Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00I found myself in a good old-fashioned Western showdown.
00:11I was face-to-face with the Texas rattlesnake himself,
00:16Stone Cold Steve Austin.
00:19I wasn't sure how this was going to go.
00:23After all, we have a storied history
00:25that goes back quite a while.
00:30The starter on Stephanie!
00:36Give me a hell down!
00:39Possessing an adrenaline-fueled intensity unmatched in WWE,
00:45Stone Cold Steve Austin ignited the industry in the 90s and 2000s.
00:50The Austin era has begun!
00:53Not only crushing his opponents,
00:55but doing what every blue-collar worker has dreamed of.
01:00Going toe-to-toe with the boss.
01:02You can kiss my ass!
01:06Oh, my God!
01:08The beer-chugging, straight-talking son-of-a-gun would shoot from the hip.
01:13And that's the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so.
01:16And back it up in the ring with the Stone Cold Stunner.
01:21He became a kind of deity.
01:25Austin 316 says I just whipped your ass!
01:29Worshipped by fans across the globe.
01:32During his wild run to the top, he would plow through anything or anyone who got in his way.
01:41Oh, my God!
01:43Which meant the entire McMahon family.
01:46Oh, my God!
01:47What?
01:48Including yours truly.
01:50How are you?
01:51I'm great!
01:52What are you?
01:53I'm great!
01:54What are you?
01:55I'm Stephanie McMahon, and I love WWE.
02:06Stephanie McMahon!
02:08I'm on a quest to hear the stories behind the biggest superstars and legends in WWE history.
02:15Here we go.
02:17Please join me on the Trip of a Lifetime.
02:29This is beautiful.
02:30Appreciate you coming out here.
02:31No.
02:32This is not an easy place to get to.
02:33It is not an easy place to get to.
02:35Parts Unknown, as I was at.
02:37Parts Unknown.
02:38Yes.
02:39That's on the mailbox out there.
02:40I like that.
02:41Do you realize, Steph, that we've known each other almost 30 years?
02:46That's incredible, isn't it?
02:48I wasn't sure, you know, what to expect.
02:50Oh, no!
02:52Where are you going?
02:53Happy New Year's, Stephanie!
02:55Well, for myself, of course.
02:58But, you know, here's a cool story that maybe not everybody knows.
03:02When I first signed on to WWE, we're heading into 96.
03:05They were gonna do a commercial for the 96 Olympics.
03:07They said, we're gonna have an intern pick you up.
03:09And you were the intern.
03:10I was the intern, yes.
03:11At 17 years of age, out of high school, picking me up.
03:15That's right.
03:15And we hit it off right off the bat.
03:18And finally, I think we were talking and you started laughing.
03:21And you know, I've always been a big fan of your just, this gigantic laugh that you have.
03:25It is loud.
03:26You cannot think.
03:27When I hear Stephanie laugh, it could be in a room of 2,000 people.
03:31I know exactly where she's at.
03:32But I'm glad to have you here.
03:33I'm so grateful to be here and so grateful to have this time with you.
03:37Thank you very much.
03:38Real time, it's almost 10 a.m.
03:40So if you wanna take a lap, we'll start off over here.
03:43Sounds good to me.
03:44After his WWE career, Steve settled in Nevada on what he calls the Broken Skull Ranch, where
03:51he gave me a day in the life tour.
03:53Tens of thousands of screaming fans used to command Stone Cold's attention.
03:59Now, it's these guys.
04:01We have two batches of chickens in there.
04:03That's great.
04:04So we're gonna go over here and let them out.
04:06You wanna do the honors?
04:07Sure.
04:08Put me to work.
04:10All right.
04:11Come on, guys.
04:12Get ready.
04:15Oh.
04:16That's pretty awesome.
04:18I love it.
04:19I love it.
04:20We're trying to keep the coyotes and everything from eating our chickens.
04:23It works.
04:24There's Macho.
04:27Macho.
04:28I call him my intercontinental champion.
04:30He's still green, but God dang it, he's my intercontinental champion.
04:35Of course, Poncho, if we can find him, is my reigning, defending world champion.
04:40There he is.
04:41Get a shot of Poncho before he leaves.
04:43Wow.
04:44Here we go.
04:45Rebel is 28 years old, and now he's all arthritic, and he's retired.
04:51So he's living a good life.
04:53I see you've had a few horses in your day.
04:55Just a couple.
04:56In the open hall.
04:57Okay, yes.
04:58During our tour, Steve showed me his custom-made podcast studio, where, for years, he hosted
05:04the aptly named Broken Skull Sessions.
05:07Here, he was able to stay close to the world of wrestling after his retirement.
05:12All right.
05:13Oh, there it is.
05:15You know, why didn't you ever have me on your podcast?
05:19Well, that was supposed to happen.
05:21What happened?
05:22Oh!
05:23I was never asked.
05:24That's bull .
05:25You should have been.
05:27There's been some great stories told here.
05:31Cheers.
05:32Cheers.
05:33Thank you, sir.
05:34You know, I originally kind of started podcasting, which led to the Broken Skull Sessions just
05:38as a way to keep in touch with my fan base.
05:41You don't have to be so modest, brother.
05:43It's your show.
05:44When I left the business, it's not like I had the greatest exit strategy.
05:49This was kind of the end result of me finding my way without the exit strategy.
05:55I would tell people to be smarter than I am.
05:58And think long term?
05:59Think long term?
06:00Well, you got to think down the road.
06:02You know, wrestling, you know, you're running so fast and so hard and having so much fun,
06:06and you never want it to end, but the reality is, for everybody, sooner or later, it is going to end.
06:12That realization came to Steve in 2003.
06:18After entertaining fans around the world for years, Stone Cold Steve Austin announced his retirement.
06:26My neck was really beat up, and I was just running real hard, and I was just frazzled.
06:32And I just figured, man, if I'm going to go, I think now it's time to go, because I wasn't in a good place.
06:38Yeah.
06:39But anyway, it was just time for me to leave.
06:41I was getting pretty beat up, and I made my departure.
06:44But what about that live audience adrenaline, that performance, that feeling?
06:51Do you feel like you need to continue to feel that in some way?
06:54Do you miss that?
06:56Did you get that from podcasting?
06:57You don't get it from podcasting.
06:59You don't get it from sitting down and talking to someone.
07:02And certainly, good times can be had doing those things.
07:05But there is nothing, nothing, and I think you know this, that can give you that kind of high,
07:11that adrenaline spike is so intense.
07:13But you live and die by that response.
07:16To go back a couple of years ago in Dallas, Texas, really special.
07:20Welcome to the most spectacular live event in entertainment, WrestleMania.
07:34Ever since Steve left WWE in 2003, his craving for excitement only grew.
07:40As the man said, there is nothing that compares to the rush of the crowd when you're standing
07:47in the squared circle.
07:50So nearly 20 years after his last match, Stone Cold Steve Austin made a triumphant return against
07:58Kevin Owens at AT&T Stadium on the biggest stage of them all, WrestleMania.
08:07When your music hit, the roof blew off that place.
08:14Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania.
08:18This is so real.
08:21Man, when that glass breaks and you're kind of, you're wondering.
08:24And you're thinking, hey man, they're gonna be there for me.
08:26Sure, they always have been, but it's been a while.
08:2919 years in the making.
08:32And man, when they gave me that response that they give me, it was like, thank you, thank you, thank you.
08:38And as many of the talent that could be out there were, to just feel that moment.
08:48When you really have that resounding support, it's like, oh, we got this.
08:54Stunner!
08:56Cover by Stone Cold, one, two, three!
09:02As far gone as I've been from WWE, I'm still part of the family.
09:09Of course.
09:10One of the, not founding, but one of the guys that helped.
09:13You are one of the major reasons why WWE is what it is today.
09:17So, man, there's nothing that I know that can replace that.
09:22The beginnings of Steve's pursuit for excitement are rooted in his childhood.
09:28When I first saw professional wrestling on TV was Houston wrestling.
09:33I fell in love with it.
09:35Then I went to college, so I was on a football scholarship.
09:38This is the young man we talked about.
09:40Real good play by Steve.
09:42And on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, I would drive down to Sportatorium.
09:46The Sportatorium goes left!
09:48I'd be out there drinking beer with my friends, throwing stuff at the wrestlers, of which we both have been through, right?
09:53And having a great time and then decided, I always knew I wanted to be a wrestler, but then there was a way to get in and I went to a wrestling school.
10:02In spite of a demanding schedule playing football at the University of North Texas, Steve made time for his true passion.
10:10And when his time came to actually get in the ring, Steve quickly realized that a career in professional wrestling was anything but easy.
10:20Here he comes, look up!
10:23One, two, and you can count to a hundred.
10:26What did I tell you?
10:28When you just got finished playing college football and you're pretty jacked up and you're a guy.
10:34Yeah.
10:35You expect respect.
10:36You're the new guy, so you don't get everything in your head.
10:38You have to earn that respect.
10:41Respect is earned.
10:43After learning his craft and paying his dues in the independent circuit,
10:47Steve earned his way into brighter lights and bigger crowds.
10:52In 1991, he joined World Championship Wrestling and had much success as stunning Steve Austin.
11:00Stunning Steve Austin is by far the hottest athlete in WCW.
11:05In 1995, his big break would come when he was signed by WWE as the ringmaster.
11:12The ringmaster has all the tools to go straight to the top.
11:17Although he hadn't yet reached superstardom, he was stopping at nothing to get there.
11:23It was a real struggle to try to pull off the ringmaster.
11:27I couldn't do it.
11:28I became frustrated.
11:29And Vince became as frustrated as I was.
11:32And I said, hey, man, I've got to come up with another idea.
11:35I go back to the defining factor of hard work.
11:40Mm-hmm.
11:41My mother and my father always taught me to work hard.
11:43And God dang, when you get in this business, if you're not willing to work, you're not going to go very far.
11:48Steve's hard work to climb towards main event status was starting to pay off.
11:53And in 1996, he wanted a new, improved persona.
11:58One that rang true to his no-nonsense, hell-raising, authority-fighting attitude.
12:05Enter Stone Cold Steve Austin.
12:08I'm doing him a bit better now.
12:09He's a Stone Cold Steve Austin.
12:12Austin 316 says I just whipped your ass.
12:16The result was a sports and entertainment phenomenon.
12:23What?
12:24Oh, Stone Cold is here!
12:27This arena has erupted.
12:29Austin, they got it!
12:31That's better!
12:32Austin is the champion!
12:34Shattering records and elevating an entire industry.
12:38Please welcome Stone Cold Steve Austin.
12:41Maybe we'll get you some autographs later.
12:44What are you, sign crap all day?
12:45Every now and then.
12:46Every now and then.
12:48That's what you do.
12:49Thank you very much.
12:50I appreciate it.
12:51Adding to his success was Steve's quick wit and an unparalleled ability to trash talk.
12:56Stone Cold Steve Austin, don't change for nobody.
13:01And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold sits on!
13:06When he grabbed the microphone, all he needed was to be himself, with the volume turned way up.
13:12I'll break every damn law you can make, and can't nobody stop me.
13:16You know, when we start talking about, you know, some of the things that Stone Cold Steve Austin would say,
13:20talking trash was just things that I heard growing up in South Texas.
13:24I respect what you've done in the boxing world, but when you step in this ring, you're messing with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and that's something you don't do.
13:33One of the scariest things is to be yourself and to allow people in.
13:41Do you agree with that?
13:42Do you have a perspective on that?
13:44I think people want to see the human side of someone or who they really are.
13:48Here's to you, Rock, the WWF champion, for the very last time.
13:55Oh!
13:57I'm going to show people any aspect of my life.
14:02You know, I'm, I am who I am.
14:05Part of who Steve is, is raising a little hell behind the wheel.
14:09Boston breaking his wings with a ring and rips us to abandon.
14:16I got a chance to do a lot of things that other talent didn't get a chance to do.
14:21The four-wheeler and the vehicles as it would come to be were a large part of my history.
14:26Yep.
14:27Oh my God!
14:28Oh my God!
14:29Where there was an opportunity for wreaking havoc, Stone Cold was driven to answer the bell.
14:34The only question was who got the bigger thrill?
14:37The audience or Steve himself?
14:40I've always had an affinity for driving.
14:42I love having a steering wheel in my hands.
14:44The fact that WWE created so many opportunities for the Stone Cold character to thrive was a blessing.
14:51And it wasn't my idea to drive all this stuff, it was theirs.
14:54They just figured I could do it and it fit my persona, so it worked.
14:58I so look forward to like, hey man, you're driving a monster truck over a rock swinging in Continental.
15:04No!
15:05Oh my God!
15:06Oh my God!
15:07Oh my God!
15:08WWE went out and bought that Lincoln Continental.
15:11That was a brand new car.
15:13That was a rock new car!
15:16There was a cement truck as well.
15:18I'm a car guy, right?
15:20And I found out I'm destroying a completely good Corvette.
15:24And I was like, man, can I buy this thing?
15:26Why?
15:27Yeah!
15:28Oh my God!
15:30Oh my!
15:31Come on, let's see this!
15:34The money shot was when the glass broke.
15:37No one had counted on that.
15:39That was just a bonus that happened to happen because of the weight of the cement.
15:43God, so many incredible fun moments, the infamous beer truck.
15:50Uh-oh!
15:51What?
15:52Oh!
15:53Oh!
15:54Oh!
15:55Oh!
15:56Oh!
15:57Oh!
15:58Oh!
15:59Oh!
16:00Oh!
16:01Oh!
16:02Oh!
16:03Oh!
16:04Oh!
16:05Oh!
16:06Oh!
16:07Oh!
16:08Oh!
16:09Oh!
16:10Oh!
16:11Because you gotta be able to perform in a ring.
16:12That's what you're going around selling.
16:13Mm-hm.
16:14But it's those moments of character building which helped build that character of Stone Cold
16:18were so important to me.
16:20But you gotta go to that Holy Grail, that 20 by 20 square circle and back it up.
16:27By 2003, Stone Cold had done it all.
16:31Oh no!
16:32Oh, Rock!
16:33You can't do that to The Rock!
16:35His WrestleMania 19 match against The Rock.
16:38Rock!
16:39Rock!
16:40Would mark the end of an era.
16:43A hook of a leg!
16:45And a little shot!
16:46Unbelievable!
16:47That night, Stone Cold Steve Austin walked away from an industry he helped take to unimaginable
16:58heights.
16:59He has a right to be proud and a night that I know in my heart I will never forget as long
17:06as I live.
17:08Steve moved on after he left in-ring competition and started to live a new life.
17:15Your wife, Kristen, how did you fall in love with her?
17:18I don't know that many people know this side of Stone Cold Steve Austin.
17:22I was training at a world gym with a guy named Dan.
17:26My wife taught special education and she never watched the business.
17:29She never watched wrestling.
17:31One of her students brought a WWE calendar and sure enough she put it on the wall.
17:36It was Stone Cold Steve Austin in her classroom.
17:39She sees me at the gym, puts two and two together.
17:42She goes, Dan, is that that Stone Cold Steve Austin guy?
17:46And he goes, yeah.
17:47And she says, do you think he would come read to my kids?
17:50I'll ask him.
17:52Long story short, I drove my pickup truck down there and read to her kids.
17:56And then I was drinking beer one night.
17:58I was like, man, it sure would be nice to go over to Kristen.
18:01I said, hey, you like football?
18:04And she goes, yeah.
18:06I said, all right, I'll come over and watch football with you.
18:09So I went over and I basically never left.
18:12Oh, that's great.
18:13We got married in 2009 the same year I went to the Hall of Fame.
18:16Wow.
18:17But we've been together for 20 years.
18:18She makes me better than who I am.
18:22Stone Cold's WWE in-ring days were over.
18:26And now Steve finds himself in a different kind of adrenaline-fueled competition,
18:35sitting in a familiar seat behind the wheel.
18:38I've driven these things my whole life, but I've never really tried to drive one fast and at speed.
18:43And out of the blue, a guy named Shane calls me and he says, hey, Steve,
18:47how would you really like to race one of these things?
18:50Last year, as we speak now, was my first season.
18:53I ended up winning Rookie of the Year racing side-by-sides.
18:56Would you be a rookie again?
18:57Yeah, a rookie, yeah.
18:58When you're a rookie at then 58, yeah, that's kind of a kick in the ass.
19:02God dang, I have so much fun in that car.
19:08When you strapping that buggy and that adrenaline starts to surge at a low key,
19:12and you smell that race gas and it's performance time,
19:15this is just like when I signed up for wrestling.
19:18Would you like to sit inside my Kawasaki KRX 1000 and take a few laps with me?
19:26I would be honored to do that.
19:28Before we leave, safety first, so I have this for you.
19:31Okay.
19:32Is anything alive in here?
19:34No.
19:35No?
19:36Nothing.
19:37Wow.
19:38Holy .
19:39This is really cool.
19:41Oh, my God.
19:42Look, it's Steph 316 on it.
19:46My buddy Jay at XS Paint did this especially for you in rapid-fire fashion.
19:51Thank you very much.
19:53You're not supposed to make me cry in this episode.
19:56This is really, really cool.
19:58God, if we got that vulnerability, though, wouldn't that be amazing?
20:03All right.
20:04Here goes nothing.
20:05I'm hoping we don't get pulled open by the cops.
20:08I've lost my brakes in a race before and had to finish without brakes.
20:13That doesn't sound like a good idea.
20:15That ain't worth a .
20:17Riding shotgun, I got just a little taste of what it was like to race in the desert with a rattlesnake.
20:24I don't see any cops yet.
20:26So this is your course.
20:30So we're having a hard time even getting up to speed.
20:33Normally, the track is so vast, we're able to make the turns more than 60 miles an hour.
20:40Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
20:44Our test drive together seems to have made for a good practice round.
20:49Three weeks later at the Gold Rush 350, Steve took home the checkered flag winning first place in his division.
20:56Congratulations on your championship.
20:59Thank you very much.
21:00Hey, we earned that.
21:01We earned that.
21:02Hell yeah!
21:03It was late in life when I found racing.
21:06I'm happy I found there's some great people out here.
21:09So I'm happy to tackle my life a little late to the game, but glad I'm here.
21:13It seems as though this rookie is about to break records again.
21:18That was so much fun.
21:21I didn't know you could get into those turns like that and driving over all the shrubbery, whatever this is called.
21:30That's called blowing a turn.
21:32You're not supposed to try to go with a sagebrush, I'll be completely honest.
21:37I know you're traveling around seeing everybody and thank you for inviting me to be on your show.
21:43It's just great to spend time with you.
21:45We've always maintained our friendship no matter what happened within the scope of both of our lives.
21:50And here we are.
21:51Thank you for letting me be on your show.
21:53Well, thank you for being a part of it, Steve.
21:55I'm really honored to be here with you.
21:56I really am.
21:58But I have one more thing that we've got to do.
22:01All right.
22:02What's that?
22:03Drink a beer together.
22:04You know, this is something we've never done.
22:06I know, but I promise you, there will not be a stone cold stunner on the receiving end after drinking this illustrious beer out here in the desert.
22:15Uh-oh, I popped in early.
22:16Cheers.
22:17All right.
22:25Thank you, Chef.
22:27I grew up riding horses.
22:36Oh, really?
22:37My first horse was a Shetland pony named Shorty.
22:40Really?
22:41Yeah.
22:42And that was the meanest damn horse you've ever seen.
22:44When I grew up in Edna, every year we'd have a parade.
22:48It was such a little podunk town that, you know, if you had a horse, you could just jump in at the end.
22:53And, you know, like when you gird up a horse on the saddle.
22:55Mm-hmm.
22:56It's supposed to be tight.
22:57You really need to sense that thing up.
22:58Yeah.
22:59So I just barely girded him up.
23:00So we'd go through the parade, make it through town.
23:03Then all of a sudden, you know, that little Shetland gate, I was kind of going sideways.
23:09And then I rode that damn horse upside down about 20 yards.
23:12Oh, no.
23:13And then he trampled all over me like a pile of dust.
23:17I chased that horse for 30 minutes, yelling every four-letter word as a kid.
23:21That you could think of, yeah.
23:22That I knew them all.
23:23Trying to get that goddamn horse.
23:25And that's the bottom line, because Steph said so.
23:28Omaha!