, 1997

Ambulance Attack
RAW – April 21, 1997

The World’s Most Famous Stunner
RAW – September 22, 1997

Tyson and Austin!
RAW – January 19, 1998

The Easy Way or the Hard Way
RAW – March 30, 1998

Zamboni 3:16
RAW – September 28, 1998

Paging Dr. Austin
RAW – October 5, 1998

McMahon’s Cement Corvette
RAW – October 12, 1998

Bang 3:16
RAW – October 19, 1998

Beer Truck
RAW – March 22, 1999

The Funeral of Stone Cold Steve Austin
RAW – April 19, 1999

Austin’s Revenge
Survivor Series – November 19, 2000

Jim Ross Interviews Steve Austin and The Rock
SmackDown – March 22, 2001

Gift Giving Mood
SmackDown – July 5, 2001

Mr. McMahon’s Alliance Woes
SmackDown – July 12, 2001

The Old Stone Cold
SmackDown – July 19, 2001

Whataburger
RAW – January 14, 2002

The Highlight Reel
SmackDown – June 7, 2003

Blu-ray Exclusive Special Features

“Stone Cold” Answers Your Twitter Questions
The Sportatorium
The T-Shirt
The Broken Skull Ranch

Blu-ray Exclusive Matches

No Mercy – May 16, 1999
Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Triple H

Raw – Oct. 8, 2001
WWE Championship Match
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle

No Mercy – Oct. 21, 2001
Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam

WrestleMania XIX – March 30, 2003
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Rock

Blu-ray Exclusive Moments

WCW Saturday Night – May 15, 1993
A Flair for the Gold

Superstars – Nov. 17, 1996
The Biggest Draw in the World

Superstars – March 23, 1997
The Foundation of the WWE
Raw – Aug. 18, 1997
You Want a Pear? You Want an Apple?

Raw – March 17, 2003
Post-Raw: “Stone Cold” Has Some Words with The Rock

WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony – April 4, 2009
Vince McMahon Inducts “Stone Cold” Steve Austin into the Hall of Fame

WrestleMania 25 – April 5, 2009
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin Salutes Texas

Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time

Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time [Blu-ray]

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The Internet Wrestling Community have been in a frenzy after seeing John Cena leave Extreme Rules 2013 with the WWE championship. Some fans are calling for boycotts, some are calling for change, but at the end of the day this is the WWE you are stuck with it and Cena isn’t going anywhere.

Look let me get this right out of the way. I am not a Cena fan at all. I think his promos are terrible, I have little interest in watching him wrestle, and I doubt I’d be a wrestling fan if this were the WWE I grew up with. So before you go and accuse me of being a Cena fan, please think again. I can’t stand watching the man.

That said, the outrage is bordering on ridiculous. At this point you are better off turning RAW off and deleting your WWE.com bookmarks because the guy isn’t going anywhere by choice. John Cena is here to stay and while you and I are tired of his act, we are in the minority. Cena is still a mega merchandise seller, a ratings magnet, and oh I don’t know just drew one of the biggest buyrates in history against The Rock. To expect the WWE to do anything else but give him a big push is just selfish and short sighted.

I also think that people are being incredibly unfair to Cena. I was on Twitter during Extreme Rules and the second his match against Ryback ended I saw a slew of “Super Cena” tweets that mocked the champion’s survival against his monster opponent. Cena doesn’t need me to defend him but the guy has been pushed as anything but super over the last year.

“Cena wins again” was the big complaint and believe me, I get it. But let’s take a look back at 2012 and how Cena fared during the year. Not to good! As much criticism as he receives for being “super”, he put over CM Punk quite a few times during their run. Without those wins Punk would have never ascended as a top superstar so there is certainly a bit of gratitude owed Cena in helping get someone over. He also put over Dolph Ziggler, The Rock, and even freaking Tensai! The criticism may have been warranted a few years ago, but certainly not in the last year and a half.

Put yourself in Vince McMahon’s role right now and what would you do? Sure it’s easy to say “push Punk” or “push Daniel Bryan” to the top and I get it. I’d love to watch a WWE show with those guys on top. Unfortunately the mass audience doesn’t. Cena is the only consistent full-time draw he has had for the last several years. Vince McMahon may be a lot of things but he isn’t an idiot. If business trends showed Cena on the decline and someone else ascending, he’d make the change. They haven’t.

The problem isn’t John Cena and his push. I am not a fan but if I was running the company I’d push him too! The problem is the inability to create stars that appeal across the board like Cena does. Do you really think that Vince McMahon or anyone else in charge wants anyone to have as much power as Cena does? In a perfect world they’d want an assortment of top stars as opposed to relying on one guy to carry the brand. If Cena goes down with an injury or decides to hold the company up for massive money, they are screwed! They know that, they’ve been there before. Believe me I am sure that Vince McMahon hates the idea of the WWE Universe revolving around one person more than you do.

Regarding Extreme Rules, the right decision was made. It’s funny because a lot of the same people criticizing Cena are the same ones who were mocking Ryback months ago when he was doing squashes. Now you want him in your main-events? The WWE made the right call. Ryback has little momentum right now and isn’t moving numbers whatsoever as the top heel. The ship has sailed on the viability of putting the title on him. Maybe that ship docks again but that ship is drifting far off from the docks. The company made the right call by keeping the title on Cena.

Now could they have booked a better finish? That finish was horrible considering that they had a Last Man Standing stipulation. I don’t care who was wrestling, that was just a terrible finish. There is a reason no official announcement was made on the event.

At the end of the day you have your right to complain about Cena but your voice is a very tiny voice among a rabid Cena fan base of women, kids, and teenagers that continue to invest their time and money into the WWE champ. Expected the WWE to do anything different right now is just foolish.

WWE: Extreme Rules 2013 DVD

WWE: WrestleMania 29 DVD

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WWE Extreme Rules 2013 will be remembered by me for some of the strangest booking in recent memory. If you watched the show and are still wondering how a guy who walked away from a Last Man Standing Match isn’t the new champion, you aren’t alone.

John Cena retained the WWE championship or so I think in a Last Man Standing Match against Ryback in one of the weirdest finishes I can remember seeing on a WWE event in ages. The story here was Cena’s injured ankle which the announcers brought up several times throughout the match. The match was probably worlds better than you expected if you haven’t seen it. These two guys broke a lot of tables and kept the action moving for most of the bout. Both guys hit power bombs for near falls. There were certainly a couple of questionable moments in the match that will probably make it on a future Botchmania video. The match got a little corny as it hit the halfway mark. Nobody sold a thing to the point that it just got ridiculous. They’d hit each other with everything and get back up a few seconds later. One of the things that was also a bit odd is that they really put over this ankle injury yet Ryback barley worked on it. They fought in the crowd at one point, although at a safe distance from fans. Ryback actually pulled off a piece of the barricade/wall and hit Cena with it. Cena miraculously recovered in record time and caught Ryback in a sleeper hold. Cena jumped off a level and put Ryback through a table on the floor. Cena proceeded to use a fire extinguisher on Ryback. Cena went for the A.A. on the stage but Ryback picked him up and speared him through the wall. Both guys were seen down in the back and unconscious. The fans booed it and rightfully so. Ryback got up and limped while Cena was stretchered out with a neck brace.

The sad part about all of this is that these guys were having a hell of a match until it hit the floor. Once they hit the floor it just got a bit too cartoonish for my tastes. What is even stranger here is that this was a Last Man Standing Match and Ryback limped off yet he wasn’t announced as the winner. It makes no sense to me. Hey the finish is fine but why would you do it in a Last Man Standing Match unless both guys are going to get stretchered out? I don’t see how Ryback can’t be recognized as WWE champion by the rules of the match. Who knows? I guess you could say that neither guy got up at the count of ten but the image of one guy walking out and the other stretchered said something different. Believe it or not they never gave an official result.

Brock Lesnar went 2-1 on Triple H at Extreme Rules. Triple H attacked Lesnar as he was walking to the ring. Lesnar did a spot where he hurt his knee. He told Heyman through the cage that he hurt his knee. Hunter immediately went to work on it. I found this kind of odd to work a knee injury a match after they just worked an injury angle. I also found it kind of odd that they would have their monster showing that kind of vulnerability. Talk about a strangely booked show. Heyman told Lesnar to “shake it off.” Hunter brutalized Lesnar’s knee with the chair. The announcers certainly went out of their way to give Lesnar sympathy, setting up the babyface turn. Heyman came into the cage at one point and was pedigreed. Hunter pedigreed Brock immediately thereafter who kicked out at 2 ½ for a near finish.  One odd spot saw Hunter apply the Sharpshooter onto Brock. I say odd considering all of the negative things that Bret Hart has had to say about Hunter in recent weeks. Hunter got his hands on a sledgehammer and went to use it before Heyman gave Triple H a low blow.  Lesnar wound up using the sledgehammer on Triple H and KO’ing him. Lesnar than F5’d Triple H and pinned him. I must be crazy because I thought this match had old school rules where you can only win by leaving the cage.

It wasn’t a bad match but highly disappointing in regards to how it was built up. It was promoted as an “old school” cage match which to me means blood and brutality. Was it brutal? That is debatable. But to promote the violence of the cage match and not deliver any blood was a bit kind of weak if you ask me.

The Shield had a big night at Extreme Rules. Seth Rollings and Roman Reigns defeated Team Hell No to win the WWE tag team championship while Dean Ambrose defeated Kofi Kingston to win the United States championship. Reigns had Bryan in the torture rack and Rollins came off the top rope with a kneedrop and Reigns pinned Bryan to win the match. It was a real fun match, Tornado style but it was a bit short as was Ambrose’s win. Regarding Ambrose’s win, it should be noted that Ambrose had zero help from the rest of The Shield. Ambrose pinned Kofi with a standing bulldog or a headlock DDT (best way to describe it) after Kingston missed Trouble in Paradise. This was a really good match that opened up hot and stayed hot. JBL put over hard how Kofi could have won the match by count out at one point and rolled Ambrose into the ring. I have no idea if this is the plan but I’d love to see this be the start of a SummerSlam main-event between Ambrose and John Cena for the WWE championship.

Alberto Del Rio defeated Jack Swagger in an I-Quit Match to become the number one contender. The referee originally awarded the match to Jack Swagger after Zeb threw a towel in and the ref thought it was Del Rio’s. Another referee came out, instant replay was used, and the match was restarted. Del Rio than quickly won with an armbar to earn a title shot at Dolph Ziggler when Ziggler comes back from his concussion.

Chris Jericho also pinned Fandango to open up the show. Fandango came down off the top rope and was nailed with the Code Breaker. This was a solid opener but the big news here to me is Fandango losing. Fandango had some nice momentum coming out of WrestleMania so the loss here was a bit surprising.

I’m not a Fandango fan but finishes like this just make me scratch my head. The WWE caught magic in a bottle last year with Ryback. Why? Because he was undefeated and by the time he got to CM Punk people thought he was something special. Growing up in the 80s watching wrestling the formula was simple. A new guy would come in, he’d go through a few guys and remain undefeated until he fell to the champion. It amazes me that the same guy who watched his father apply that formula for decades can’t commit to anyone. Again this isn’t a rant on beating Fandango because I like Fandango. It’s a rant on the WWE once again failing to give these new guys any steam and build for future title matches.

Full WWE Extreme Rules 2013 Results & Winners…
Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H in a Steel Cage Match
John Cena vs. Ryback in a Last Man Standing Match for WWE championship ended in a no-contest
Sheamus defeated Mark Henry in a Strap Match
Randy Orton defeated Big Show in a No Holds Barred Match
Alberto Del Rio defeated Jack Swagger in an I Quit Match
Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan & Kane in a Tornado Match to win the WWE tag team championship
Dean Ambrose defeated Kofi Kingston to win the U.S. title
Chris Jericho defeated Fandango
The Miz defeated Cody Rhodes

WWE: Extreme Rules 2013 DVD

WWE: WrestleMania 29 DVD

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