WWE Superstars Talk WWE '13, The Attitude Era and Growing Up Watching Wrestling

The following is taken from a press conference/Q&A hosted by Jim Ross on behalf of THQ to promote WWE ’13. It took place the night before SummerSlam 2012. The content of the Q&A has been slightly edited for the sake of making smoother reading.

Featuring: Jim Ross, Steve Austin, Mike Tyson, CM Punk, Sheamus, Brodus Clay, The Funkadactyls, Dolph Ziggler and AJ

[HOST] Jim Ross: Being in the business for 38 years, I’ve seen and done a lot of things that have been really fun, and some not so fun, but this has been one of the most enjoyable experiences that I’ve had in 38 years, and I haven’t been paid to say that, and I’m not bullshitting anybody, I believe that to be true in my heart, that we’ve had so much fun putting this game together, this great crew, the innovations are astonishing of how real these games look, and I know, when Jerry Lawler and I got together to recreate our Attitude Era commentary, it was really wonderful for me sitting on the sidelines and enjoying the action now and re-inventing that time frame. We’ll talk more about that.

We have quite the panel, we’re going to have a little panel discussion. I have no idea how it’s going to go. We have a unique panel, and they have no idea what I’m going to ask them, and, of course, with Stone Cold here, and CM Punk, and Mike Tyson, none of my questions will be too volatile… or will they?

I’d like to introduce our panelists, starting off with a fascinating talent, a great act, they’re very energising, they’re fun to be around, they’re just beginning their journey in the WWE, they’re making their debut in WWE ’13. It think they’re fun, and I’m an old guy, and I’d like to introduce Brodus Clay, Naomi and Cameron.

Our next panelist has a huge opportunity tomorrow to put his career in a direction people will never forget, because he’s going to wrestle Chris Jericho at SummerSlam. He’s an amazing athlete, please welcome the Money in the Bank briefcase winner; Dolph Ziggler.

Our next panelist is the new RAW General Manager, and she has seat 1A on the crazy train. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome AJ. Chuck Taylor’s never looked so good.

The World Heavyweight Champion, the first Irish born World Heavyweight Champion. The boy’s as tough as they come and he’s in this video game, all over it, and he’s vivid and aggressive, and he’s been working on his tan, please welcome Sheamus.

Ladies and gentlemen, this man defines the Attitude Era. He is the greatest superstar in the history of our business. He revolutionised the WWE and there’s only one, they broke the mould, please welcome Stone Cold.

Ladies and gentlemen, our next panelist is one of the most amazing athletes to step inside a squared circle. As a young broadcaster, I’d always dreamed of what it would be like to call one of his matches, one of his fights, and he is going to be performing, competing, fighting, wrestling in WWE ’13. He made an amazing impact for the WWE, and his contributions can’t be ignored, because he bought amazing mainstream publicity to our brand in the late ’90’s. It’s my pleasure to welcome “Iron” Mike Tyson.

And, our final panelist is the number one man in the WWE because he is the WWE Champion. He’ll be defending that Championship tomorrow against two men at SummerSlam, please welcome CM Punk.

The most authentic video game we’ve ever done, seamless, the action is amazing and only one person, however, could be on the cover, and that is the WWE Champion, so my first question is to CM Punk; What does it mean to you, as a professional, to be on the cover of what is expected to be the widest sold video game in our history?

CM Punk: When I was a little kid, I had goals in life, and I didn’t know how I was going to achieve those, and one of them was to be in a video game, and one of them was to be an action figure. I’ve done both those things many times over so, for me, to be on the cover of the video game just proves that I’m the man right now, I’m the best in the world, because, if you want to sell your video game, you put the number one guy in the industry on it and, as far as I know, the pre-sales are doing very, very well, the Championship is not going anywhere on Sunday, so, come October, when you buy THQ’s WWE ’13, you will be purchasing it with the WWE Champion on the cover and to me, it’s everything, and it means I’m the guy and, you know, I worked very hard to be that guy, so it means hard work’s paying off.

Sheamus, you’re a hard worker, that’s how you got here, and, as a lad from Ireland, what are you most looking forward to in WWE ’13, other than yourself and your lovely pasty skin?

Sheamus: That’s the second time you’ve mentioned how pasty and white I am. I’m not ill by the way.

You are a handsome young man though, I must say.

Sheamus: Thank you, Obviously, being a fan of WWE since I was four or five years old, I’ve watched WWE throughout the years, I’ve followed numerous superstars from “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, of course “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, and, to me, the Attitude Era was definitely a great time for the WWE, it was a great change, and I’m really digging the storyline, the Attitude Era storyline, where you get to relive moments from that great period, especially as superstars the Shawn Michaels / Bret Hart screw-job, the rise of “Stone Cold”, the emergence of D-X, the D-X era, The Rock, I’m really excited about those storylines, I think it’s new, it’s old, but it’s new again, and, to mix it up, you’ve got all the current superstars. I think it’s going to be very exciting.

The storyline aspect of this video game is multi-layered, you can really select your own storyline, and there are many from the Attitude Era, and, AJ, you are now the RAW General Manager, and you’ve competed in the ring, but you were certainly a young lady when the Attitude Era was in full force. Now that you’ve been announced as a player on this roster, and that was announced, I think, today, what does it mean to you, as a fan, that you’ve finally made it to this video game?

AJ: Oh my gosh, I literally cried today. I’m a DLC, but it’s amazing, like, I made myself in the CAW mode, as it was called at the time, in all the Smackdown vs. Raw’s, so, I’m just kind of a big kid, so it’s surreal to actually be in it. Like Punk was saying, it’s kind of a dream, you know, it’s one of the things that you dream of, one of your objectives, to actually figure in a video game, and this is actually my first time with that happening. Everything’s happened within one year and it’s been mind-blowing.

Thank you. I remember my first time in a video game. I called an Abraham Lincoln / Douglas match back in Illinois in 1861. Abe slipped over, they had a return planned, but the election and John Wilkes Booth interfered.

“Iron” Mike Tyson, “Iron” Mike ladies and gentlemen, for any consumer who pre-orders WWE ’13, you’ll be able to play the baddest man on the planet in this video game for the very first time in a WWE ring and, Mike, I know you’re obviously known for many things, nothing more, in my view, than your fighting, and your spirit, and your warrior mentality with your fists, so what can we expect from “Iron” Mike Tyson in the this video game?

Mike Tyson: Many, many wonderful things, man. I don’t know, when you think about it, being a part of the WWE, especially at a time when I was really in an attitude era. I’d just bit Evander’s ear, you know, and I joined the program with Mr. Stone Cold right here, and we broke a lot of records back then, we did a really good job and I’m just, I’m just thankful really. What I’m really trying to convey is gratitude really. It was really awesome being a part of this, and I’m just looking forward to doing more stuff with the WWE. This is really just a breaking point of a lot of wonderful things, thank you.

Thank you Mike. Mike bought a lot of attitude to his fights…

CM Punk: Can I say something really quick?

Certainly.

CM Punk: I think it’s super cool that Mike Tyson is in this video game, because, when I was a kid, I played Mike Tyson’s Punch Out constantly. This was the first guy they actually made a video game for, you know, so, for him to be in WWE ’13, I, you know, I think that’s full circle.

My next question is… let’s go to the Attitude Era and talk about that, Mike ate it up. One of the great elements of WWE ’13 is the Attitude Era. They are eight superstars from the Attitude Era given prominence, the story lines run deep, you can have matches in arenas around the world and all sorts of stipulations and the audio, the crowd, the feeling, the passion is there. The man who really started that Attitude Era is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and, unquestionably, he’s the man who’s most associated with this Attitude Era. Steve, I know this is a vague question because there’s so many, but what is one significant moment that you can recall on Monday night RAW from the Attitude Era that you thought, “Man, this philosophy’s going to work, we’re really working”? Was there one moment, can you define it in one moment?

Steve Austin: Before I talk about that more, Mike Tyson just referred to me as “Stone Cold”. Me and Mike did business many years ago, and he called me “Cold Stone” every single day. Boy you used to piss me off, “Iron” Mike just called me “Stone Cold”, thank you Mike, thank you.

And you know, really, when you’re out there and “Iron” Mike Tyson calls you “Cold Stone”, what are you going to do? Last time I checked, the business was a work.
Anyway, there were so many good times out there during the Attitude Era and I looked forward to going to work every single Monday, and it seemed like we were on the road 24/7 365 anyway and it was just a blast and probably when things really started lighting up and we really started ringing that cash register, Jim, was the first time I hit Vince (McMahon) with that stunner, and I think that’s the first time people said, you know, “It’s on, you don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s high charged”. The Monday Night Wars were soon to follow and it was just a good day at the office every single time we went out. I knew we were giving the crowds what they wanted from the feedback and it was just a great situation to be in and it’s great that this game comes back around, and it’s great to be a part of it, and it goes to show how powerful and how memorable the Attitude Era was, and, when we refer to the Attitude Era, during my peak years, I’ve always considered the business of pro-wrestling or sports entertainment, or whatever you want to call it to be very attitudinal in general, but, maybe it hit it’s spike or it’s peak point during the times when myself and many of the other seven superstars in the Attitude Era game were around.

The next question regarding the Attitude Era, we’re kinda of going round the horn a little about about memories, Sheamus, you were young, you had not yet got into the business during the Attitude Era. Am I right, am I correct in saying that?

Sheamus: That’s correct, yeah.

But you watched?

Sheamus: Oh yeah, I watched, yeah.

Do you remember, was there a moment that you carry with you, that you watched on RAW that was jaw-dropping or just stuck with you for whatever reason? There’s a lot of them.

Sheamus: Well, the one thing I really noticed when watching RAW itself was when Bret Hart got the belt after being screwed over and over again, especially at the time when Shawn Michaels had been involved and Sid and everyone, the Undertaker, it started getting unpredictable. Obviously, it was something I’d watched growing up my whole life and then his attitude, his gears were changing and the other thing as well was back home in Ireland, it just seemed that, watching my whole life, it just seemed to become really, really cool, all of a sudden, everybody’s talking about it, you’re walking down the street and there’s WWE shirts being worn; Stone Cold or Rock or Undertaker or Triple H or DX shirts. I knew from that moment in time that it really was just exploding even in a small country like Ireland.

But, there’s been many, many great moments on RAW, I could be here all night talking about them. Obviously, Stone Cold pushing the boundaries and knocking lumps out of Vince McMahon was always very fun for me to watch, but, as I said, it really did start to turn the screw when Shawn and Bret were starting to push the boundaries, with Shawn in D-X against Bret Hart.

The story lines that you can use in this video game are based in reality and in real situations. You can be as creative as you choose. The thing about this video game, and one of the great things about the WWE in that Attitude Era was the fact that we had so much crowd involvement. If you look at some of those old tapes, and see how many signs were in the audience and the creativity that fans used. You think about it, now we complain if the drive-thru is a little bit busy, but these guys would make signs using their artistic ability and bring them from home all the way to the arena, get them in the arena and hope they got on television. If you look at this video game, and the footage of this, they have done an amazing job of recreating this audience. The audience members have facial expressions, they’re not zombies, and they have some creative signs. It’s really, really real.

So, Dolph, you’re another young buck who was just in his formative years when the Attitude Era was rocking and rolling; do you have a moment or an individual that, particularly when they came on you had to watch, or were you interested in any story line in particular?

Dolph Ziggler: For me, and not just because he’s here, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was my favourite, I mean, just hearing the glass break and the music, every single night, somehow, that would be my favourite part of the night, no matter what he was doing. Even the fireworks starting the show; I had to be home at 8:59 to watch it before it started. My Dad would go, “Why don’t you just tape it and watch it later?”. There were different ones every week and that always stood out to me. I was in my basement with the volume up high and everyone left me alone for two hours and just, man, Tyson and Austin going face to face and Vince seeming like he’d lost control. The WWE would prove every week; you just don’t know what’s going to happen. I literally had no idea what was going to happen and that was such a special moment for me and the fact that we can start recreating things like that in WWE ’13 really hits home. The heroes you watched growing up, you actually get to either create yourself. As I was growing up, I got that first game, and I had Billy Gunn’s trunks and Stone Cold’s knee braces and I made myself this cool guy and now you’re in the game and the crowd’s in the game and it gets more real every time and even just that cover we saw of Punk, it’s unreal, it looks real to me and that’s what’s cool about wrestling and sports entertainment.

If you thought it was unpredictable as a fan, you should have been sitting at ringside with me and Lawler when they come on and say, “You’re segment two”, and you’re live and somebody would come in your ear who sounded like they’d been gargling draino and say, “We’re changing segment three, go with it”, and we went with it. It wasn’t like Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth (American football commentators) getting herbal tea and a little piece of fruit, you were sweating your ass off at ringside and segment three comes in; just go with it. So we went with it, and, everything you heard, nothing was rehearsed, it was just what came out of our hearts about what we saw on the monitor and what the men and women did in the ring.

So Brodus, I know you’re a fan…

Brodus Clay: Can I answer in two parts?

Well… they question is, what’s your memory?

Brodus Clay: Actually, I have a couple of memories, but, probably, something outside of wrestling was the guy at Radio Shack who helped me figure out a way to work up a splitter on two T.V.s so I could watch both shows at the same time. Changing the channel was just too much.
One of the cool things I liked was all the flip-flopping. When Lex Luger showed up and when Macho Man showed up, we were just fired up, but, probably, the biggest moment was when WCW got bought, because I remember sitting there, I was going, “That’s Shane McMahon, what’s he doing on WCW… HE BOUGHT IT SON! Oh man, that’s crazy” It was going to be this great Olympics of wrestling, but it didn’t quite go that way, but that was my moment, two T.V.s stacked up, my Mama would come home saying, “Did you put the T.V. on top of the T.V. again?”
“Nah, nah, nah”

Oh, it was crazy man, it was nuts, I loved the wars, LOVED the wars.

Don’t lie to your Mama, call your Mama.

Brodus Clay: Sometimes you gotta.

I know, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. CM Punk, I know you’ve been a fan all your life, and you’d just sort of gotten your foot in the door of the wrestling business when this Attitude Era was rocking and rolling.

CM Punk: Yep.

What were moments you bought with you?

CM Punk: Well, I was already selling out VFW halls (Veterans of Foreign Wars halls, which are small rentable community halls) across the country in places like Muncie, Indiana and Norman, Oklahoma, you know, the bustling metropolises of the United States of America, so, as the years went on, I religiously started watching less and less and less, but, obviously, the big moments that I remember; I remember Montreal, I remember Mick Foley being thrown off the top of the Hell in a Cell for the sheer insanity of that and I remember all that stuff that Cold Stone would do to Vince McMahon. He wrecked his Corvette, he made him pee his pants in the middle of the ring, drove a beer truck up and sprayed him with beer, all that fun stuff. The Attitude Era had this chaos about it and leading the charge was Steve and you didn’t know what was going to happen and that made it fun to watch.

Thank you.

CM Punk: You’re welcome.

Mike, let me guess; I’m thinking your favourite moment when you were actually hands-on involved was either when you showed up in Fresno and you and Austin got into your extremely stiff shoving match and many, many hundred dollar bills fell out of your pocket and your handlers were scrambling around trying to put the hundreds back in your pocket, or, it might have been you association with DX, or, could it have been when you knocked Shawn Michaels out at WrestleMania? You got three choices Mike.

Mike Tyson: I’m just going to go with the Shawn Michaels knock out, that was a good one.

That was a great one. You remember the right hand?

Mike Tyson: Yep, that was a good one.

We replay that a lot, that was good.

Steve Austin: Yeah, they didn’t need to switch the camera angle on that one.

There was no editing on that one, that was nice and snug and that’s a storyline that you can utilise in this game with Mike if you preorder it. Shameless plug. CM Punk, you’re sitting on the stage with someone who’s certainly no stranger to you in Steve, or Cold Stone or whatever you’d like to call Mr. Austin. Obviously, he revolutionised this era. How did he, and what he did on Monday nights influence what you did early and what you are doing now?

CM Punk: Well, I’m not a big fan of calling the Attitude Era the Attitude Era and what I mean when I say that is, Steve sort of touched on it already, the best things in the history of pro-wrestling have always been about attitude and the guys who have made it, busted through the glass ceiling, made it to the top or whatever you want to call it, they were the ones who had the most attitude. They walk in a room and they command an audience. For whatever reason, they were angry, were pissed off, they knew what was good and whether they were stepping on toes and pissing people off, at the end of the day, the product was amazing and they knew that what they were going to do was good for business, so, that being said, he’s the poster boy for that; somebody who had been over-looked and not used to his potential, maybe brushed aside for somebody else, “This isn’t our guy, this guy over here who used to play football, we’re going to use him, sorry Steve, you have to sit down, now’s not your turn”. Eventually, just saying, “You know what? To hell with it, I’m going to do it”, and just doing it. To me, that’s what encompasses the Attitude Era, but that’s the same thing I did, that’s the same thing anybody who made it to the top did. Your whole career and your whole life of people telling you, “No, no, no, no, no”, and you either start to believe it and listen to them, or you get pissed off enough that you shove it up their ass and you prove them wrong and if I took anything from Steve Austin it was that. I obviously don’t lack confidence, but, at the end of the day, I also know that what I’m going to do out there, whether it’s going to make somebody in the back mad or if it’s going to step on somebody’s toes, I know it’s the best thing for the business, and that’s what I learned just from watching him and his attitude and the way he carried himself and produced and drew money and put asses in seats.

CM Punk figuratively meant shoving something up someone’s rectum, not literally.

CM Punk: If you get me mad enough.

We’re not in a prison movie.

CM Punk: Are you sure? I think Miz just did a prison movie.

Steve, after what CM Punk said, how much, percentage-wise, did you go into business for yourself? When we saw you on T.V., those of us who knew you knew what we were seeing, and I’ve always said the best wrestlers are the ones who are extensions of their own personality. You weren’t really much different in real life, in my opinion, than you were on television, so how much did you use to go into business for yourself and call a proverbial ad-lib once you got in the ring, because I know a lot of your instincts came from your hearing, even though you’re half deaf.

Steve Austin: To me, you just go out there and you turn the volume up. Most times, I operate at about a one or two, but, when you go out there and you’ve got 20,000 people to entertain, you turn it up and, if you’re going into a competitive environment, all the way back to m football days, it’s a killer instinct, you want to survive, you want to star, you want to dominate everything. You’ve got to get your opportunity. When you don’t get an opportunity and you have to make an opportunity, you’ve got to go for it, so, anytime I went out there, I always went out there to do business, but I knew business, I’d been held back and frustrated for seven and a half years, I finally got fired, ECW picked me up, Paul Heyman kind of coached me up a little bit, I got a chance to see and feel and turn into a laser focus on what I felt and was able to verbalise that.

When I got the shot to come to WWE, they called me the Ring Master, a sucky-ass gimmick, and they put me with Ted DiBiase, who I love, he’s one of my favourite workers of all time and a great promo, and he was my mouthpiece. I knew that wouldn’t last long, I couldn’t sell out any arenas with it, you couldn’t put it on a t-shirt, you couldn’t market it, so I started thinking of stuff and we came up with the Stone Cold idea.

I pitched that thing to the office and, unceremoniously, they started calling me “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, but I don’t think anybody in the office got it, no one in the back got it, but I knew what I was doing, and I just had to start getting noticed. I had to have a few meetings with Vince in the parking lot, but, back in the day, we were trying to save a lot of money back then and we would go live one week, we’d shoot the next show that night and we’d take it to post and we’d put it on the next week, so we’re only live every other week, and I noticed a lot of my lines were being taken out of that taped show, so I saw Vince in the parking lot one day and I said, “Hey Vince, I notice you’re editing a lot of my lines, why is that?”, and he goes, “Well, Steve, quite frankly, you’re starting to pop the people in the truck”. You guys know, if you’re popping the people in the truck, you can pop anybody, so I said, “Well, I’d appreciate it if you stop editing all my lines”, so, it was just a thing of trying to survive, trying to get a foot in and then, once I got a little bit of traction, blowing every son-bitch off the road on my way to the top, and that was my mission. I wasn’t going into business for myself, but it was being about me in a company setting and not being satisfied with jerking the curtain or being the pop-corn match after intermission. I’d been there, I’d done it and I didn’t want to do it my whole career. I just had my sights set on a higher goal, so I just went out there, turned up the volume and, in this business, and I say this to the cast behind me (the younger wrestlers), and even to CM, and he’s not afraid to go out on a limb, cast behind me; never be afraid to go out on a limb, I wasn’t. They can always reel you in, but they can’t push you out there any further, and that’s what I did.

One of the new features in this game is really involving spectacular moments and pivotal moments in WWE that this game has so vividly recreated. Maybe somebody would call them “Good God almighty” moments, or something to that effect. Throwing somebody through a barricade, the ring exploding, the physicality we saw on the outside where humans would attack inanimate objects, falling from ladders. I still believe that people don’t fall from ladders, you can never learn how to fall from ladders, but they do it anyway. Do you remember, as a kid, or even during your career, something you saw that we’ll see in this video game that would fit into that category of spectacular moments?

Sheamus: Well, as a kid, I fell off a lot of ladders actually J.R.

Did you learn how to fall, or would you still bust your ass?

Sheamus: I’d still bust my ass.

There you go.

Sheamus: I think the spectacular moments thing is very important for the game and it’s a great edition. Like Punk said earlier on, everyone remembers the time when Foley took that fall off the cage, off the Hell in a Cell, just through the table. That was one of the biggest talking points of the year and that’ll be part of history forever, and there’s been a lot of that like that spot that we saw with Big Show and Mark Henry breaking the ring, destroying the pay-per-view for everyone else after that and, of course, I was put through a wall myself by Mark Henry which, you know, it is what it is; hurts like hell, but it’s one of those moments that just stand out in pay-per-views in the WWE.

I think with the new addition to this game of those moments, I think it’s great. It adds to the game, it adds to the feel, it adds to the realism, and it keeps you up to date with television as well. It’s more and more that feel of playing this game, playing WWE ’13, and it’s just like watching the real thing. I think it’s great.

One of the neat things about this video game is the audio. The crowd noise…

CM Punk: The commentary.

The commentary. Some of the commentary on there is going to be really good. Some of it may be challenging to listen to.

CM Punk: (cough) vintage (cough).

Dolph, Steve was talking earlier about hearing the crowd and calling an audible and sometimes you hear things, or you’re in a match and you do a chain of moves and the crowd reacts and you hadn’t expected that reaction. They just told you they like what you’re doing, so, as a performer, how does the ambiance, like, tomorrow, we’re sold out at SummerSlam, that should be a hot crowd. How does that effect your work?

Dolph Ziggler: That’s the great thing about the WWE, especially as a fan. Everybody gets to bring their signs and now they’re involved, they’re with us, they sometimes control the tempo of a match. control what’s going on and sometimes you have instincts that don’t work and you hear something happen in the crowd and that’s what’s great about being a WWE superstar and actually playing the game and hearing the crowd because you actually feel what’s going on, what they feel for you and someone like me, who’s a career bad-guy and just does some pretty awesome stuff, and people start cheering you because they appreciate your hard work and you hear that, and that changes you mind-set and that’s the great thing about having a live Monday night RAW, being at a live event or in this game where you can actually judge and think and use your instincts on what’s coming next because this crowd, they know what they want to see and you want to give it to them or, in my case, take it away from them.

What we’re saying, in a round-about way is that is a very smart video game. This is a very smart video game, and if you are a really devout fan of the genre then you’re going to be challenged and you’re really going to enjoy the things that you’re going to be able to do.

AJ is the General Manager on our flagship program, Monday night RAW, and we know that in this video game you can create superstars, you can create traits and attire and move-sets and things like that. AJ has been announced, as we said earlier, as a downloadable character. She said DLC, and I had to look that up. That’s great for her, but, a lot of folks don’t know, AJ, you’ve been a fan all your life, and a video game player for a good part of it, now you have a chance to enhance your own downloadable character. Have you given any thought to what you might want to add to your repertoire or to your attire or your move set?

AJ: Besides exaggerated body measurements?

That’s the really fun part. I remember that I learned a lot of the names of moves and just a lot about wrestling itself from creating my character. I was like 12…

CM Punk: So two years ago.

AJ: Did you just say that was two years ago?

CM Punk: What?

AJ: Remember I’m your boss Punk.

Brodus Clay: That’s a write-up.

AJ: It’s so much more in-depth than the past couple of games and I’ve played so many of them, the Smackdown vs. RAWs, and the new system is so intricate and so real.
I actually did the THQ challenge, I said I was going to name drop that as many times as possible, and I won that at WrestleMania this year, so I’ve been playing a lot, but this is just so much more realistic, it’s the game you always wanted it to be. People get hurt and it shows and they have different energy levels and it’s so real. If you ever wanted to do this, this is the closest you can get without getting in a ring.

Hopefully they make me look cool, but maybe I’ll just make her look a little bit more… generous.

I don’t know if there’s any enhancements involved, but maybe that’s part of the new downloadable features. I think they should have given Lawler a pair of breasts, and Cole bigger lips. Brodus…

Brodus Clay: Yes sir.

How was that segue brother?

Someone who interrupted us today to tell us he was a downloadable character was Damian Sandow, not to be confused with “Leaping” Lenny Poffo. I know he’s a tough guy because it was like 180 out there today and he came out wearing a robe, as Punk so aptly pointed out. So now people have him on this video game, you’ll be able to play as yourself, so, what’s happening there?

Brodus Clay: Damien Sandow on a video game… does he look the same and everything, with the slicked hair? (Looking at CM Punk) Not you! You’ve got a good slick.

I’m actually very excited about that because Damian’s not really one for one on one confrontations, as we have seen, so the video game let’s me reach out and touch him right in front of me, so I’m very excited about that. If the ratings are right, I should have a few points on him, so it should be a little bit easier, because, sometimes, with computers, it’s a little ridiculous, but that’s cool, that’s one of the things I like about the game; yes, it has the Attitude Era and it has some of the greats and sometimes some of the new kids on the block, we suffer in that department because the game is so full of old guys that some of the our newer competitors aren’t on there but, this game looks like it’s got just about everybody on there which is really cool so someone like Sandow, who I’ve got issues with, beef, I can reach out and touch him whenever I want, so, whenever I want to smack him, I’ll just turn it on. It’s all good, I’m excited about it.

Largest roster, that’s one thing too, it’s the largest roster ever so there’s more opportunities to play the game. Naomi and Cameron are in the video game too for the first time. How do you guys feel about that? That’s pretty neat, you guys haven’t been around long and you’ve made the roster.

Cameron: To be sitting here right now is crazy, because I was always the underdog and Stone Cold himself, he was actually the one who eliminated me first on Tough Enough. I have so much love for him though, it’s definitely tough love, and I’m glad to be even sitting here.

Steve Austin: But what did I tell you?

Cameron: He did say I would definitely have a career with the WWE, so, even though I was the first to be eliminated, I’m the last one standing. It feels amazing, like cloud nine, funk-tastic, funkalicious to be here. I never thought I’d be sitting right here introducing the video game, it’s amazing, I’ve definitely come a long way in trying to prove myself, but I still have a very long way to go. I definitely want to get in that ring and prove myself even more and I can say that from the beginning of doing Tough Enough, that’s it’s been an amazing journey, but I still have a long way to go, but I’m glad to be sitting here and hopefully you guys will see me doing even more, so I just want to say thank you Stone Cold because I’m here. I’m here, and I plan on being here for a long time, I want to be the ultimate diva.

Sometimes, a trip to the wood shed is good for everybody. Naomi, I know you can wrestle, I’ve seen you wrestle and I think you’re going to be a great star here. You’re getting a lot of exposure now with Cameron and the big man there…

Brodus Clay: Brodus.

Brodus. I know you’re name, I’m trying to put you over, but I know you’re not used to that, I’m trying to work with you here. Naomi, how does it feel to be in your first video game?

Naomi: Since I started my career here with the WWE, it’s been a goal of mine to be in a video game and the fact that this came so fast was a surprise for me, has been a blessing and I’m so excited and I hope there’s more for me in the future, for all of us, because it’s a journey and a ride that I’m enjoying every moment of.

Are you happy that Dwight Howard left Orlando (Magic, basketball team)? She’s a former Orlando dancer.

Naomi: I just found out about that and I’m so upset. I love Orlando, but now he’s here in L.A….

Lakers haven’t got enough to take care of Oklahoma City anyway so it doesn’t matter.

Hey Steve, I’ve got a question for you; How many of these select Austin 3:16 versions of the video game did you actually sign? Did you sign every one? There’s no phoneys, no stamps, no nothing, because, every time I called you, you were in a bad-ass mood. How many did you sign?

Steve Austin: Well I’m still in a bad-ass mood because I ain’t done yet. I recently had a little work done on my left knee, which got me sidelined and THQ came up with this illustrious video game and they call me about signing some of these copies and I said, “How many you thinking about”, and they said, “Well, about 25,000”. I started thinking about it and I said, “Well, might as well make a buck or two sitting on my damn ass. It’s about 107, we’ve got a heatwave going through L.A., and I’m making a dime sitting on my ass, sounded like a good idea so they said, “How about 10,000 more?”. I’ve got 35,000 gimmicks to sign and I think I’ve got 32,000 of them signed, so I’ve got a long way to go yet. The good news is though, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is on that damn card, and it ain’t CM Punk’s sorry ass on the cover, so I’m happy about that.

It’ll be interesting to see how the competition of that goes. So you’re saying that you signed copies should sell more than anything with CM Punk’s image on it.

Steve Austin: No, I’m not saying that, I think CM Punk is a hellacious talent I’m just glad I’m signing my own picture instead of looking at him.

You know, while we’re talking about CM Punk and myself, on this video game, you can take someone from the current roster and plug him into that Attitude Era. So, you can dial up myself and CM Punk and watch it happen at pretty much any time, right?

Well, yes, you can and any stipulations and “Iron” Mike, I did see “Iron” Mike putting that whopping on you earlier.

Steve Austin: Yeah, we were talking about BBQ sauce as usual, and Tyson was whopping my ass.

Mike Tyson: BBQ sauce.

Well, let me ask this question; I get this a lot on Twitter at JRsBBQ…

CM Punk: How is this guy not commentating every Monday night on RAW?

There is a lot of conjecture online and on Twitter and things, I get it all the time, and they ask, “Is Stone Cold going to wrestle another match?”. I don’t know, ask him, he’s at SteveAustinBSR, but, let me ask you, Steve, if you were to wrestle again, IF, who would it be against?

Steve Austin: Well, if I were to, I think that the match would be Stone Cold vs. CM Punk, I mean it’s only natural. Everyone says, “How would CM Punk have done in the Attitude Era?”, and I don’t know. I think he would have done just fine. I think he’s done just fine in the current era that he’s in. I think he’d have been a little bit more dialed up back in the Attitude Era, I think he would have had to have had a little bit more attitude than he possesses now. Could he get the job done? I don’t know, but you can plug that son-bitch in on this here video game any time you want to.

But, will we see it in an arena? I don’t know. I’ve got a left wheel to rehab and if that thing does get rehabbed, I’ve got a hell of a dropkick waiting for CM Punk’s lips.

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WWE Superstars Talk WWE ’13, The Attitude Era and Growing Up Watching Wrestling

Featuring: Jim Ross, Steve Austin, Mike Tyson, CM Punk, Sheamus, Brodus Clay, The Funkadactyls, Dolph Ziggler and AJ

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