Live Steve Austin podcast with Paul Heyman: Highlights and open thread

Immediately following tonight's airing of Monday Night Raw from San Antonio, Texas on USA, a live episode of Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast will stream on the WWE Network with special guest Paul Heyman.

WWE sent the following press release tune in advisory:

"Stone Cold" Podcast Live!, hosted by WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, will air tonight at 11 p.m. ET on the award-winning WWE Network, with special guest Paul Heyman.

Heyman is the "Advocate" to WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar, and, in the past, has served as general manager on SmackDown, color commentator on Monday Night Raw and owner of ECW.

Each month on the "Stone Cold" Podcast Live!, immediately following Monday Night Raw which airs on USA Network, Austin will sit down with the biggest names in WWE and the world of sports and entertainment for a no-holds-barred, in-your-face, exclusive one-hour interview.

We'll have live highlights right here when the podcast goes live tonight!

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Highlights

- They started telling stories of how they met and came across each other in the pro wrestling business. Both put each other over, with Heyman talking about always seeing Austin as a big star in the industry.

- Austin brings up Brock Lesnar and what he's up to. Heyman says he thinks it's public knowledge at this point that he'll be back on TV soon and he's been off on his farm doing his thing in the meantime.

- Sticking with Brock, Austin asked if he really wanted to stay and how serious the UFC option was. Heyman said Lesnar opened up a mini training camp in January prepared to go right back to the UFC if he couldn't work out a deal with WWE. Heyman said he thinks Brock was torn because his latest WWE run was so enjoyable, what with beating Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania and decimating John Cena for the WWE world heavyweight title at SummerSlam.

- When asked if Lesnar loves the business as the IWC has stated time and again, Heyman said he does but he loves his children more. Then he put over that whenever Brock appears it's special. Heyman also put over how special the relationship between the two of them is and why that means it doesn't work well when he gets put together with other guys. He said his pairing with CM Punk worked because they also had a relationship outside of WWE that translated well on screen when they were together.

- Austin asked if Heyman has talked to Punk lately. Heyman said they text almost every day. When asked how his UFC career will go, Heyman said it's not fueled by money. He thinks Punk believes he'll shock everyone and knock someone out or get knocked out or submitted but he's man enough to take his chances.

- Stone Cold brought up selling in the business, bringing up Jake Roberts' DDT being used as a finish back in the day and it being used as a regular move today. Austin said guys gotta sell more today. Heyman answered by saying that if they booked Mark Henry's finish to be a headlock, then he tapped someone with it, then no one was allowed to use it, then he did the same thing 30 weeks in a row, it would get over as a bad move that he could win the world title with. "Moves will get over as long as people put the move over, get the move over, the announcers react to the move as if it's something devastating, unusual, and big, and everyone on the roster is cognizant of it."

- Austin said tonight's Raw was pretty good and we saw some good promos tonight but something is missing from the promos today. He put over Heyman being a promo master. Heyman told a story about Dusty Rhodes teaching him that a promo can be great and all but "where's the money?" If you aren't selling something, your promo doesn't work. Heyman brought up that sometimes you're selling personality -- such as Brock Lesnar, and the way he says his name as the conqueror of the streak and all that -- but sometimes you have to sell the main event of WrestleMania and that changes things.

- Continuing on, Austin talked about content, delivery, intensity, passion, and many other things being the key to good promos. He said he dug Ultimate Warrior's promos because while they may have been batshit insane, he was furthering his character.

- Austin asked how influential Heyman is in the business now working with talent. Heyman says he works with anyone who comes to him and asks for any advice or help. He said he thinks pontificating is an issue with promos today. People get in and start talking about what happened last week and being upset about it and yadda yadda.

- They move on to talking about Heyman getting in with Vince McMahon Sr. way back in the day. Heyman told a story about making his first $50 in the business. Then he talked about not knowing if Vince Sr. would have done the same thing Vince Jr. did with the WWWF.

- Heyman said he's getting along with Vince as well as he ever has because he doesn't talk to him nearly as much and isn't constantly trying to tell him how to save the business anymore. "Fatherhood has mellowed me out." He talked about being really strung up back in the day, saying he's never in his life done cocaine -- to which Austin hilariously responded with "come on!"

- Heyman said he would fight to the death for shows he was head writer on. They brought up his run as SmackDown's head writer. Then, Austin asked about the "infamous plane ride" in 2006 and Heyman told a story about it being time for him to leave. He was burned out and he and Vince were both angry at each other and it came to a head.

- My stream was real wonky but they set up an Austin-Lesnar match at WrestleMania 32, with Heyman saying he wanted to make it happen and Austin cutting a promo on him. Stone Cold said it would have to be a "Texas Death Match" and it would headline the show, then threatened Heyman saying Brock wasn't there to save him.

End.