Shane McMahon Joins The Steve Austin Show

Summary

The Steve Austin Show

Episode: Shane McMahon Joins The Steve Austin Show
Date: April 29, 2025
Host: Steve Austin
Guest: Shane McMahon

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Steve Austin sits down with Shane McMahon for a no-holds-barred, deeply nostalgic conversation about the world of professional wrestling—past and present. Recorded at 317 Gimmick Street amidst Austin’s home remodeling chaos, the dialogue spans Shane’s rise in the business, memorable matches, tales from the road, wrestling psychology, changing locker room cultures, and candid recollections about family, injuries, and industry evolution.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Table and Shane’s Current Role

• [02:47] Austin welcomes Shane, ribbing about being on Austin’s “turf” in Los Angeles.
• Steve sets a conversational tone: “I kind of wanted to shoot the breeze with you and see how open minded you are…reliving old stuff and shooting the breeze.”
  Shane: “Sure, I'm ready for anything.”
• Shane clarifies he’s the “Commissioner” (not GM) of SmackDown.

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2. WrestleMania 33 and Shane’s Match with AJ Styles

• [04:08] Austin hails Shane vs. AJ as “match of the night,” recounts skepticism about the booking, but says Shane impressed him.
  • “How did you feel about people saying, well, why is Shane wrestling this world class guy?”
• [04:39] Shane:
  • Felt “humbled” to face AJ, who he’s admired since Japan and TNA.
  • On the match: “My role is to keep momentum going. I guess if you put a moniker on it, I guess I would be Best supporting actor always and never the main guy, which I'm very happy to do.”
• [06:23] Austin: Emphasizes psychology and storytelling: “I want to see the boys go out there and tell a story...and that’s what you guys did.”
• [08:02] Shane on Preparation:
  • Training with Jimmy Quinn (strength), Muay Thai with Phil Nurse, BJJ with the Gracies, and amateur wrestling with Mario Mercado: “All of that, it's a tremendous amount of cardio.”
  • On wrestling-specific conditioning: “Jump up in the air, tuck your chin, and land flat on your back…now, that is extremely jarring.”

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3. Ring Toughness and Tales from the Ring

• [09:52] Austin jokes about Shane’s infamously “snug” hands—potatoes galore.
• [10:46] Shane on numerous unintentional hard shots, including giving the Undertaker a black eye:
  • “I got heat for that from his mom.”
• [12:08] Shane recounts feeling awful and Undertaker’s stoic forgiveness:
  • “He went, it's all right. Let's come. Like, it'll come later.”
  • Eventually, ‘Taker gives Shane a “receipt”—a stiff shot back—during a match.
• [13:58] Austin compares big crowds’ reactions; Shane explains the psychology-first method he brings to every match, with special credit to lessons from Pat Patterson and his father.

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4. WrestleMania Atmosphere and Storytelling

• [15:11] Shane: “Psychology was always the most important thing because as you said earlier, we're storytelling and what story are we trying to tell?”
• [17:15] On enjoying being “first out” (opening the show): “I love jerking the curtain.”
• [18:11] Shane walks through the match’s story beat-by-beat:
  • “Chapter one was, all right, he's out wrestling me…then I got one up on him. He's like, oh my gosh, what the hell was that?”
• [19:09] On crowd energy:
  • “You can’t [hear the crowd]; it's a feeling…Goosebumps. My nipples got hard.” (laughs)
  • “The greatest, worst thing in the world is crickets…brutal. Get the shotgun.”

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5. Early Days: Shane’s Start in Wrestling, Family, and Kayfabe

• [20:47] Shane’s entry into the business:
  • First worked as ring crew, hung up show posters, then refereed, traveling with Joey Morella, Mike Chioda, Tony Chimel.
• [26:39] On paying dues:
  • “You gotta earn your respect each and every day…That’s what I teach my sons as well.”
• [26:43] On growing up with Vince McMahon:
  • “He was extremely hard on me…laid down the law.”
  • “Old school” discipline—Austin and Shane swap stories of getting spanked and learning respect.
• [28:13] Shane: Diagnosed with ADD/ADHD as a kid; Ritalin made him more hyper.

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6. Growing Up Backstage: Ribs, Road Life, and Locker Room Culture

• [32:25] Austin marvels at Shane’s access to legends:
  • Shane as “the mascot” in the locker room, “they would torture me. Oh my God, the ribs…”
• [32:38] Example rib from Don “the Rock” Morocco: “He would lock me in a locker…They’d blow cigarette smoke in there, cigar smoke…bang on the locker.”
• On Andre the Giant—family dinners, Andre’s legendary drinking stories.
  • “Andre usually BYO, he usually come with his own stuff…”
  • Classic "overhead bin" story: “He would take it, throw it on the floor, put his little tiny briefcase up in there, and close the cabinet…’mine.’”
• On mentors: Morocco, Roddy Piper, Kurt Hennig, Nasty Boys, Shawn & Marty, and the barrage of pranks.
• [45:35] Classic wrestler prank lore: bags/jeans locked up, showers, and the importance of earning respect in the pecking order.

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7. Evolution of the Business: Syndication, Territories, and the WWE Machine

• [46:44] Shane on why the locker room dynamic changed:
  • “The territory system primarily dried up…By the time you got to New York, you were polished…”
• [49:03] Shane: Syndication explained—WWF airing on 330+ stations, built its audience TV-by-TV, promoting heavily in each local market.
• [51:35] On the risks his father took expanding nationally, including death threats:
  • “My dad’s philosophy: I believe in this product. I believe in what we’re doing…and that’s the vision.”
• [53:50] Other promoters’ limitations: “The promoters were stuck in some of their old school ways where they didn’t want to spend the money…it will take to compete at that level.”

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8. Changes in Development and Talent

• [55:24] Austin asks if the modern system leaves talent walking on eggshells due to lack of places to work; Shane agrees they have less freedom to fail (or thrive) and test their character, but NXT (and ECW before) is an effort to recreate some of that farm system dynamic.
  • “There’s not that maturation process, you know, that it used to be…NXT is now there to be even before.”
• [57:34] On ECW’s downfall: pacing, advertiser limitations, but a lot of great matches—attitude era as revolutionary and money-generating, even if not all was “great taste.”
• Austin on the Attitude Era: spontaneous, edgy, and fun: “I don’t think you need to go back…but I’d like to see things be a little more spontaneous now.”

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9. Wrestling Psychology, Heat, and the McMahon Family Dynamic

• [67:05] How Shane won over crowds: “At first it was Heat…Boss’s kid…played up Greenwich, Connecticut, silver spoon…then it grew out of protecting my sister, good guy brother, father-son issues.”
• [69:24] On working with Vince as family and boss: “There’s less patience…at the end of the day, respect factor…there was never, I would never say anything else.”

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10. The End of Kayfabe

• [72:07] Austin: “How was kayfabe back in the day?”
• [72:16] Shane:
  • “Became harder and harder [to keep kayfabe] with the explosion in the 80s…now it’s extremely hard…sometimes we do it. Like my return was kayfabe. No one knew.”

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11. Tough Guys & Locker Room Respect

• [75:13] Austin: “If you said wrestling was fake, some guy might stretch you…So, who are some of the legit tough guys?”
• [75:32] Shane: “Bruiser Brody, Andre, Morocco, Roddy, Snuka, Sika, Matt Bourne, Rude, Curt [Henning]…You had to be tough to survive that locker room.”
• Ming gets a special mention as “forever on everybody’s list.”

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12. Steve Austin’s Walkout and Reconciliation

• [77:15] Austin addresses his 2002 walkout, no-showing on Brock Lesnar, and how it impacted the company and relationship with Vince.
• [80:20] Shane gives an unvarnished assessment:
  • “You let a lot of people down…everyone eats off the same plate…when that cog leaves, it's like, oh, wow…He [Vince] was hurt professionally and personally.”
  • “Success sometimes is very hard to deal with,” reflecting on the burnout involved at the top.

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13. WrestleMania 32 with The Undertaker

• [86:47] Shane talks about returning for his kids, bringing them to the entrance at AT&T Stadium: “Selfishly replay in my mind all the time, nothing greater than that.”
• On facing Undertaker: “He looks through you…in those first couple hands, you know, I thought he was [going to kill me].”
• On ‘Taker’s impact:
  • “I don't think anybody else could have pulled that off…That is who he is as an individual…very measured, reserved.”

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14. Iconic High Spots & Injuries

• [92:58] Austin on Shane’s infamous top-of-the-cell dive at WrestleMania 32:
  • Shane describes the “hyper-focused” state. “It's not the flight. It's the sudden stop that gets you.”
  • “I cracked two ribs on my right side…ribs suck to heal.”
  • On wife Marisa: “She knew…she’s like, ‘please just be careful.’”
• [98:14] King of the Ring 2001: Shane’s brutal glass spot with Kurt Angle.
  • On getting thrown through actual safety glass: “The adrenaline, I mean, it hurts…It hurts. Land on your head, it hurts.”
  • On earning a standing ovation backstage, but nearly getting the match stopped by Vince in real time.

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15. Lasting Legacy, Teaching, and Looking Forward

• [105:41] Shane on his future:
  • “As long as I can continually make a difference and help guys now, especially greener guys, grow and help them and learn psychology and make the product better, I'm in. Makes me feel great.”
• [106:26] Steve and Shane agree to do developmental seminars together.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Shane (on crowd energy, [19:13]):
  “It’s a feeling...Oh, my gosh. Goosebumps. My nipples got hard.”

• Shane (on ring psychology, [15:11]):
  “Psychology was always the most important thing…we’re storytelling and what story are we trying to tell?”

• Steve Austin (on ring life, [17:15]):
  “I love jerking the curtain…If I was the main event, I'd still like to jerk the curtain.”

• Shane (on his role, [04:39]):
  “I guess I would be Best supporting actor always and never the main guy, which I'm very happy to do.”

• Shane (on his father’s discipline, [26:54]):
  “He was a great dad. Always there, but laid down a law.”

• Shane (on Andre the Giant, [35:52]):
  “Andre usually BYO, he usually come with his own stuff just in case you didn’t have what he was drinking.”

• Shane (on the locker room, [46:40]):
  “You had to have the proper respect and show the proper respect to the guys who were there before you and teaching you to be like, 'okay kid, let's see what you got.'”

• On Stone Cold’s walkout, Shane [80:20]: “You let a lot of people down…It didn't feel good. Didn't make any of us feel good. It's like, you let us down, man.”

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Important Timestamps

• [04:08] WrestleMania 33, match with AJ Styles discussion starts
• [08:02] Shane’s training regimen for WrestleMania
• [12:08] Shane discusses “potatoes” and ring snugness with Undertaker
• [19:09] Feeling crowd energy and storytelling philosophy
• [20:47] Shane details joining the business, ring crew stories
• [32:38] Locker room ribs and legendary personalities
• [46:44] Locker room’s evolution; territories dry up
• [55:24] Changes in developmental and the impact of NXT
• [67:05] How Shane drew Heat and transitioned to babyface
• [80:20] Austin goes in-depth on his infamous walkout; Shane talks fallout
• [86:47] WrestleMania 32, entrance with his sons
• [92:58] Shane details jumping from the Hell in the Cell, the physical toll
• [98:14] King of the Ring 2001: Glass-breaking match with Kurt Angle, aftermath

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Tone & Language

The episode mixes the bravado, profanity-lite candor, and emotional openness that define both Austin and Shane. The banter moves from ribbing and nostalgia to introspection, with plenty of insider jargon (potatoes, receipts, jerking the curtain), stories you’ll only hear from “the boys,” and an earned reverence for their business and its icons.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a deep, rollicking dive into wrestling history, performance philosophy, and the personal/familial costs of life in the business. It’s a must-listen for anyone interested in pro wrestling’s backstage world, how legends are made, and the evolution (and consequences) of wrestling’s transition from secretive, regional tradition to global sports entertainment.

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End of Summary

Transcript

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[Shane McMahon]

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[Steve Austin]

The Steve Austin show is brought to you free today by our friends at Betonline. Get in the mix of betonline AG and use a promo code podcast1 for your 50 welcome bonus bid online, your online sportsbook experts and exclusive partner of Podcast One SportsNet.

[Shane McMahon]

The following program is a Podcast One.com.

[Steve Austin]

Production from Hollywood, California, by way of.

[Shane McMahon]

The Broken Skull Ranch.

[Steve Austin]

This is the Steve Austin show. Give me a Hell yeah. Hell yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

Now here's Steve Austin.

[Steve Austin]

Shane McManus, my guest here. 317 gimmick speed. God dang, it is good to see you. Welcome to the mean streets of Los Angeles, California. How are you?

[Shane McMahon]

I'm doing exceptional.

[Steve Austin]

Good to see you.

[Shane McMahon]

It's been way too long.

[Steve Austin]

I was out there over 316. We just finished a complete remodel. You just walked over there. I mean, the battle wounds are still fresh. I mean, they're still cleaning out all the stuff over there. It's been major mayhem. I'm rooted in over here. We're about to start moving in over there. You caught me in the middle of it. But this is where it all starts from for me back here. You're on my territory right now.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, nothing's changed and I'm always in your territory.

[Steve Austin]

There's been a few times that I've been on yours. I kind of wanted to shoot the breeze with you and see how open minded you are. Just tossing something on the table, breaking it down, reliving old stuff and shooting the breeze. More so than me grilling you hardcore questions like I'm an interrogator. I. Are you down with that?

[Shane McMahon]

Sure, I'm ready for anything.

[Steve Austin]

Ready for anything. Sure. All right, let's jump off with WrestleMania 33 because that's fresh on my mind. Just of the latest things that you've done that have really been kind of a wow factor. Obviously. General manager of Smackdown. Brand. Correct.

[Shane McMahon]

Commish.

[Steve Austin]

Commish. Commish.

[Shane McMahon]

Sorry, Title.

[Steve Austin]

My bad.

[Shane McMahon]

No, that's the official title. I get it confused also.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, but you're the commission on Smackdown, so you got that going on. Currently.

[Shane McMahon]

Correct.

[Steve Austin]

But let's talk about Wrestleman 33, the match with AJ Styles. I thought it was the match of the night. A lot of people said, God dang, AJ Styles is going to wrestle Shane McMahon. Why can't they find someone for Shane to wrestle? I said the same thing, but I was impressed with your performance. I was just thinking of the guy that's in the trenches 24 7, 365 that had a guy lined up for him, but they stuck you in that spot. How did you feel about that? How. How did you feel about people saying, well, why is Shane wrestling this world class guy?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, I was humbled to be in there. AJ's a great talent.

[Steve Austin]

Damn right.

[Shane McMahon]

Never. Never worked with him. He's been here about a year. Came just before I came back. But I've always been an AJ Styles fan. Really enjoyed his work all the way from Japan to what he was doing at tna. And it's a different time in the business now, so guys usually, you know, of AJ's size and stature, you know, had to work so much harder. Sean always had to work so much harder, and Marty, and now. And now those doors have opened wide open because now it gets down to caliber and quality of performance. So. Ding, ding, ding. That guy is amazing all the way up. So I was truly humbled to be, you know, offered the opportunity to get in there with him. And it all comes down to what's the right booking. I think what people were reacting to specifically was the caliber of AJ Styles just coming off being the WWE Champion, with working with Cena and going in. They wanted him to be much more in that championship, dare I say ranking, right? So I think that's much more of what everyone was trying to articulate but not saying. You know, they want to see AJ in the title hunt. And the cards weren't there at the moment, so they were taking. Taking a little detour. And you know how booking can be. You know, it gets challenging. You can't please everybody. But the main thing is, how do you keep momentum for people? And, you know, part of my role is to do just that. So my role is to keep momentum going. You know, I'm very happy to be in that role. It's always been my role, and I love being able to do that and help the whole process. I guess if you put a moniker on it, I guess I would be Best supporting actor always and never the main guy, which I'm very happy to do.

[Steve Austin]

But, you know, when you say know your role, it kind of goes back to our old buddy the Rock. Know youw Role. And so that. That has been your role, but also, you're an integral, big part of so many great storylines, but. And maybe 33. Come on. And maybe 33 stepping in with AJ. Go back to 32 with the Undertaker in Dallas. I want to talk about that in a minute. But the fact that you stepped in there, you got yourself ready, you look like a million bucks. So I watch it when I watch an event like WrestleMania 33, which I loved. I thought it was a pretty damn solid WrestleMania. I watch it as one of the boys. I watch it as a guy who got in the business since 1989. I'm out of it, but I'm technically still in it. It'll be a part of my life until I'm dead. But I also like to watch as a fan because I want to see the boys go out there and tell a story and make me smile or make me go, yeah, or get some heat. I'm like, God dang. Time for that comeback. Come on, man, fire it up. And that's what you guys did. Y' all went out there. I love the story. AJ's mindset was kind of like, come on, man, you got no business being in here. I'm the face that runs this place. That Swagger, which he's great at. And then all of a sudden, y' all just turned into just a damn good match. Back and forth action, heat comeback. And you just told a great story with some outstanding stuff in there. What did you do to spin up and get ready for WrestleMania 33? Because as you well know, cardio is very specific. You can get on an elliptical trainer and go like gangbusters, but it doesn't transfer to the ring. I know you do a lot of damn mixed martial arts. What was your training program? Because you look like a million bucks and you weren't gassed at all.

[Shane McMahon]

That's really what I attribute it to. You know, as you're well aware, going in the ring, which people have no idea because they've never been in there just running and hitting the ropes. You know, it hurts. You know, you have to get callous. That's why guys that are on the road all the time, you know, my hat's off to them because they get callous. They get used to everything. You know, doing a flat back, jumping up, laying on your back is like, you have no idea. People ask me, like, oh, my God, what's that feel? Like? I said, look, be very careful, but go out in your backyard, jump up in the air, tuck your chin, and land flat on your back. Now, that is extremely jarring. And now imagine doing that about 40 or 50 times when you gotta repeat and do all that. But answering your question of what I do to stay in shape, again, a lot of that is attributed to what I do of, you know, training with. I do strength and conditioning with Jimmy Quinn, who's my strength and conditioning coach.

[Steve Austin]

Now, what does that entail?

[Shane McMahon]

That's much more resistance training and, you know, just hitting the weights and doing all the basics and getting back to stuff.

[Steve Austin]

You start your training, you're doing bodybuilding training?

[Shane McMahon]

No, A little both.

[Steve Austin]

Or would they Say, functional strength.

[Shane McMahon]

As far as functional, basically it's to keep. No, it's not so much my heart rate there, it's just to keep everything together.

[Steve Austin]

Okay.

[Shane McMahon]

So I'm getting older. I just need to keep everything together and tight. And that's why I train and do that resistance wise. The more of the cardio comes from when I do Muay Thai and that's when I train with Phil Nurse. So when you're throwing hands and feet and you're going a bunch of rounds with a 30 second rest, I mean, you know, I train hard and then I do Brazilian Jiu jitsu, you know, again, I do that with the Gracies, Hollis and Henzo, and also Mario Mercado. I got a lot of guys. Mario Mercado is my amateur wrestling. He was Division I at Syracuse. So we get in there and just battle it out. So all of that, it's a tremendous amount of cardio.

[Steve Austin]

It sounds like you went to a fight camp.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, well, that's basically what I do. Yeah, that's. You have to do that.

[Steve Austin]

I'm looking at you. Shane's about four feet away from. It was at a little table over here, 317 gimmick street and I'm looking at two hands and when he ball those things up, those two hands that produce more potatoes than the potato fields of Idaho. Did you get a bunch of fights? You should talk. Oh, my God. I've been. I think I've received more of those potatoes than any person in the world. You can. Oh, come on. A lot of people complained. I was a little snug in the ring and comebacks when DX and you guys were feeding. I mean, yeah, there's some goose eggs and some black guys and stuff like that, but, dude, you got a lot of quicker hands than me. I was watching a couple of those left hands and big rights with Undertaker. I'm like, God dang. I saw Undertaker after one endeavor and I looked at him, I said, dude, what's with the eye? He goes, God dang, kid, he was talking about you.

[Shane McMahon]

I got heat for that from his mom.

[Steve Austin]

Really? Oh, my God.

[Shane McMahon]

I got heat from that. It happened. I did. I tatered the hell out of him. But that was the week before there was The Go Home WrestleMania was in Brooklyn and something went awry. We were throwing hands and it was. We were outside and I went to hit him with the monitor or something and it was stuck. So all of a sudden he sits up and I'm like, well, he's a big dude. I'm like, what am I gonna do? I was like, oh. I kind of panicked a little bit. Didn't quite get my range, so I wasn't completely looking at him. I went whack. And I stuck it out there and I felt it and went funky. I went, oh, my God.

[Steve Austin]

I saw his eyes rolled back in his head.

[Shane McMahon]

For a minute, he looked at me. All of a sudden, I started. That trickle of blood come down. I go, I'm dead. So I quickly.

[Steve Austin]

What do I do?

[Shane McMahon]

I quickly get on. I'm fast. I might as well get him in now.

[Steve Austin]

Give him a couple extra. We're going to get back to 33, but let's talk about taker for a second, because here's the thing, you know, in the business, I mean, you're going to throw a couple of those studs, and we both have, and we laugh about it because it's funny, and he's my friend. But like you said, like you talking on the Mick Foley podcast, as tight as you gu guys are, as long as you've known each other, the immense respect that you have for all of the guys in the business, because you never want to hurt anybody. But when you stiff a guy like the Undertaker who's, like, at the top of the respect totem pole with one of the greatest careers in the history of the business, you just thump him. It's like, God dang it, I feel bad. I did.

[Shane McMahon]

I felt, like, terrible. I came back through the grill position, my head sunk low, and I just walked up. And then Harry comes back through, you know, and when he. When he's a little PO'd, he's larger in life, you know, he comes in, I'm just like. So I just quickly look up, said, I'm sorry, give him a hug. And then I close my eyes, I stick my chin out like this.

[Steve Austin]

I'm ready for one.

[Shane McMahon]

I'm like, go ahead, Receipto. He went, it's all right. Let's come. Like, it'll come later.

[Steve Austin]

And, boy, did it ever. Oh, my God. When did the receipt come? Because that's classic Undertaker. Oh, he crushed me.

[Shane McMahon]

Crushed me. We were laughing in the beginning of that match, Undertaker. We were doing stuff, and I was, you know, we're throwing hands. You know, we. When we're throwing. We already had the deal that we're gonna go, yeah. So we're starting to throw, and, you know, we're tagging. And then one thing, he hit me. And then I just kind of went into my, you know, my own little world for a second. Protect Mechanism. And then I leg kick him and it went whack. All of a sudden he looked at me, went, ow. And I saw it and he went, that he was hot. So at some point he had grounded me, done something, and I was gassed. I was laying down. I'm like, alright, let me catch my breath for a second. So I'm laying kind of in the fetal position, totally relaxing, because I know he's about to go do something else. I got like probably 20 seconds. I can catch my breath, taking big breaths in, eyes are closed. And then my face flat on the canvas. He reaches up and bear paws me.

[Steve Austin]

Whack.

[Shane McMahon]

Wide open jaw, everything. All of a sudden I got those gold glitters. You know, when you get hit hard, you're like, oh, my gosh. You know, and then I start laughing.

[Steve Austin]

Oh, he did it on purpose.

[Shane McMahon]

He and I had dinner a few months after that. We were laughing at these stories, you know, talking about it, but, oh, man, I was totally seeing stars.

[Steve Austin]

Let's jump back to 33 for a second before we get to start talking about Undertaker 32, because I want to talk about 101. However many thousand people were jammed in that building there in Florida, 75,000 people came from Jesus, all 50 states, I believe, 62 countries. It's an amazing. It's an annual phenomenon when WrestleMania gathers. We'll go back and talk about WrestleMania 1 here in a little bit. How was the atmosphere? You're early on the card. You get out there, the sun's going down, lights ain't on yet. And so sometimes that atmosphere is not what you want it to be. But y' all didn't suffer that fate. Y' all had the crowd, the story that y' all told, grabbed the people hook, line and sinker. Couple of matches that followed, you didn't have such a good success. What were you thinking when you went out there? Because I just make this comparison to Ford Field when we did the Battle of the Billionaires and there was 90,000 people in there, but the sound was going up, we couldn't hear. We thought we were crap in the bed. Me and Vince were looking at each other. We're like, God dang, man, we're stinking a joint out. How did you feel going out there? Did you know you'd rock the place? When did you know you had the crowd? How did it feel? Bunch of questions, just elaborate. Tell me about the experience. AJ Styles, one of the best workers in the world. WrestleMania 33.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, again, I was pumped to get out there and, you know, I learned the business, as I said on podcast and many other interviews, I learned the business completely backwards because I never, ever thought I would be in the ring, but I always learned psychology. I learned psychology first. And all of those years of sitting and just, you know, it's almost through osmosis, of listening to Pat Patterson and talking to guys, of what to do, what not to do, when to do it, why to do it, you know, that just became innate in me, learning from my dad the same thing. You know, you hear all that. I mean, these are the masters of it. And then having the ability to work with amazing talent, you included, of why we're doing this, what's our story? So psychology was always the most important thing because as you said earlier, we're storytelling and what story are we trying to tell? And when I first got booked with aj, my questions were, okay, well, what's our story? You know, to everybody? And they're like, well, you know, we're trying to figure this out. I said, no, no, we need to figure out exactly what we're doing. What's our story? And then if you will go back and watch the weeks leading up to that, well, what we did was we started telling that story, including AJ's promo on the Go Home. And it was all about, again, this is not going to be your typical Shane McMahon match. It's not no holds barred. He wants to embarrass me. This is his ring. We're going to wrestle. There's no punches going to be thrown. You know, I'm in his world. So I was like, oh, okay. So it's going to be a whole different type of deal in the story. That's exactly the story that we started to tell in the ring. So if you notice, WrestleMania 33, ding, ding, ding. And to answer your question, the light, the sun had just set and the breeze picked up. So I was like coming down that ramp, which is 80 yards. I mean, that ramp was so long. But being first out was, you know. You know, I love jerking the curtain because.

[Steve Austin]

Me too. Hey, nice to be in the main event. You want to be the main event? It's cool to jerk the curtain.

[Shane McMahon]

I love drinking, by the way, if. If I was the main event, I'd still like to jerk the curtain. Right, okay. Because you're first out. So being first out, everything just got a nice breeze. It was cool. I was like, oh, alright, I'm feeling it. I run down, I see my three boys and Marisa sitting in the audience right there. Give him the sign, you know, and we had to go because you got to hit times, you got to, you know, you got a lot of stuff going on. AJ comes out. And then as soon as we started telling that story, started feeling it, I was like, wow, okay, I think, I think we got him.

[Steve Austin]

It's a garbage truck.

[Shane McMahon]

Garbage truck.

[Steve Austin]

Of course, here on Steve Austin show, they're going to come back and get my trash can.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, they're coming, getting tons of stuff, probably because you have all that, all that stuff from next door you're cleaning out and everything.

[Steve Austin]

I complain about my show all the time, but it's, it's included. The show downloads for free. So it's kind of like everything but the kitchen sink. This is a family friendly show.

[Shane McMahon]

And I saw a kitchen sink out there.

[Steve Austin]

We're getting rid of that. So, you know, the garbage truck is included. So you're out there, you tell a story.

[Shane McMahon]

So we start telling the story and you know, kind of chapter one was, all right, he's out wrestling me. And if you go back and watch it, that's what we're telling, like, okay. And then I got, I did a little better the second time. Then the third time I got one up on him. He's like, oh, my gosh, what the hell was that? Surprised him then when he came back in. Here we go, you know, I'm getting ready to throw hands. He says, none of that anymore. We're gonna wrestle. I'm like, alright, so we start to go wrestle. Then he cold cocks me. So now he's beat, trying to beat me in my own game. Like, all right, you want to throw hands. And then once we start throwing hands, it becomes a little bit of a different story.

[Steve Austin]

Yes.

[Shane McMahon]

You know, so then the tides turn a little bit. And then from there, once, once we kind of got right even from the get go, the energy level. And even though it was way up, you know, in the crowd, the noise just goes high because there's no roof on the place. We felt that rumble.

[Steve Austin]

Okay.

[Shane McMahon]

We felt them. So I was like, wow.

[Steve Austin]

How important is that to feel those people?

[Shane McMahon]

Extremely.

[Steve Austin]

Damn right. Because I'm deaf, but I can hear a crowd.

[Shane McMahon]

You can't because it's a feeling.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

Oh, my gosh. Goosebumps. My nipples got hard. You know, easy, easy, easier. I won't show you. But you know, it is, it's that excitement when you're, when you know you're in there and you know you're the crowd's party. You know, when you do your job right and you're Entertaining correctly, the crowd. Take them on a ride.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

Because that's what we do.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

And you want them to be entertainment.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. Be part of our story. Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

And participate. That's what it was.

[Steve Austin]

Oh, yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

The greatest, worst thing in the world is crickets. Oh.

[Steve Austin]

Oh, my God.

[Shane McMahon]

They could be booing profusely.

[Steve Austin]

Great.

[Shane McMahon]

That's the reaction we want. But crickets. Oh, brutal. Get the shotgun.

[Steve Austin]

And crickets happens every now and then. Like, even, you know, you could sometimes, even at my hottest, you could have a town. It would be kind of crickets. It wouldn't be all crickets. But you're like, God dang, we've been rocking half for, like, six days straight. All of a sudden, these people are sitting on their hands and nobody's really invested. Like, God, this is horrible. Anyway, on with the match. You're rocking the place. You're feeling it. And you listen to the crowd and you're having your match and you turn on the lights out and match. And so.

[Shane McMahon]

Thank you. That was the goal.

[Steve Austin]

I thought it was a great match. So the important part of it, though, is getting the people to be a part of the match. You felt like you had them, y' all did have them, and took them on a ride. You did. To go home. You go back. You just said you learned the business backwards. You learned psychology first. So in reading about you, you were a referee for a brief time way back in, what, 89, 90.

[Shane McMahon]

Oh, gosh, I've been referee ever since.

[Steve Austin]

Before then, 80, sure. Well, tell me about getting into business, because I don't know that you talked about this with Mick Foley, because your grandfather never wanted Vince in the business, your father. Right. So. Well, and he started promoting Bangor, Maine, or whatever. The territory was a hard time getting that show going. He promoted it. It was a success. Your grandfather led him in the business. So what was your father's stance on you getting in the business?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, he knew that's exactly what I wanted to do. The requirements were I had to graduate college.

[Steve Austin]

Where'd you go to school?

[Shane McMahon]

At Boston University. Graduated from there.

[Steve Austin]

What kind of degree?

[Shane McMahon]

I got a B.S. mass Communications.

[Steve Austin]

Public Relations.

[Shane McMahon]

Bachelor's of Science and Mass Communications.

[Steve Austin]

Public Relations.

[Shane McMahon]

What do you do? With what?

[Steve Austin]

Mass communications.

[Shane McMahon]

Mass communications.

[Steve Austin]

Well, tell stories in the ring.

[Shane McMahon]

Exactly.

[Steve Austin]

What were you gonna do if you had not gotten a business to apply that degree?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, it's everything from sportscasting to, you know, getting into business level administration. It was more of a general education all the way around, but leading more into the communications field, which is more Media and all the stuff that I kind of grew up with. Anyway, so I was just like, okay, let me kind of feel this knowing full well I wanted to get completely into the business.

[Steve Austin]

Okay. Mass communications. But you knew you wanted to get in the business.

[Shane McMahon]

Yes.

[Steve Austin]

Vince's dad didn't want him in the business. So what was Yalls agreement?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, again, just had to graduate. College was one of them. And then I worked, you know, I worked in the business ever since I could, you know, ever since I was. I went to my first wrestling match when I was two years old. It was the Worcester auditorium. And I remember. And then since then, you know, in all the territories, my dad would take me.

[Steve Austin]

Me. You remember going to the matches in Worcester at two years of age?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, two, three. Because it continued.

[Steve Austin]

But I remember, I remember yesterday.

[Shane McMahon]

No, certain. But certain things stick in your mind.

[Steve Austin]

Like 45 years ago.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah. Well, how many? Let me see.

[Steve Austin]

What, that you're 47?

[Shane McMahon]

No, I'm like 40. I'm like 39.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, so you remember always going to the matches. How did your dad start you in a business? Well, you know, the inside, you know, the nuts and bolts.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, I started, you know, when I was there. Ever since, you know, again, ages, just as a young kid, helping set the ring up, taking turnbuckles out of the bag, you know, putting them over because, you know, I was too small to like lift the heavy ropes and all the other stuff. I eventually graduated. A ring crew. I was the kid in the summer and on weekends and I used to go hang up old school. The poster in the front of, you know, the grocery store or the barber shop, you know, in the cart. And we bring in. Excuse me, sir, you mind if we put this in your front window? You know, I mean, old school grassroots promotion, which people have no idea what that's all about anymore. So that's how I really started. I started doing everything.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, but after college.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, then I graduated. Ring crew, all the other stuff. That's when I started refereeing.

[Steve Austin]

Well, let me ask you about the ring crew.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

Because a lot of good stories happen on.

[Shane McMahon]

Oh my gosh.

[Steve Austin]

Were you traveling with the guys? Because I know, you know, when your dad was promoting making a lot of the towns, you didn't see a lot of him, Correct? I didn't see a lot of my girls when I was on the road. Hardcore. That's just the way the, the life in the business was. So who were you hanging with on the ring crew?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, the original ring crew was Joey Morella, Mike Chioda and Tony Chimel. Those were the three.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. And sadly, Joey Morella is no longer with us.

[Shane McMahon]

Yes.

[Steve Austin]

Okay.

[Shane McMahon]

So I was the kid, you know, and so Joey and I, because his dad was Gorilla Monsoon and you know, my dad, so what we do. And he was probably six or seven years older than me. So we were drinking beers under the stands. You know, we're just like, oh, complaining about our dads.

[Steve Austin]

You know, Mostly he was 10 or 13.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, I'm younger. I'm not of drinking age. Different time back then everybody else, you know, so we're drinking beers on the stage and that eventually then Joey became full time referee and then that left an opening on the ring crew for, like summers and, you know, vacation and holiday vacations and all the stuff where I just worked and I plugged in there. So it was Chimel and Kyota, and then I was the third. So I would travel around with those guys and a few others, but that was the main crew. And oh my gosh, do we have fun.

[Steve Austin]

Were you playing cards and dominoes with those guys way back in the day? Because, you know, that's how they pass a lot of time when they get the ring set up, they got to kill time. So that's a lot of what goes on. They did.

[Shane McMahon]

I didn't play much of the domino. I would go run or do something else or get ready and, you know, make sure everything's all set. But I didn't do so much. But what we used to do is we had to drive everywhere. So we would tear down the ring and then Chimal not so much. But Kyota and I always wanted to go out. So, you know, being on the road, you've hit your favorite place to eat and then everyone would ascend on a bar. Yeah, there was a certain joint that everybody went to. It was like, it was a staple no matter what town you went to. So we were always like, hurry up.

[Steve Austin]

Let'S get it done. Tear the ring down as fast as.

[Shane McMahon]

We can, get in the shower, get to the next town so we can go. And then we meet up with, you know, the boys. And then there all be all types of competition. So I'll be out with nasty boys and Marty and Sean, you know, and it was me and Kyoto and we were having, you know, teams and, you know, team competition, who drinks more and all. I mean, it was just. It was so much fun.

[Steve Austin]

Your dad tell you when he found out the shenanigans with the ring crew and all the boys, he was all.

[Shane McMahon]

He was pretty cool because he knew he Knew I was cutting my teeth and you know, gonna earn a rite of passage. And you gotta earn, you gotta pay your dues. I mean, I'm. I'm still paying dues. I don't think I'll ever not pay dues. It's just different. You gotta earn your respect each and every day. That's how I was brought up and that's just how I am today. That's what I teach my sons as well.

[Steve Austin]

That's interesting. You know, your dad's a third generation promoter, you're fourth generation in the wrestling business, so I guess, you know, hey, it's gonna come with the territory. But he wasn't hard on you. I mean, he just understood. Hey, man, like I said, rite of passage.

[Shane McMahon]

Oh, yeah, he was extremely hard on me. You know Vince, I mean, he's.

[Steve Austin]

Well, what was it like growing up in that household? He was always gone. I was gone a lot, but, you know, strict dude. I know your dad pretty good. Obviously not near as well as you do. So how was he as a dad?

[Shane McMahon]

He was a great dad. Always there, but laid down a law.

[Steve Austin]

When you messed up.

[Shane McMahon]

Oh my gosh, yes.

[Steve Austin]

When he, when he ground you or like, like, oh, yeah, if we messed up. You messed up in Victoria, Texas, boy. My dad come in there with a leather belt. You're my stepdad now. But we look at him as being my real dad. And God dang, he started pulling off that belt. And I said, God dang, dad, I'm sorry. I said, I'll never do it again. He goes, boy, I know you won't. He'd grab my left arm and start swinging. I'd be running around in circles. He'd be busting my ass, that belt. And Shane, my stepdad, used to go in the other room and he would cry because he had to whip our asses because we weren't really his kids when he first met my mom. But God dang, when you messed up over in Victoria, you paid for it. And that's how he did it. Did the old stand thing. Ground you and stuff, Stuff like that. Anything like that going on with you?

[Shane McMahon]

Oh, without question. Old school.

[Steve Austin]

I grew up old school. Thank you. Give me some nuts. Oh, these days if you hear somebody whipping their kid. Child abuse. You can't do that.

[Shane McMahon]

Listen, if my dad didn't step in like he did.

[Steve Austin]

Yep.

[Shane McMahon]

I probably wouldn't be here or I'd be locked away or somewhere else.

[Steve Austin]

What are you saying about your personality?

[Shane McMahon]

I'm saying that I was just a very high spirited guy. You know me, I'm high energy. I got to have an outlet for that energy and if it's channeled in the wrong way, you just, you know, you just do dumb things.

[Steve Austin]

Would you. I kind of self diagnosed myself. Add, adhd, whatever you want to call it, you know that or both. Okay. Would have you ever been diagnosed as add or is it just like, hey, change, hyper?

[Shane McMahon]

No, I had them both.

[Steve Austin]

Okay.

[Shane McMahon]

Diagnosed and. Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

So did they give you medication to take? Did you take the medication?

[Shane McMahon]

They tried when I was a kid, you know, but you know, when we grew up, they just thought we were disciplinaria problems, you know, now there's medicine for it. They tried me on the medicine. Ritalin?

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

You know, back, back then it was very experimental. It didn't work with me.

[Steve Austin]

Make you more hyper or what?

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, it wound me up. I became very irritable, you know, not, not a good thing. So, you know, it's tough. And plus I was so transient, you know, moving a lot, you know, that you don't really get to sit in you and you start missing skills, you know, of, you know, different school systems or whatever. And some are a little more advanced, some are a little more behind. But you just gotta try to figure out where you fit in and making new friends and so it becomes tough.

[Steve Austin]

Did you make friends easy?

[Shane McMahon]

I did, you know, I'm pretty much pretty easygoing, you know, very principled and if you're wrong me, that's it. But other than that, I'm pretty good.

[Steve Austin]

What kind of student were you? I mean, I know you got a degree, but I mean, did you ever have to apply yourself? Are you a C, a D guy?

[Shane McMahon]

When I was interested in something I did very well, I excelled when I wasn't. I didn't really see the importance of it. Now if I can talk to my young self, which I'm talking to my kids, you know, they won't, I won't allow them to make that mistake because you need to get it all done. Some things in your job, you don't like certain parts of it, but you got to get that done to get to the next level. The Steve Austin show. The Steve Austin show.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

What do you think makes the perfect snack?

[Steve Austin]

Hmm.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

It's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Could you be more specific?

[Commercial Announcer 1]

When it's cravenient.

[Shane McMahon]

Okay.

[Steve Austin]

Like a freshly baked cookie made with.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Real butter, available right down the street at a.m. p.m. Or a savory breakfast.

[Steve Austin]

Sandwich I can grab in just a second at a.m. pM.

[Shane McMahon]

I'm seeing a pattern here.

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Well, yeah, we're talking about what I.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Crave, which is anything from am.

[Shane McMahon]

Pm.

[Steve Austin]

What more could you want?

[Commercial Announcer 1]

Stop by ampm, where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient.

[Shane McMahon]

Convenient?

[Commercial Announcer 1]

That's Cravenians ampm. Too much Good stuff.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

This is a story that begins with a dying wish.

[Steve Austin]

One thing I would like you to do.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

My mother's last request, that my sister and I finish writing the memoir she'd started about her German childhood when her father designed a secret super weapon for Adolf Hitler. My grandfather, Robert Loesser, headed the Nazi project to build the world's first cruise missile, which terrorized millions and left a legacy that dogged my mother like a curse.

[Steve Austin]

She had some secrets. Mom had some secrets.

[Commercial Announcer 2]

I'm Suzanne Rico. Join my sister and me as we search for the truth behind our grandfather's work and for the first time, face the ghosts of our past.

[Shane McMahon]

Jeez.

[Steve Austin]

Who is he?

[Commercial Announcer 2]

Listen to the man who Calculated death. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

[Steve Austin]

You brought a gorilla Monsoon's name. God dang. I used to love when he would do commentary with either Jesse the Body Ventura or Bobby Heenan. But old gorilla and just the. The chemistry, the camaraderie, the friendship, the stories that those guys told, these larger than life characters in the Ring and these storylines. It was a huge part of me, of my childhood. You're living it. You're hanging out with these guys. At some point. You know, when you're hanging around the Ring crew or drinking a couple of beers with the guys on the DL, are you thinking, this ain't normal or that's your normal? You came up in it. But now looking back, I mean, what do you think about the cast, characters you came up with? You got to hang out with some of my biggest heroes that I've ever seen in my life on a daily basis.

[Shane McMahon]

It was amazing, you know, being able and being accepted. That's kind of like the mascot I was, the kid, you know, they liked. And they would torture me. They. Oh, my God, the ribs. They would play on me.

[Steve Austin]

What kind of ribs? You gotta drop a couple rib stories.

[Shane McMahon]

All right, well, Morocco was notorious, okay? Because he was a old school, laughing, belly laughing. He would always. He would lock me in a locker, you know, those lockers, you know, lock me in it. Boom. And then the boys would, like, you know, blow cigarette smoke in there, cigar smoke or whatever else they were doing, you know, and just bang on the locker, things like that. I remember one time, Morocco put me into those Big oil drum, trash cans, you know, at the arenas and stuff. He put me in, rolled me down the hallway, down a couple steps, you know, seven, eight years old. It was like, haha, you know. But again, I look back at that, it was all right, well, what's the kid gonna do now after that? So it was continually earning their respect and just keep coming back. And it was fun, you know, those guys, it was kind of. It was a weird bunch of babysitters, you know, but when my dad take me, you know, he's working, getting stuff done, and I'd be okay, let me, let me get the talents for the guys or let me take their stuff back or how can I help and be involved and just hanging in the locker room. It was very educational.

[Steve Austin]

What are your recollections of Andre the Giant? Because I got a chance to meet Andre when he passed through wcw. He just came to a television tape and at center stage at this time, he was on crutches, he was on his downhill slide. And man, dude, I was a J. Brone when I was stunning Steve and I was nowhere near the league that he was in. He'd already had his huge run, you know, with the wwf, and all of a sudden I just had to go introduce myself to him. I said, hey. I said, andre said, my name is Steve Austin. I got a chance to shake a man's hand. And then he passed away. But at least I got a chance to meet him. I've heard so many Andre the Giant stories. What was that guy like from your perspective? Just hanging around a dude that's as big and powerful and charismatic as he was, but just extremely gentle Giant, but also extremely. Yeah, I'm glad you said that. Because very feared if he didn't want you in your. In his locker room.

[Shane McMahon]

Oh, without question. Not just that. I mean, Andre. I always wanted to be Andre the Giants tag team partner. So since around age 5, you know, I would walk up to Andre and be like, we're gonna be tag team partners. And I would tell my dad, so, you know, I'm gonna grow up to be big like him, not little like you, you know, so I would always have the, you know, envision Andre and I being tag team partners. So that kept me going for a while. Then I started learning that he was a giant. You know, like, this is not the norm. I'm not really going to grow that big and all the other stuff. But Andre was always super kind, you know, I think he wanted. He wanted to belong. And he was very guarded of who he Let in. But when you were in, you were. It was like a little family, and it was. It was a special time. You know, Andre had great respect for my grandfather, and that carried on through my dad, down to me, my sister, my mother. So it was like, andre's coming over. I was like, okay. So every few months, he'd pop in through town and he'd come over for dinner or whatever. So it was, you know, when Andre.

[Steve Austin]

Comes over for dinner, what is. I mean, your dad's one of the smartest guys I know. Did you go buy a truckload of beer and wine to get ready for Andre, or would he chill over at the McMahon residence? Or. He was known as one of the. Probably the. The greatest drinker in the history of the business.

[Shane McMahon]

Oh, forget it. Andre usually byo, he usually come with his own stuff just in case you didn't have what he was drinking. Andre got on this kick. And I used to be scared of these things. There were Mexican whiskey bottles. Instead of a worm in them, there was a snake. They would put a whole snake in there. I would look at and look at it. It's like something, you know, science class, and you're growing up in formaldehyde, and you're looking at him like, oh, my God.

[Steve Austin]

Sorry.

[Shane McMahon]

And then Andre would pop the top, and, you know, his hand's so big. You know, a whole big bottle of that stuff looked tiny. You know, like, you take a little nip. So he starts drinking that. I'm like, oh, my God. And then sometimes he's like, never eat the snake. I'm like, no problem. Like, I'm not doing it. But he was. He was. He was a gentle giant. But in Andre's story, if, like, imagine when he flew, you know, back in the day, you know, first class, you know, seats were even smaller. They're more narrow. So very difficult time traveling. But he would always travel with this big Haliburton. So it was briefcase, for those who don't know, it's basically a steel briefcase. Very durable. And that was, like. That's what he traveled with for his, you know, carry on or whatever. And Andre would walk up, and if there was anything above his seat, you know, in the overhead compartment, Andre would look, and if someone had placed their bag or something like that, he would take it, throw it on the floor, put his little tiny briefcase up in there, and close the cabinet. Because as far as Andre was concerned, that space was reserved for his seat, and no one else's stuff should be up there.

[Steve Austin]

I heard the exact same story. He would take whoever stuck it was just move it out, put his stuff in and shut it. And he'd go, mine. Yes, dude. I mean, what do you say? Here's the thing about Andre, I mean it looked like he had like 160 teeth. I mean I would respect, but I mean it looked like he had 160 teeth in front. He was bigger than anything you'd ever seen in your war in the world. So if he says mine, yeah, just leave my stuff on the floor. I'm good with it.

[Shane McMahon]

And he was so. Because his legs weren't very long, you know, so his torso was massive. So when he was sitting, he still was a huge guy with that big fro and shoulder. I mean, think about a 500 pound man. That's a massive human being. That's me and you together. Yeah, that is a huge guy. So he was very intimidating.

[Steve Austin]

Tell me if you ever heard any of these stories at some point in time. And I heard this, you know, from, from Jake Roberts or from Rick Rude, rather been doing a lot of tag matches. It would be Jake Roberts and ravishing Rick Rude versus Andre the Giant and another partner, whatever. When Rick Rude was in there. Andre loved Rick Rude. So many bounce around, bing bang, boom, and all of a sudden tag in Jake. I guess there's a little heat there. Jake went through a heat and getting phased, you know, at some points in his career. And Andre would get him out there in the middle of the ring 20 by 20. You've been in a million of them just like I have. And you know, Jake had stringy long hair and he'd have a size 33ft and he'd be standing on Jake's hair. Jake would be on his belly. He would have his arms stretched behind Jake and just arching his back and just, you know, he was torturing Jake as he's pulling all of his hair out because he was standing £500 on it. And Jake knew he wasn't going to strong arm Andre. Everybody knew they weren't going to strong Armandre. And he'd just be kind of looking over at Rick Rude in the corner like, tag me, please tag me. I'm getting me out of here.

[Shane McMahon]

We're getting killed.

[Steve Austin]

Did you get a chance to ever talk to Jake, get to know Jake as a person?

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, I ran with Jake for a little while. Oh my God. So as you can imagine, well, here, here, kind of my mentor. So let me kind of go, please. So I come in there and again being the kid and everything else. So the guys that Took me under their wing was Morocco and Roddy Piper. So right there started my education. Okay.

[Steve Austin]

Stop right there. Quotation marks around education. Continue.

[Shane McMahon]

So, I mean, I'm there with the kings of the frat house. And, you know, once you're in the frat house, you do what the frat boys do, and you grow up. You grow up in the element. So by the time. By the time I got to college, man, you know, everyone's like, oh, let's go out.

[Steve Austin]

Let's do whatever.

[Shane McMahon]

I'm like, this is boring, you know, like. Like, I'm gonna catch a nap, you know, because, man, I had lived literally rock and roll to the fullest extent. I mean, you can appreciate it. Not many people who are listening to this will be able to appreciate what we've seen in our lifetime, because it was a much different time. There was no Internet. There was no, you know, there was no spy cameras. There was a lot of stuff. So it was a very interesting time where everything just went on. It was crazy.

[Steve Austin]

So who else were your mentors? Don the Rock, Morocco. God dang it. That guy just used to love to watch that physique of his, him in action. The power, the Persona. Roddy Piper hanging out with that guy. And when you say those guys are the kings of the frat house, well said.

[Shane McMahon]

Then I kind of graduated a little bit, and then I was running with. It was me and Kyoto and running with Sean and Marty. The Nasty Boys were all contemporaries and buddies. Kurt Henning was kind of my next guy who was mentoring me a little bit. Again, guys just a little bit older that you learn a ton from. But, oh, my God, the ribs were so brutal. It's like, man, I'm just glutton for punishment.

[Steve Austin]

I'm so glad you brought up Mr. Perfect Cardani's name. I've told this story a million times. I'll tell it again. I came in the. The WWF at the time. It's now wwe. First day in television, somewhere in the northeast. Kurt says, hey, kid, come here. I want you to meet. Somebody took me in a truck to introduce me to the guys at the production truck. Kevin Dunn. I mean, this guy can help you out a whole lot. He didn't have to do that. You know, he's trying to help me form relationships. You know, I didn't know your dad. First six months I was there as a ringmaster. I know. He brought me in. I went and saw him twice in Greenwich at his house. No, they wanted to bring me in as Matt Mechanic didn't sign Ended up signing. But you know, he was one of those guys that was so generous that I hope that there's still guys like that around today in the locker room. But you know, he helped me when I first came to the company and I'm coming in and theoretically Shane, I'm competition. Wasn't in his league work wise yet, but I was competition. Here's this guy helping me out. But my point is, Kurt, I've never seen that guy in all the years I know him, God rest his soul, I've never seen that guy in a bad mood or if he was having a bad day, making the most of it. But he was one of the most notorious ribbers in the history of the business. What did you learn from Curt Hennan or tell me some stories of some of the ribs that you saw him pull on people?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, I'll just talk about a couple with me, you know. So again, being the kid and like, alright, well I was always the one. Go get the car. We got the car then, you know, I will give me the keys or whatever.

[Steve Austin]

So.

[Shane McMahon]

All right, well, me at 7:00am we gotta, you know, we gotta get out of here early. So I'd be out there at seven gone, he's gone. So I'd hit your ride. I'd have to wait for somebody, hitchhike, you know, I'm like, Kurt.

[Steve Austin]

He goes, oh my God, I'm so sorry.

[Shane McMahon]

Forgotten. I. That didn't take very long for me to catch on, you know, like do all that stuff, you know, you'd have these huge oil drum trash cans, those big things leaning up. Because a lot of the hotels we stayed in were outside, you know, motels really, you know, the nights end, you know, home with the purple bread spread because we're healing a room, we're sleeping two, three to a room. Who gets the box spring, who got the floor? You know, anything to save a buck. And I think it was like 25 bucks anyway. But we're just like, wow, three way.

[Steve Austin]

Split perfect, you know, because you, we.

[Shane McMahon]

Weren'T there that long and that's also where the bars came in to be so important because you know, you wanted to be a little numb when you went to bed in these places. None of what's crawling on you or whatever, but it just got back to the fun of it. But anyway, getting back to the door so that big oil drum be full and you'd open that door, you know, and all of a sudden the way that would just be like, because he had leaned up and it would just whatever you were wearing, if you had your bags in your hand or whatever. It just. Everything was soaked. It's like the whole carpet got soaked.

[Steve Austin]

So it's the old door opens inward. He's leaning the trash can full of water, trash, everything else up against the door. So when he knocks on the door, you just.

[Shane McMahon]

Or you just open it in the morning, like, oh, you're coming out and you're like son of a. Really, like seriously soaked. You know, I mean, soaked.

[Steve Austin]

Were you ever there when a lot of guys. This was a real going on too much when I came in. But you know, you wrestle a lot of high school gyms, college gyms, stuff like even some of the small shows. Shane anywhere some lockers. And there's always inevitably a combination lockets not locked up. Of course. It's a spin around lock. There's no way, unless you're a master locksmith, you're gonna find out the combo. So they'd loop that thing through a couple of your belt loops through all of your. Through your pair of jeans. I mean there's been guys. I mean you might have three, four, five locks and you, you either gonna cut your belt loops or you're going to the next town with a bunch of locks on your pants. Or they would do the old classic. If you've got just a pair of denim jeans like you got on right now, just tying just one knot in that leg and just pulling that thing two guys put on each end, just, just one knot, just one spin through there and you pull that thing tight. You talk about a pain in the ass to try to get that knot out. That's the kind of stuff that went on, those kind of things.

[Shane McMahon]

And then they lock your bag, you know, and then if you get smart and you lock your own bag, well then your bag be in the shower where everything is just soaked. They just throw the whole thing in there. There's other additives that they used to throw in bags. I mean, depends. Depends if a guy deserved it or not. And that goes back to the locker room being different. You know, the locker room. You once again about earning your stripes. You had to earn your stripes and you know, back in the day and there was a hierarchy and if you messed up, well then wrestling court, you know, taker being the judge, and rightfully so. But even, even prior to that, you had to have the proper respect and show the proper respect to the guys who were there before you and teaching you to be like, okay, kid, let's see what you got. You know, you've been through it, different territories, different times, there's always a head of the locker room and you had to go through that. And it's that learning is so crucial and so important, which doesn't exist today. It's. Well, let me rephrase. It's just so much different today.

[Steve Austin]

In your estimation, why is it different today?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, the territory system primarily dried up. So I like the way you said that.

[Steve Austin]

So I gotta call you on that. So there it dried up.

[Shane McMahon]

So therefore, you know, it used to be, by the time you got to New York, you were polished, you were ready to go.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

So that kind of dried up.

[Steve Austin]

Dude, you opened it up. What did you think? Because your grandfather, when your dad bought the business from Vince Senior, your grandfather was alive for how much longer? Because your dad started. My point is, started to want to go into other promoters territories and that was something that you did not do.

[Shane McMahon]

Right. Don't rock the boat.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. So your grandfather wasn't real fond of that. But your dad had a different vision of what the wrestling world could and would end up being. So what were your thoughts when you saw your dad taking the business, taking the business in the direction that he took it?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, again, growing up in it and just knowing that my dad was gone. So primarily where I grew up, a lot of what I saw was our own product. Because it's the northeast product.

[Steve Austin]

Correct.

[Shane McMahon]

So everywhere I went, which was, you know, through those, those areas living in Maryland and Connecticut and Massachusetts, New York, you know, again, you saw that one product.

[Steve Austin]

Yes.

[Shane McMahon]

And again, no Internet, no way to see other stuff. So you would start, I would start to sample other things like through magazines. I'd be like, oh well look, how about this guy over here? This other territory and that stuff. So starting to get the idea and my dad saying that, all right, we're expanding, you know, we're doing this thing called syndication. So we're taking the same tape and what would air in New York week one would then bicycle around and that same, you know, it'd be a week later, you know, in Chicago and a week later it'd be in, you know, wherever it's going to be. So then it started getting bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where in its heyday, and this is where WWE started getting into its own sales force because, you know, advertisers would be like, oh, it's so hard sell, you know, it's wrestling, it's this type of stuff. So that's when Vince said, great, we'll sell it. Because syndication was a barter. It's basically 14 minutes. The station gets seven, you get seven, you know, to sell and you start doing it that way.

[Steve Austin]

Okay.

[Shane McMahon]

And in the heyday, what we grew up on Saturday and Sunday mornings, WWF at the time had over 330, 30 syndicated stations across the United States. That is a massive network. That's your own. That's your own network. Yes, Saturday and Sunday morning. And it was consistent time slot pretty much either between 10 and 12 in the morning. Every Saturday and Sunday morning. They own that for a long time. So that's really what we built, you know, what Vince was able to do. And you would obviously insert your card specific information when you're touring in that area five weeks away, coming to Madison Square Garden, you know, coming to Philly, you know, we're coming to the Spectrum, here it is. Or if you go down to Charlotte or wherever we're going to be. And that's when you start doing the local inserts that would be in there. The Steve Austin Show. The Steve Austin Show. Hey, it's Adam Croll from the Adam Carolla Show. Bet Online is the world's most trusted betting platform and your number one source for online betting. From the earliest odds to in game live betting, BetOnline provides you with all the action and the ability to watch and bet on games as they happen with the largest selection of odds on everything from football, NBA, college basketball as well. BetOnline has NHL, MMA and championship boxing, all your betting needs in one place. Head to betonline today to get in on the action with America's most trusted site for online wagering. So have some fun. Make these games and these events and these combat sports a little more interesting with betonline. Betonline, the game starts here.

[Steve Austin]

So your dad's growing a business. He's. The other territories are drying up. Your dad has told me that back in the day. And I don't know what age you would have been at when some of these things happened or you would recollect them. That he'd gotten death threats from some of the other owners of the territories. They thought he was just crazy as an outhouse rat and this is never going to fly. He pissed a lot of people off. Any recollections of those kind of things going on?

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, I remember walking in a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear between my parents and my dad was talking about one of those things. My mom obviously being very concerned and just hearing my dad's philosophy of, you know, I believe in this product. I believe in what we're doing. And that's it, that's the vision, that's what we're going forward with. And then you obviously hear, you know, I won't get into too much private talk, but my mom was opposed, you know, she wasn't worth anything. You know, is it worth losing your life? That type of thing. And my dad said he's bluffing. So I remember hearing, I remember hearing that one conversation. And I'm paraphrasing. That's the gist. That's the gist. So scary time, you know, when you're young and you're hearing things like that.

[Steve Austin]

When you look at what you're. I won't talk about you, but when.

[Shane McMahon]

You look back, I got one story for you.

[Steve Austin]

Oh, go.

[Shane McMahon]

Can I go back?

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

When you were talking about meeting Andre the Giant and Stunning Steve and you know, when you came to as the ringmaster at first wwf, one of, one of the biggest things, I drove my dad crazy for about four months before he got here. And everywhere around the house I would just walk around and be like, hey dad. And I'd be doing, I'd be doing the Hollywood Blonde with the movie camera.

[Steve Austin]

You guys are doing.

[Shane McMahon]

Hey, hey, hey. He finally got so annoyed with me, he goes, would you stop with this stuff? So I was big fan of you guys, you and Brian and all that back then. So I was, I was, I just wanted to throw that in.

[Steve Austin]

What'd you think about the competition? I mean, you could probably had an eye for talent or whatever. I'm not asking you about myself and Brian as a Hollywood Blonde, but when you saw NWA or WCW stuff awa, because Jesus, that's where this would become some of his major biggest stars from. What do you think about the other products? Because to me, looking at what your dad was thinking is like, these guys are outdated. They're not seeing the big picture here like your dad saw. Hey, I'm going to expand and Jesus, I don't know. I know there were some thin times there when things were just scraping by, but the other doesn't seem like the other guys just had either the balls or the money to compete with Vince. Is any of that correct?

[Shane McMahon]

I don't think my personal view is that the promoters there were stuck in some of their old school ways where they didn't want to spend the money that it will take to compete on that level and they wanted to pocket more. Where events was all about invest, invest, invest, invest, make a dollar, put it back in the business.

[Steve Austin]

And that gigantic syndication thing, well, I.

[Shane McMahon]

Mean that was that was at that point the territories were very, very small and there was primarily wwe because then we were doing three shows a night pretty much, you know, and it was. And TV was done differently. It was recorded, you know, three to four weeks in advance. So the guys just be on tour, 10, 15, 20 day runs. So they covered a lot of different markets that way.

[Steve Austin]

Going back to the way the locker room changed with there being really nowhere else to go, you have your other problem. Promotions that are still around, Ring of Honor, TNA or whoever's running. I knew when I was in WCW that WWEF at the time was the big leagues. I knew that ultimately that's where you want to go. So all the other territories are gone now because there really is nowhere else to go. Are the guys in the locker room not as free to explore? Almost like Chris Rock with the cowbell, you know, more cowbell. Explore the space with that cowbell. That famous Saturday Night Live skit. You feel like guys are walking on X shells these days because there's nowhere to go. And for fear of, hey man, if I get fired here, I can't go nowhere else.

[Shane McMahon]

I'm sure there's some of that. The, the freedom to kind of try things out is limited a whole lot more. I mean, you can do a whole lot more than on house shows. And that's, you know, as you're well aware when you're trying certain things. Did this work? Did it not work? When it comes to tv, it is so finite of the amount of time you have. Going back to what we originally started talking about of telling a story, it's hard to tell a good story in four minutes if you have four minutes of action, correct. So you either got a, you got to cut elements out and you got to go right to the heat or whatever story you're trying to get across. How is that pushing your story forward to the next week or eventually building until you have the time to tell it in pay per view. So that's a big distinction. I think a lot of the guys also, again with the territory system drying up, they've never had the ability to really go try it somewhere else. So they don't know. It's like any experience. If you went out to play football and you're playing, you know, sandlot football and you're like, oh, this is pretty good. Then you play some organized football in high school and all of a sudden you get, you get not clean. You're like, wow, this is a lot harder. You get to the college level, you're like, Whoo. This is a whole lot more difficult. Difficult. So there's not that maturation process, you know, that it used to be. So we've had to recreate it, and that's really what NXT is, you know, is now there to be even before. And Paul, Triple H has done a phenomenal job, you know, with a whole cast of guys of really building that territory. Dusty, you know, prior to him, and Paul's taking it, you know, to a whole other level prior to that. That's originally what we wanted ECW to be when we first purchased it. Wrote the business plan for ECW just to be that Triple A system because we needed guys. Whether you're coming up or coming down, you have certain guys that are going to peak. You can't stay at the peak forever. So as they come down, we'll start taking some of that knowledge and take a kid and say, all right, here is. In the ring, you can educate them of why you're doing this or feel the crowd. Let me teach you how to do this. All right, Come at me, you know, like, let's start. You got them. Give me a little bit more heat, you know, or shut them down. So it's.

[Steve Austin]

No, no. I was just wondering what went wrong with ecw, other than the fact that, you know, people thought, you know, just when under the big banner of wwe, it had to be too PC, when ECW was louder, bigger, badder, bloodier, more violent than anything else. Do you think ECW didn't make it just because they had to tone it down too much?

[Shane McMahon]

No, I don't think so. I mean, that was how they distinguished themselves, you know, with some of those crazy things. But people remember some of the crazy stuff. But there was a lot of great matches that didn't have the crazy stuff in there in ecw, so we had to tone it down. But, you know, the whole attitude era, as we went through, we weren't PG. We were PG 13, if not a little higher than that. So we were having a blast. So I don't think ECW suffered that. Everything is kind of toned down now because of acceptance and sponsorships and advertisers and just kind of where, you know, America, the American value system, sits at the moment. So from an advertising standpoint of where people are putting their money.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

Go ahead.

[Steve Austin]

I was just. You said the attitude era. You know, I've heard some people that were having runs back in today, they look back at the Attitude Aaron and think, you know, that wasn't really that great of a time. I Thought a lot of the stuff was too risque. Didn't think a lot of the matches were that good and just were kind of didn't really think much of the Attitude era. And I'm thinking to myself, when I was right there smack dab in the middle of all of it, I was having a blast. We were sold out every single night. Wherever we went. There were some of the greatest hands in the business in our locker room. Literally the whole locker room should be in the hall of Fame or will be by the time it's all said and done. I thought it was, well, from a money generating standpoint, it was the most productive period in the history of pro wrestling. When you think about the Attitude era versus right now, what's this? The PG system or the reality era, whatever. I don't mean to label and call it something that it's not, but I don't think you need to go back to the Attitude era with some of the over the top stuff we did. You know, some of the Val Venus shower stuff. There was a lot of over top stuff too far. Maybe a little bit too far. But always push in the creative envelope. I think the biggest thing for me is spontaneous spontaneity. When I'm watching the show, I'd like to see things be a little more spontaneous Now. What do you think about that? Are you. Because I think those old Monday night Raws and there was another show called Night show that we were competing with and it was everything but the kitchen sink. Every single Monday. We was throwing everything at the fans, right? Holy smokes. We're doing these crazy numbers. And just when you turn on the television, whichever show you were watching or whichever one you were partial to, you didn't know what was going to happen. And I think there was that air about it, which I think was really special. And I think, dude, I watched the pay per view last night. I really enjoyed that show. That was a damn good pay per view. And did you see it?

[Shane McMahon]

Yes.

[Steve Austin]

I thought Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman crushed it at the end. Roman's really coming around with the performance in that match. Braun Strowman's got superstar written all over him. It was a really good event. You got to feel like anything could happen at any time. And sometimes I'm like, man, feeling like maybe these guys have been a little micromanaged.

[Shane McMahon]

I could see that point of view. We're trying to. Let's separate the two shows for a second. We're on smackdown. Smackdown. I don't know if you'd Agree with this has a lot more spontaneity than Raw. And I also think it's because it's not as regulated as much as Raw. You know, Raw is, you know, was number one. It's, you know, really Raw came out of Monday night at the Garden, you know, going back to my grandfather and everything else. And then my dad said, oh, this be amazing. We should just turn this into Raw. Which has been a humongous success and one of the. It is the longest running, regularly scheduled TV show in all of cable. Smackdown, I think, is number two or number three is right behind it, and that's ours, too. But anyway, getting back to smackdown Live, I think, you know, and kudos to Brian James and the creative group there. Everybody's working very hard to create more of that spontaneity and to give guys and girls opportunities that they would never have had if it's all under one brand. So we try to take. Again, going back to the theme of our entire podcast here is having the right opportunity but telling the right stories. And what's your story? And let's make the best of these two guys. You know, some people will say, oh, we don't even care about those talent. Well, they don't yet because they don't know their story.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

So let's make them care.

[Steve Austin]

How much different do you, in your eyes, is the NXT developmental system versus the territory system as it pertains to the amount of time it takes to get a person from starting stages where they've never been in a ring before, fan of the business, whatever first lockup, to when they're ready to go out there and main event or just be on a live television show, because you just talked about rites of passage. You talk about guys being in the locker room, having to earn respect. You gotta learn the trade. One of the best places I found to work was in the Uswa in the early 90s because it was a weekly territory system. Every single day of the week, we were in the exact same town and you had to change your stuff up or people that travel to all the shows would know that you were trying to duplicate the same match from a time before. And. Right. So that repetition and being out in front of those people falling on your face and having to, you know, just adjust on the fly, it really made me pick up the business a lot faster than a person. You know, I think maybe in a school setting or in an NXT setting. Would you agree or disagree with that?

[Shane McMahon]

They're not apples to apples.

[Steve Austin]

Correct.

[Shane McMahon]

You know, again, if you're thrown into a system where you have to do that, then you either do it or you're crushed to your point. You'd be booed out of the building. Now you don't draw, and the promoter says, bye, bye. You know, with nxt, it's different because we are creating the talent, literally. And there's an immense amount of athletic talent coming in. You're like, okay, from all walks of life, whether it's a guy, you know, construction worker that was amazing talent, or former NFL player or just an amazing athlete, they're coming in, men and women, and getting like, okay, well, do you have the aptitude? The thing with NXT now is we're doing so much on the job training. So much happens. Even now when you're getting up into Raw and smackdown. You know, seasoned guys would never be considered seasoned back in the day because they haven't had the experience to go through stuff. So a lot of that. But it's also, again, a different time where people, you know, you said earlier, fans will go on the Internet and they want to watch it, but they also want to kind of ruin their good time by critiquing. They're like, oh, this guy should have done this. Xyz. Well, again, those people have never. The fans have never really put themselves on varmints. Hard. It's. You know, I just watched the combine. NFL combine.

[Steve Austin]

I did, too.

[Shane McMahon]

I'm sorry, the draft, and we're saying how exciting it was for those guys, and my. And my boys were very pumped. But it's not like you put on a helmet, you go to the combine, which is where I was going. You run a four or five. They're like, okay, awesome. We like you. You're a good kid, and we know we can help teach you the position in your goal. Our business is so unique because not only do you have to have the athleticism, you have to be an amazing storyteller. And, you know, you have to win the crowd when the crowd likes you or likes to boo you. Either way, now you got something. But they got to care about you, and that's the stories that you tell in the ring and your character and your Persona and what you're doing, you know, within the confines of that ring. So that's the magic, and it's very difficult to get in there, and it's hard to teach that special sauce.

[Steve Austin]

You know, the special sauce is kind of that X factor because, you know, going to, let's just say NXT or any wrestling school or whatever the program Is we'll call it nxt. You're going in there, you've got the best professors, teachers in the world, and they're going to teach you the mechanics, basic psychology and the psychology. Psychology will apply in most cases and you get to the advanced levels. More weaved tales or stories, but it's up to you to be able to take exactly what everybody else has learned. And now you have to go win that crowd over. And you got to win that crowd over by either A, making them like or love you, B, making them hate or dislike you. And that's up to you. And really, that can't be taught, in my opinion. What did you do to make that crowd feel you? Because, hey, dude, you're not the greatest mechanic in the world. You're a mechanic. I was a pretty good mechanic. I wasn't the best, but there was something about me that people could gravitate towards. How would you Describe how Shane McMahon, Shane O. Mack was able to win that crowd over?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, at first it was Heat because again, had a great story, part of the corporation boss's kid. You know, we played up the whole Greenwich, Connecticut thing.

[Steve Austin]

Silver spoon.

[Shane McMahon]

Silver spoon. I mean, it was perfect. And it was also. I was the foil before you got the Vince. So it was. There was always that, which is, you know, had several beatings from you. It's been a lot of fun.

[Steve Austin]

But.

[Shane McMahon]

But getting into it, you had you to your point when you were dominating and it was your turn and you're shining and we're just talking again, the baby face aspect. You're a house of fire and you're blowing your comeback. While I'm on my heels, I'm flying around for you because that is my job. We're telling that physical story and you're bringing it because your energy level was super high. And we, you know, I'll say, you and I, we had great chemistry in the ring and it was just. We knew that feeling. And again, I'm getting goosebumps now, feeling that crowd. I could hear him roaring and go get it again. Get me. You know, it's like we're calling stuff in there.

[Steve Austin]

Wow.

[Shane McMahon]

It's getting excitement. But it was also when, you know, there was that cutoff point and it was my time to get heat or anything, man, I had to turn it on because I had to make it believable somehow. Whether I pick something up or hit you with a chair or whatever it was, you know, back in the day, I had to keep on it, use other guys, you know, to do my Dirty work for me, you know, which was even more heat because I was directing and I get in your face like I did it, you know. But that was the storytelling elements of things. So the technical nature again. So that's kind of the birth of. It was bad guy villain. And then it grew out of kind of protecting my sister, you know. You know, trying to get her out of trouble, you know, so being the. Being the good guy brother and then separating, you know, in the father son issues, you know, they're just like, okay. Everyone's always felt that, you know, the boy is becoming a man and the old man wants to keep him down and all the other stuff. So always, always been very blessed and being in there with amazing talent, that it's way easier when they're in there with top guys who are making that physical story happen and knowing what to do specifically to tell that story, than if you went in there with green guys who would have no idea, then that would be crickets.

[Steve Austin]

Your dad is a very headstrong individual. I would say you are as well.

[Shane McMahon]

He is.

[Steve Austin]

And you are. And you are too. So how much would you guys bicker back and forth when it comes time to just finesse out, you know, the details. Details of a storyline if, God dang, this is the direction going, but you say, no, Dad, I think we ought to do it this way. And how many times did y' all butt head? I mean, we're a lot of times on the same page. I can imagine. But a lot of times, every time when he would listen to you. Because I know your dad's. I love him, but he's an egomaniac. But to his credit, he's always willing to listen to someone else's idea. How is that when you're a son.

[Shane McMahon]

There'S less patience, you know, from him on that. And at the end of the day, you know, when he said, enough's enough, it was enough right? Now, of course, I'd have to push it one more time just to make sure he heard, you know, and that's usually when he blow his stack or whatever. And that goes back to father son stuff. But, you know, it's always been at the end of the day, respect factor. Because not only is, you know, it's tough working in a family business, not only is he your dad, but then he's your boss. And that's like, okay, I said no. Or if he said, we're gonna paint the room blue, it's blue. I go, yeah, but this green is really nice. People like, okay, but it's blue. Got it. But leaving the room, there was never. There was never. I would never say anything else. Like, I really wanted to do green, but you said blue. I was like, blue. We're on the page and this is the marching order. Everything's blue and it's bluetiful. And we're going the Steve Austin show. The Steve Austin show.

[Steve Austin]

You know what's really scary? Seeing just how much you could have been saving on car insurance by switching to geico. It's almost as scary as that homemade elf costume your mom made you wear in junior high school. No GEICO can erase some memory of tripping down the hallway in oversized pointy shoes, but that could save you 15% or more on car insurance. Stop waking up at night in a cold sweat wondering what happened to that green onesie. Just switch to Geico and save 15 minutes. Could save you 15% or more on car insurance. I wanted to ask you about the difference between when the business was 100% kayfabe to now or in the past 10 years, 15 years, whatever it's been. I mean, you know, everybody knows what's up. How was kayfabe back in the day? Because I heard in the Mid south territory, Bill Watts, if you caught the heels of the babies, you know, or drinking together in the bar, this, that, or whatever, you were either fired or fined or both, right? And that's just the way it was because everybody protected the business, never broke.

[Shane McMahon]

Kay Fabe.

[Steve Austin]

What do you think about that? The death of kayfabe? And I mean, this is. Jesus Christ. I mean, what is that? 15, 20 years? 25. That's the slow.

[Shane McMahon]

The slow. The slow build. I think the kayfabe nature started. It became more and more difficult to keep kayfabe because, you know, with the explosion in the 80s, you know, WrestleMania 1 and 85, and then it became mainstream. You're undercover Sports Illustrated. It was huge. And then as we continually generated up and again late 90s into 2000, again more into the Attitude era, the notoriety and the popularity of WWE or F at the time was water cooler talk. It was everywhere. So when that happens and you have interest, people want to know more about each character. They just don't want to know, you know, about the undertaker. They want to know about the individual who's behind an undertaker. Like, what's he do? Does he go grocery shopping? You know, it's like, you know, I mean, it must be so easy for him to get stuff off there. Like, what does he do? What's he do at home? You Know, interesting. And that's just, that's just human nature of getting in that. So it became harder and harder and again with everyone with a telephone, phone camera and security cameras and everything else. Now it's extremely hard to do kayfabe. Sometimes we do it like my return was kayfabe.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

No one knew.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

We kept. It was only because three people knew and that was it. That's what you have to do. You have to keep it really tight.

[Steve Austin]

Certain things like stuff like that, you can still kayfabe. As far as the business, everybody knows what's up. Yep. Hey, boxing. Your great grandfather, he promoted boxing, basketball and baseball. Your great grand. Your great grandfather. Yes. And so boxing, well, he was the.

[Shane McMahon]

Matchmaker for Tex Rickard at the Garden.

[Steve Austin]

Yes. Boxing, legit sport, right?

[Shane McMahon]

As they say. Of course, as they say.

[Steve Austin]

Got a grin like a crocodile sitting across the table from me.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, there's been, there's been so many elements of boxing back in the day of, you know, who's. Who's taking a drive, Right.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, it was a legit dive. They legit went down for a certain reason.

[Steve Austin]

Better than wrestling did.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, it was a different influence, you know.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

You're going back to a lot of mafia controlled things. Gambling was huge. Wrestling always had the connotation of. Okay, well, you know, the guys used to get mad because when people say it was fake, what they really meant was it was a predetermined winner so you couldn't bet on it or things like that. And a lot of the old school guys, if you said fake, you know, would box your ears or stretch you or whoever said that to them because they're like, hey, man. Because they had such pride of what they did.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

Boxing had a whole different element to it because it was, you know, a sport, but it was again, influenced with some, some people who want to make a bigger profit off certain things.

[Steve Austin]

Let's, let's jump out of that. I want to jump into something right here. You said if you said wrestling was fake, some guy might stretch you, box yours, do this out, whatever. So that brings me to tough guys who are some of the legit tough guys that you've experienced in your days, in the business.

[Shane McMahon]

Back in the day.

[Steve Austin]

Back in the day.

[Shane McMahon]

I mean, everybody. You had to be tough to survive that locker room. And doesn't mean you're the baddest, but you had to hold your ground.

[Steve Austin]

I agree.

[Shane McMahon]

You had, you had to stand up for yourself, even though you know you get killed if you showed weakness. You coward. Oh, My gosh, you were. Then, you know, you were kicked out of the locker room or then you were considered weak and probably run off for a while and the ribs would start on you and stuff like that. But legit. Like tough guys. Bruiser Brody, tough dude.

[Steve Austin]

Did you, did you get a chance to meet Brody?

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, Brody, Andre. Let me see. Morocco. Roddy was tough. He was very tough with his mouth. Roddy was always the first to throw hands. Wasn't always the best, but he was, he was in there. But tough guy was Snuka, was Jimmy Sika. Afan Sika. Specifically Sika. He was extremely tough guy. Matt Bourne, you know, played doink.

[Steve Austin]

Oh, no, I'm glad you said the Matt Bourne name. Boy, I'll tell you what Matt was, he was tough. If you got on the wrong side of Matt, you better bring a sandwich.

[Shane McMahon]

It'S gonna be a long day. Yeah, rude curtain his own way, you know.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. All those guys, most of those guys from many straight up, if you did something they tell you to face, hey, man, this is what's up. We got to settle a score.

[Shane McMahon]

That's it.

[Steve Austin]

That's why I always appreciate it. But about those guys. Oh, you didn't throw Ming in there, who's forever on everybody's list. I mean, that's kind of like an afterthought because it's always Ming. But none of those guys, in my estimation was very mean spirited. I mean, they weren't bullies, they were just badass guys. A lot of times it was the drunk guys at the bars wanting to pick fight with the wrestlers because what they thought what they were doing was fake.

[Shane McMahon]

Right?

[Steve Austin]

Here's a tough question for you, just a tough subject for me, but I wanted to ask you because it impacted my career and, well, my relationship with your father so much. I was working down there in Georgia, I can't remember the town, and I was working with Flair in a cage. And boy, I was having a time of my life. But before I got there, I took a little nap in my hotel room. I got a call from Jim Ross and man, I was going to do the favors for Brock Lesnar. And I didn't like that news. So I told him so. And he called your father, Vince. Vince said, hey man, give him a call. Whenever I got done with the work that evening, I called him. It was late in the morning, about two his time, and he was letting me know what was going to go on and I didn't like it. So I decided, I was thinking to myself, I always like talking to your dad, man to man, face to face. Because just like we're talking, like, if you're telling me, hey, man, this is what you want to do, he goes, yes, that's what we're doing. And I'm thinking to myself, well, you can probably look in my eyes and say, I'm not really digging what you're saying, but obviously I didn't know that I was going to no show, and I no showed. So all of a sudden, they're in Atlanta, they're in a bad way. And I thought that the match between myself and Brock Lesnar should have been, first of all, way down the road, could have been huge money. But then, because I was so fed up at the time and I was so hot, and as you know, God dang, Shane, it's hard to find somebody that draws big money. I was able to do that. And so the locker room was able to. The organization able to. Great storylines, great people to work with. So I don't want to take all the credit, but I left the damn company. I was probably gone six or eight months. Do you remember that time?

[Shane McMahon]

I do.

[Steve Austin]

What did your father say to you about the day Stone Cold Steve Austin took his ball and went to the house? Or how did it affect him? Because he called me three times. I let all three calls go to voicemail. I never called him back. And that was on me because the man reached out three times to me and because I was such an ass. And so I was running pretty hard, and I was just. I can't believe they'd want to do that to me at this point in my career. And I decided to take my stuff and go back to the crib. Did he sell that at all? Did he hate me?

[Shane McMahon]

It was more. Don't sell yourself short when you're talking. Yes. You had a lot of guys around you, and the business was doing very well. But you were the guy. You're the one that the company had the spotlight on. You were the one who was drawing the houses, and everything was built around you. So when you have that much equity and stake and you have your number one player in there and that's the one who draws money, all of a sudden, just say, I'm out. Well, it's very devastating, obviously, to everybody else underneath. And everyone felt it just like, wow. So, you know, you specifically, you let a lot of people down.

[Steve Austin]

Oh, absolutely.

[Shane McMahon]

I mean, to the guy setting the ring up, because everyone gets paid off the house, as you well aware, everyone eats off the same plate. And when the business is pumping, we all yield a bit more. And when it's not, well, unfortunately, we have crumbs to split up. So that was a huge thing. So Vince was. He was hurt professionally and personally, because you guys had been building a good relationship. You would always, if you guys did have a disagreement, you would settle it quickly and talk about it. But at the end of the day, you know, when it got down to, all right, this is the vision we're going. When I said, you know, we paint the room blue, well, you didn't want to paint the room blue that time. You wanted to do something else and you took your paint, went somewhere else. So that. That was a big blow personally as well, because again, you've. It's the machine. And we all put effort into building Stone Cold Steve Austin and the company and everything else around it. And when you, when that cog leaves, it's like, oh, wow, it didn't feel good. Didn't make any of us feel good. It's like, you let us down, man.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

You know, and, you know, you said that when you came back and things like that. And it's tough. You know, it is very tough. And what people also don't realize is when you get to a position like that, you can burn out fast because the demand on that talent, so specifically, I know you can speak far better than I can because you've been living through it. But any top talent on top for that long, the pressure is so high, you start burning the candle at both ends. You start second guessing, you start thinking, you're like, how can I be better? Oh, they're not going to like me today, whatever. And you start becoming your own worst enemy. And success sometimes is very hard to deal with. You know, you can elaborate on it. Rock did the same thing. Hogan Macho man. It's. It is, you know, it's that rare air where you start thinking, oh, I'm not gonna have it again. And then it becomes almost like a paranoia and it gets in there. So getting back to it. So again, everybody was hurt. Vince was hurt again from the company standpoint and emotionally, you know, personally, what.

[Steve Austin]

You think personally, though, you think, God dang, that piece of trash. We done spent all this money plus promoting his ass. I've been out there doing stuff with him. They've been doing stuff for him. I mean, you had.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, again, probably you felt like I.

[Steve Austin]

Stuck a knife in your back and twisted it.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, I felt let down, but it's also. I've been through that before with other talent.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

So if it was the first time, I'd be like, wow, okay. But again, I've been, I've been, I've seen this movie 4 Generation, you know, I've been through a lot of them.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

And, and hearing the stories of this guy did this and this guy did, did this and, you know, and what to look out for and things like that. And that's, that's a bitter pill to swallow no matter what. But then you also just feel bad all the way around. You feel bad for you because obviously you're upset that you bailed. You had enough where you just, you know, freaked out and just had to bail. You feel bad for the talent that were supposed to come up right underneath that. You're supposed to be working the angles with that they're going to eat. And you feel all the way bad, you know, bad all the way down to the ring crew, TV guys, all of us. So it's like, all right, plan B. And now let's move forward.

[Steve Austin]

It's one thing when a guy gets hurt, but when you do what I did, we'll stop. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I've always said that was the worst mistake I made in the history of my wrestling career. If I could do only one thing different than obviously, well, I wouldn't have turned Hill to 17. But the biggest thing of would have been I would have showed up in Atlanta, talked to the old man, your father, face to face and hammer the damn details out, because we would have. But just being on that road and then hearing that voice and those, I was just like, are you kidding me? I just thought they were throwing a couple of roadblocks at me here or there. That just didn't make any sense. I was like, what is going on? I mean, we're making a lot of money. Everything is full. And now you want to do the job now when it's not time, sergeant, just rub me the wrong way at the wrong time and I build. I just want to buzz you about it because as long as I've known you, we've never talked you to about it. So nonetheless, you know, I'll never forget I got that card from Jim Ross and he put me in touch with the events and we set up a meeting at a high rise hotel in Houston. I tell you, Shane, your dad's a very intense guy and as you well know. But I'll tell you what, when I showed up on about the 27th floor of that skyscraper and I walked in that room first, I was Thinking, man, I don't know what's going to happen. We either go hug, or one of us is going through that window. We ended up hugging, and I ended up coming back to work, and we put our differences aside. I want to talk about two quick things before we shut this thing down. We have a dinner appointment. We're going to go eat a steak, and I'm going to have a glass of whiskey. I wanted to ask you about WrestleMania 32 with the Undertaker. You go out there and you got your trademark entrance, and, boy, I know you, Shane, and all of a sudden, you kind of hit that vein on your arms, and that's that adrenaline feeling. That's kind of that subliminal kind of. If you know what it is, here's what it is. And mainline. That's mainline. Mainline. I'm talking about the good stuff. I ain't talking about the bad stuff. I know you feeling that crowd. And then also, I saw you when you went out there, a couple of those chest bumps, and that's kind of another thing. Whereas, boy, I was really hoping for a good response. And God dang, you gave it to me. I just kind of like giving them that love back, right? So you go out there, and then here comes your three boys. Y' all go out there and you drop off the kids with your wife, and you go out there and you stand in the ring. Okay, you guys had a great match. Two things I want to talk about the big bump, and I know you've discussed it with Mick Foley, but we'll talk about it real quick here. But tell me about being in the ring in front of 101,000 people, and Undertaker's music comes on, the lights drop, and boom, here he comes. And it takes him damn near five minutes to get there, because before you start, the first time I wrestle Undertaker, you know, I just came to WWF then, and here comes Taker, and in the back of my mind, I thought of a lot of things that I wanted to do to him or with him. And, you know, some stuff I'd call in the ring. That's how we worked back in. And all of a sudden, the lights drop down, Taker's music hits, they smoke up the arena, all the lighters go up, and I forgot every single thing that I had wanted to do, because I had a lot of respect for the guy, but just loved his entrance. What were you thinking coming in off that? First of all, tell me about the adrenaline rush you got, because a lot of guys will get that. And, you know, how long that Runway was. But a lot of guys will blow up walking to the ring just based off emotions and adrenaline.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, going back, having my kids out there was one of the main reasons I came back to the company, period, was I never was able to perform live in front of my boys. Then they would always ask me, would you ever go back, dad? Would you ever do that? I said, well, if the right opportunity was there, then I'd consider it, you know, being there for you guys. So that was one of the major deciding factors, as my sons had never seen me. So to have them come out with me in front of that crowd, you know, and at AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys play, it was surreal. It's a moment that I selfishly replay in my mind all the time, because there's nothing greater than that. Having your three sons, fifth generation, running out, running out there with you in the very event your father created. And we're in the 32nd one of them, 32nd WrestleMania. And having them come down, I was like, I'm so proud of them. And, you know, people say, oh, did you rehearse it? I was like, no. I mean, I asked them about five minutes before I came out, so you guys want to come out with me? And they were like, really? I said, oh, yeah. So when they came out, they just took to it like water. I was like, I couldn't believe it. You know, my two oldest, My two older boys, specifically, I was like, look at these little guys, you know, they were like, give me the whole feeling.

[Steve Austin]

And like, yeah, come on. Crowd.

[Shane McMahon]

I was like, oh, my God. Made for it, you know. Anyway, dropped them off. But getting into Undertaker's Entrance, yeah, it's. It's something special in eerie. Because he comes down, it does change, you know, and even though it does, we talk, you know, in the business is, as we would say, at work or predetermined outcome. When you get in there with someone that has an intensity, we're talking about whether it be yourself or rock. Different. But taker has a special one. It's a eerie. It's the eerie thing because he looks through you. He's not looking around. Hey, how you doing? Not nicey nicey eyes. Literally, you're like, wow, he's gonna kill me. Then in those first couple hands, you know, I thought he was, but very, very special. And again, being on the receiving end of that, you're like, wow. And you get caught up in it. Like you said, you're caught up and mesmerized with what's happening and the Crowd and the feeling when he turns the lights on, boom. And all of a sudden, you know, it was the opening spot, if you will, where he takes the cage and closes it. It's like, all right, now you're mine. It's like, wow. And. And then people just started setting it and he takes his hat off and he comes in, stands toe to toe. It's like, wow, this is electric.

[Steve Austin]

Do you think anybody could have. This is speculation. I don't think I'll put it out there. I don't think anybody could have pulled off the Undertaker gimmick like Mark Calloway did. And that's speculation because no one else got a chance to try it. But I swear to God, when I first saw that guy come out and I'd already seen him in wcw, hell, I wrestled him down in uswa and in wcw, he's this menacing force that they don't know what to do with. Saw him as the Punisher. That was a pretty damn good gimmick. All of a sudden you come up with this Undertaker thing and I'm thinking, man, I don't know what this guy is doing. And at first I'm thinking it was the Survivor Series or whatever it was.

[Shane McMahon]

1990S Survivor series, Hartford.

[Steve Austin]

I can't remember what it was, but Jesus Christ, dude, he scared those people. The kids in the first couple rows, everybody. I mean, the kids were petrified. And I was like, man, these guys are scared to death of this guy. And I was thinking, man, I know this guy, not real good. But I didn't know he was capable of doing this because that full blown, call it character, Persona that he came across with was so authentic, so real, so over the top. It was unbelievable. And the changes that he made along the way. Then back to the Undertaker. It's one of the greatest gimmicks in the history of the business. If not the.

[Shane McMahon]

It's iconic.

[Steve Austin]

It's iconic. Do you think anybody else could have pulled that off?

[Shane McMahon]

No, I don't. And it also gets into Mark's temperament as a human being. That's who he is. He is Cool Hand Luke. He is the King in the locker room. He is that. Everything is measured, reserved. That's how he works. His punches are thrown for a reason. Not just to throw punches and bunches. They're thrown for specific reasons and things like that. Moves are not wasted. So that is who he is as an individual. You know, you see him in the locker room and walking around, he's very measured, very to himself. And then it's Enhanced through his Persona, which is the iconic Undertaker.

[Steve Austin]

Did you know of that idea before they dropped it on him? Was that floating around office on a piece of paper like the ringmaster was?

[Shane McMahon]

It actually came through interviewing Percy because, you know, Vince and Pat and specifically were talking. All right, well, give me some. We're thinking about different characters and it's almost like, interview, like, give me some things like, what have you done in the past? And Percy said he's did a couple other things. And this. He said, I was a mortician. And all of a sudden my dad just locked in on that. He said, you were a mortician. So that's it. He's the Undertaker, Paul Bearer. And it was born.

[Steve Austin]

Come on.

[Shane McMahon]

That was it.

[Steve Austin]

That's how it was made.

[Shane McMahon]

Yep.

[Steve Austin]

That's unbelievable.

[Shane McMahon]

All because, again, based, reality based. And that, that's when people can usually fear their feel the characters most, is when it's an extension of them.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

It's an enhancement.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

You know, you're the same. When you felt stone cold, it was an. It was a jacked up, enhanced version of who you are. Right?

[Steve Austin]

And same thing for Ultimate Warrior, because a lot of people that got one of the greatest technicians in the world, that guy drew money and that was an extension of his personality. I just thought the guy was lights out as far as working the crowd, going to the top of that cage, jumping off. And God dang it, if the Undertaker didn't see you. And he moved so you missed him and landed flat dab right on the middle of a table. About a picture perfect landing as you can make. I know you're a grown man, but I know you had to talk that over with your lovely wife Marisa before you made that leap. Did you or did you not smarten her up?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, I made the mistake once of doing something and not smartening her up, and I was in the doghouse forever. So I smartened her up on the potential of things like that happening. So.

[Steve Austin]

And did you tell her he's going to do it? Because, I mean, she. You hug her, you give her a kiss right before the match and then you're in.

[Shane McMahon]

She knew, okay, so she's happy.

[Steve Austin]

I mean, she's like, she. Good luck. Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

She's like, please just be careful.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

And you know, she's very concerned because obviously so many things can happen up there. You know, your shoelace gets caught or something. Or you.

[Steve Austin]

Dude, it's a crazy things like that. It's.

[Shane McMahon]

You see slip, you know, something, you know, dust blows in your Eye, you know, you just don't know. But for me, you know, going back to being ADD and hyperactive and everything, one of the abilities of why we can become very good at specific things athletically is all those distractions in our normal life also make us do hyper focus. So I get like whisper quiet, like in a movie, where everything is just clear. You can hear. You can hear little snaps. I can hear every single thing. People breathing, like, that's how quiet I get. Because you have to stay focused because it's extremely high risk.

[Steve Austin]

It's almost like saying a football player sees things in slow motion with clarity. That's where you dial it in.

[Shane McMahon]

Exactly. I see a lot of those things, especially when I do very high risk moves.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, so you're up there. What are you thinking? I know you tuned everything out, but what do you think?

[Shane McMahon]

I'm thinking, well, we're gonna.

[Steve Austin]

Straight up, dude. Straight up. Shoot.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, straight up. I'm thinking, I'm gonna nail this thing. That's it. So I get up there. Here we go. Jump off. And, you know, it's not so much. It's not the flight. It's a sudden stop that gets you. That's when you go laying there like a guppy.

[Steve Austin]

Go. Try to. Try to get a breath.

[Shane McMahon]

You're like, oh, my God. Counting ribs. I wasn't stiff. Oh, my God. Steph, Stiff. I. I cracked two ribs on my right side. Yeah, at least. At least two. Because it was sore for about, you know, ribs suck to heal. You know that. They're like eight, nine weeks. You know, every time I'd stretch. Oh, you know, grab me. You know, like, bend you over. So, yeah, it was. It was. It was tight. What did you think laying there after?

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, I mean, it's a little hand squeeze. Did you, like. Are you.

[Shane McMahon]

Well, I did a systems check. Well, you know, first, my body was numb. You know, the impact was. Was. Was highly intense. So, you know, you're like, okay, trying to get my air a little bit. And then, you know, you're going through your brain. Art system check. All right, Wiggle on my toes. I go. I can feel them. My fingers. I'm like, okay. I'm hearing things. I'm like, all right. Things are checking out a little bit. You know, I'm like, all right, Moving over. I look over and then taker's looking at me like, you, you crazy. Some bitch and I'm going to come beat you. I'm like, we're good. Here we go. They picked me up. That's when I felt my ribs is.

[Steve Austin]

When he picked me up, I was.

[Shane McMahon]

Like, oh, was the system check. Did not diagnose that one. I felt that. And then, you know, I mean, you just. We were home at that point, did all the rest of the work.

[Steve Austin]

But what did your kids tell you and what did your wife tell you? Because when you watched it back or, you know, they'd seen you do it, what was their. Their thoughts, their impressions?

[Shane McMahon]

They were. You know, my little guy was crying, and My youngest was 6 at the time, so of course he was crying. My middle son, Kenyon, he was upset that I didn't win. More than anything, okay? He was very crushed. And I didn't win. Not so much that I did, you know, the. Of the leap. But they were all very concerned afterwards. And I came. They came to the back and they wanted to check on me, which, you know, as they did, I was carted off. So that wasn't. Wasn't a very pleasant visual for them to see me go out on a stretcher into the trainer's room and all other stuff. But I said, look, guys, I'm okay, so we're gonna be all right, you know, and it was okay.

[Steve Austin]

Did Marissa say, hey, man, no more of those until the next one comes up?

[Shane McMahon]

She's not thrilled. You know, when I get in there.

[Steve Austin]

Got to take you. One more thing before we end on high note. I'll go back to. God dang. Was it missing out on the date October 24, 2001. I know it's 2001. You worked with Kurt Angle and a street fight match.

[Shane McMahon]

King in the ring.

[Steve Austin]

King of the ring. King of the ring. Street Fight 2001. Jesus Christ. You kicked his ass for 15 solid minutes, and then he commenced to kick in yours. And in that 15 minutes of kicking him, dude, you was throwing in potatoes, too. It was you. Did you take boxing when you was a kid? Because you got a quick punch, you got quick hands.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, I boxed when I was. I've always boxed and kickboxed and all that, but, yeah, I boxed.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, you sing those things in. I was watching you tee off on Kurt. I said, man, better you than me. It was great, though. It was great. So you're kicking his ass. I mean, it looks like a shoot, and all of a sudden y' all work back.

[Shane McMahon]

That's how good I am, dude.

[Steve Austin]

He sends you through that first thing, and he. Well, he tries to send you through that first thing of spirit. Supposed to be sugar glass, but I called Kurt today before you came over, and I said, what was up with that? Because I watched that match in its entirety just yesterday, and he goes, they screwed up. It's supposed to be sugar glass, but there was actual regular windshield glass.

[Shane McMahon]

Safety glass.

[Steve Austin]

Safety glass. The exact opposite of what you want to go through. But you went through both of them because, you know, that's what you guys had in mind. Took some effort to get you up that first one. Bam. You hit that thing on your back. You crashed down on your dome. Straight in the back. I mean, what was up? What are you thinking? Because you know the task at hand. You know what to pull the gag off.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

You know, so you want to get through both glasses, but you're getting the tar beat out of you. You're bloody as hell once you land through that backside on that second one. He's already gashed on the first one. Did you get lit up? Were you. Were you all there? I was.

[Shane McMahon]

I wasn't. I wasn't concussed or anything.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, so you were straight up.

[Shane McMahon]

So I was straight up. I mean, I was. Heart was hurting.

[Steve Austin]

But you did a great job of selling it. Well, you're. Wow. Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

The adrenaline, I mean, it hurts.

[Steve Austin]

News flash.

[Shane McMahon]

It hurts.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

Land on your head, it hurts on the concrete. Just prior to that, if you watch that match, Kurt called a suplex, and I called it off in the middle. Middle aisle. You know, it's just cement. He says, no, suplex. Suplex. I said, no, Kurt.

[Steve Austin]

He goes, oh, God damn it.

[Shane McMahon]

He did something to me. And I'm much of a choice. I'm like, all right, suplex. So as we did it, he hit. He went, oh, my God. And cracked his tailbone. Because, remember, that's right after that, we're like, what are we gonna do? And that's when you started getting with Kurt. We put the hat on him with the ukulele, and we made. You know, it was great entertainment at that point, but that's because he couldn't physically go get in the ring. That was a big reason why on that belly to belly, get me through. You know, it was. I should have went through because he still sailed me. But by the third time, I just. I said, you Olympic wuss. Something along those lines. I can't believe you came and throw me through it. He went. Finally. We went through. Then I said it on the. On the way back, because he did it twice on the way back. Finally says, that's it. He just picked me up and just threw me through instead of suplexing me through.

[Steve Austin]

You end up hitting that thing with you, with your dome, cut your face every morning.

[Shane McMahon]

I remember I got big lines way up here, reminders of Kurt.

[Steve Austin]

I forgot that he had told me that that's when he injured his tailbone. And. And I was watching another match when we were at Meadowlands arena, and that was when Booker T. Had made his debut. I'm. I'm doing. I'm in a match or I'm interfering in a match, and he dumps me on the announce table. He dumps me perfectly, but I'm so sweaty, I hit the top of that thing and skid off. And that's when I broke the three transverse processes when I hit the chair on the floor behind the table. So that was on me. But I had three broke bones in my back. And that's why we were able to do all those comedic things, because he had an injured tailbone. And I finally was able to put the two and two together of why and how we actually started doing that. Because I wasn't getting any heat. People didn't want me to be a heel. I couldn't do anything. So I wanted to be entertaining. If I couldn't get any heat to do any physicality, right, I'd get shot up with 60 milligrams of Toradol every time we go somewhere just. Just to try to do some. Haha. But that's how that all happened. So what did your dad say when you come back? Y' all come back a bloody heap of a mess, Pull off a gangbuster of a match, and then you end up in the back. What El man tell you?

[Shane McMahon]

Well, I didn't know that. Vince almost came out about three times during that match. He was gonna call it off. Had no idea Kyoto was a ref. Kyoto's usually always my ref because we go back in the days, like I.

[Steve Austin]

Said, I love Kyoto. And.

[Shane McMahon]

And it takes three. Yeah, just two. Takes three. So, you know, in the ifb, I guess Vince is saying something. Kyoto's talking to me, you know, but I think he's just kind of calling, you know, just saying gibberish, you know, because, you know, again, I got whacked in the head a couple times, and he's like, oh, saying something. Anyway, so Vince thinks that I'm shooing him off, that I'm disobeying an order, that I'm getting through Kyoto, but I never really got the order because I'm never to disobey him. So Gorilla was absolutely quiet. Vince was going ballistic. I mean, throwing stuff. Poor Jerry Briscoe was one doing the times at that point, I mean, it came back, it was in shamble. So Kurt and I come back through. We just finished. And it was one of the first ever standing ovations, because that wasn't given back in the day, you know, And I'm not saying not to brag. I was just how appreciative I was and how appreciative the fans were that we put ourselves through that for them. And it was like, oh, my God, it was awesome. Get through gorilla. It's like a morgue. I was like, oh, I don't know what's going on here. So Kurt and I keep going, you know, I mean, literally, it was silent. My dad was nowhere to be seen. He was so human. As we walk in the back, there's a whole line of guys. All the boys were applauding. And as you know, when you pop the monitor like that and all the boys are giving you a standing O in the back, that is the ultimate. That's the ultimate high you can ever get. Followed by quickly, the ultimate low. As I turn around the corner on my way to the trainer's room before.

[Steve Austin]

We go to hospital.

[Shane McMahon]

And then here comes Marissa, just eyes bawling. You know, she has no idea because I didn't tell her anything. This is when I got a huge heat or so I said, look, it's gonna be rough. And she had no idea that was gonna be like that. So she had no idea if I was okay. She had no insight to the business. She had no communication. So she went back and just saw me gushing and everything, and I'm laughing. Kurt and I are high fiving each other.

[Steve Austin]

I know you crushed it.

[Shane McMahon]

She's like. She's like, what? I was like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. You know, I had Kurt, obviously, being from Pittsburgh, I had this local beer, Iron City Light, and we popped one. Kurt, you know, he's a hard. That doesn't drink. And he's like, oh, we're having one. We're definitely doing that. We're high five and each other as we're both getting shoved in the ambulance to go to hospital.

[Steve Austin]

What events tell you?

[Shane McMahon]

He was so mad because again, he thought I disobeyed order. He says if I ever say something, I said, look, and never disrespect you that way. And if you said it, I would have stopped. But I didn't get the message. And he was like, so he's fuming because.

[Steve Austin]

Because you're toeing a line there. I know I'm being The message, straight up. Straight up.

[Shane McMahon]

I'm being completely honest. He's. No, I'm not. I don't ever. That intensity is there when I. Childhood and everything else that went with it. But I never lied to him ever, in my entire life. So he was fuming, and he said. That was one of. He said something very nice to me. Put the match over and I'll stay private. And he says, but don't you ever blank and do that ever again. He was so hot. We were supposed to ride back together. He didn't ride with me. He got his own car. I was like, wow. I was like. I had heat. I mean, he. Because he was so nervous. He was so, you know. And so it was two things. Being a father and seeing, you know, your son go through a train wreck, you know.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah.

[Shane McMahon]

That's that and waving him off, which really made him hot in front of everybody because he was giving the order in front of everybody.

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

You know?

[Steve Austin]

Right.

[Shane McMahon]

So he thought I was disobeying on top of all that.

[Steve Austin]

Right. And everybody that would.

[Shane McMahon]

Everyone around knows that I'm disobeying now. So it was like, woof. That's why Gorilla was.

[Steve Austin]

He's not gonna lose the team. Oh, my God. This head coach doesn't lose a team. What do you got down the road? I mean, you gonna keep being the commish or.

[Shane McMahon]

Yeah, I'm very much enjoying that. And as long as I can continually make a difference and help guys now, especially greener guys, grow and help them and learn psychology and make the product better, I'm in. Makes me feel great. I love to be able to do that. Love to be able to teach and love the camaraderie of it all. Love the business.

[Steve Austin]

Oh, yeah, I do, too. On Twitter, you are aanemcmahon.

[Shane McMahon]

Correct.

[Steve Austin]

So, anyway, it was good talking to you. I'm glad you came and saw the crib today. This will be the studio one of these days, and we are about to go eat a steak. And I will buy the first round.

[Shane McMahon]

Looking forward to that whiskey. It's been a pleasure. Been way too long. And it's been awesome being in the ring with you, sitting across from you and continuing our journey together.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, I want to come down to Orlando one of these days when you go down and talk to those young un's down there at the NXT Performance Center. I've been wanting to come down and drop a little 411 on them, as you know, just like some of the other guys have gone down there.

[Shane McMahon]

You should do that something to do? Be happy to do it with you. I know some people we can get down there.

[Steve Austin]

I'll catch you down the road. This has been a Podcast one production.

[Shane McMahon]

Download new episodes of the Steve Austin show every [e-mail].

[Steve Austin]

That's podcastone.com.

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[Steve Austin]

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