The Steve Austin Show

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

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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

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.

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.

End of Summary