WWE will air a live Stone Cold Podcast immediately following tonight's SmackDown on the WWE Network. Steve Austin interviews special guest Mick Foley from WrestleMania Axxess.
WWE sent out the following tune-in advisory:
Stone Cold Podcast Live! returns with a brand-new episode just three days before WrestleMania 32, and the special guest will be Mick Foley! The Hardcore Legend should feel right at home sitting across from one of his biggest in-ring rivals, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, for a no-holds barred interview, live from WrestleMania Axxess. Don't miss these two WWE Hall of Famers share stories and talk candidly about the Attitude Era, past squared-circle battles, life after WWE and much more. Watch it live on the award-winning WWE Network, tonight, immediately following SmackDown.
We'll have highlights right here after the podcast goes live tonight, and use the comments below to talk about Austin & Foley's talk, while they talk!
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Highlights
- Bit of a different set-up, as this is in front of a live crowd at Axxess. Corey Graves introduces both men, who are seated in the NXT ring. Lots of crowd participation early, including "What?" and "YES" chants.
- Mick puts over Stone Cold saying he saw him for the first time in Dallas, and he knew he had something special. Austin compliments Foley on his weight loss, which is about 50 pounds and thanks to DDP Yoga. It's the lightest he's been since facing Randy Orton at Backlash in 2004.
- Some stories about how cheap Mick is, and a nice anecdote of a contest he had with Owen Hart for who could stretch a $20 longer. Owen tapped out after 20 weeks!
- Gimmicks are discussed, and Foley says he became Dude Love because it was easier to play a character than be himself. Cactus Jack was a tribute to his dad, and is a character he embraced when he came to terms with the fact he was never going to have stereotypical wrestling "look". Terry Funk told him if you can't look better than people, you have to be different and outwork them.
- Alot of talk about learning psychology working in Memphis and being mentored by Funk, Japanese Death Matches and the crazy stuff Mick would do for $300-400 a night. Foley says he realized later in life they weren't all good ideas. A good line in this part about realizing he couldn't be as wild as Bruiser Brody or as good a worker as Dynamite Kid, so he shot for the middle. Kind of funny he says he couldn't be that wild in the midst of a discussion about having his arm burned up by C4 explosive in Japan, but...
- Mick wants to talk about Dean Ambrose (whose name drew a big pop), but Austin steers him back to old stories.
- Talking about how Foley's wife reacted to his more extreme matches brings up his family, and Noelle appears to plug Holy Foley on WWE Network. She says she wants to be a Diva, and Mick says he's not crazy about the idea, but it's her dream so he wants to help her get the best training.
- Noelle doesn't want to work her dad's style, because she doesn't want to have to walk like him. She says she was okay with him missing moments in her and her brothers' lives because of wrestling, because he always tried to be there and got them into places where they could get autographs.
- Filming on the show starts in a couple of weeks, and Noelle is excited to show the world their "weird normal" family (the family is normal, but they have a weird dad).
- After Papa Foley's Baby Girl leaves, Austin asks about Mankind. Two interesting notes here - (1) Mick says he never got the customary invite to the McMahon house new signees got in those days (Stone Cold did) and (2) Vince only agreed to bring Mick into WWF/E if he covered his face.
- Austin says Vince was against bringing Foley in because he didn't like his style. Mick says it changed quickly, and gives credit to Undertaker for being good to him and putting him "on the map" with McMahon. Taker, Jim Ross and Kevin Nash all stuck up for Mick to get a chance to feud with the Phenom.
- They discuss the 3 Faces of Foley, and Mick says Mankind was the toughest. He would hid in the boiler room or under the ring to get into character (Austin called him "Daniel Day-Lewis"). His sitdown interviews with JR as Mankind were one of the first things Vince complimented him on.
- Time to talk Hell in a Cell and King of the Ring '98. Mick spoke to Funk ahead of time (who joked that he should start on top and then tried to talk him out of it when Mick took him seriously) and watched Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Foley thinks it's the best HiaC of all time). He was terrified when he got up there, but thought he'd look ridiculous if he crawled back down.
- They talk about after the fall, which included Foley interfering in Kane vs. Austin, and Stone Cold says he didn't look all there. Mick says he doesn't remember any of that.
- Stone Cold finally lets Mick talk about Ambrose, and he's obviously excited. He says he told Vince he only wanted to come back a couple times a year for bits that had an impact, and in the case of his scene with Dean in Pittsburgh, only wanted to do what was best for Ambrose. The initial set-up was too funny, so since it was live, Mick made it mean more. He says the "this is what I do" line still gives him goosebumps.
- They tell funny stories about the Freebirds and Stan Hansen, then Mick runs down the Mania card, putting over every match but especially hyping the Divas Triple Threat.
- To close, Mick does his Vince impression and says "WrestleMania: Bigger, Better, Badder". Austin gets a final "Hell Yeah" from the crowd.
Another fun edition of the series, which really got interesting when talking Vince and Foley's post HiaC condition, but didn't go too deep into either topic.