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Paul Wight (Big Show) (11:33)

This is the Steve Austin Show. I'm hiding in a place in my house because my bird's squawking his ass off. Son of a bitch knew I was doing something. I'd love to get him stuffed. I don't think anybody would know if I got him stuff like oh, what a pretty bird. Yeah, he's real quiet. That some bitch is non stop and it lived to be over 120 years old. This life ain't fair.

Steve Austin (11:59)

Well I'm glad you started on that rant. I'm rolling sound. I'm at broken Skull Ranch 2.0, about 50 miles outside of Reno, Nevada, and I got my door open. I'm over here in, like, my podcast studio. I'm looking at my pond. There's geese everywhere. Herd of cows just walked by. My dogs are loving it out there. And I hear you having troubles with the damn bird. What kind of bird do you guys got?

Paul Wight (Big Show) (12:20)

I got a green Amazon. You know, I made the mistake years ago of buying this damn thing. Every time I wanted to petsmart, I saw this ugly bird, and, like, his price kept getting marked down, which should have been my first clue not to buy him. He had like, 10 markdowns. And I was like, oh, poor guy. You know, he was just the ugliest bird you've ever seen. He's. Even for an Amazon parrot that are supposed to be so beautiful and majestic, he's ugly. He can't help it. I mean, he is like. Other birds will say he is ugly, you know, And I felt bad and bought him. And ever since then, he's just been an absolute holy terror. From inadvertently dropping the F bomb in the middle of Company being over to just making the microwave noises, the house alarm, the car alarm. Just whatever he can do, you know, he'll live to be over 100 years old. It's like, you know, I walk by him and say, fried chicken, and I know he knows what I'm talking about. So what?

Steve Austin (13:18)

Does he ever impersonate your iPhone going off and you go to answer it?

Paul Wight (Big Show) (13:21)

No, he doesn't do the iPhone, but he'll. He'll call the dog's name every now and then. And, you know, we used to. We used to have a boxer, God bless her. Her name was Ella, and she passed away a couple years ago. She was 13. But he would call the dog over all the time. Ella. Ella. And the dog would come over the cage like. Like, what's he gonna do, give you a cookie or something? Idiot. Like, it's a dog on bird. Like, what are you doing? Just because you hear your name doesn't mean you have to walk over there.

Steve Austin (13:46)

The bird's over ribbing a dog.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (13:48)

Yeah, the bird will r. Yeah, he's real careful. I've got a. I've got a pit lab now. He's. He's the only one I got left. I had a mastiff, a German shepherd, a boxer, and him. For a long time, I had three females and him. They all got old. They had good lives. I mean, they all live at 13, 14, 15. Those are big dogs, which is pretty rare for a big dog to live that long. But yeah, my pit, when he was younger, he lab he wouldn't. He knows I don't like him. So right away my pit lab doesn't like him. So every now and then that bird gets loud and my pit will hit that cage at 90 pounds wide open and slam that cage and he'll knock the bird off his post and the bird will land on the bottom of the cage and fluff up just like you see two kids in the schoolyard. Bow up. Yeah, the bird will bow up and no one, there's a cage between him and 90 pounds of teeth will still bow up at the dog like he's going to whip the dog's tail. Like the bird has. He's a bird brain. What are you going to do, right?

Steve Austin (14:44)

What do you do when you have a bird like that? I mean, what do you do to exercise a little bastard. I mean, or do they like exercise? Do they want it? Is his wings clipped so he can't fly away? What's the story? I ain't never had a bird.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (14:56)

Well, it's funny, I've had birds before and they're all different. Like, I've had conures and I've had macaws and stuff like that. And I had a couple of really big macaws for a while. And as a new bird owner, I made a huge mistake. I put both of macaws together in this huge cage. And birds tend to bond with someone, especially another bird in the same cage with them. And like I hand fed the macaws since they were little, little babies, but they bonded with each other. And macaws have really big beaks. I mean, they can, they can doggone take your finger off if they wanted to, even one of mine. So I had, I gave those birds to the Busch Gardens when they got bigger. I was just a new bird owner and didn't know. I mean, I learned more about birds after having them. Every bird's different. Like, I mean, I would love to be able to let Max out and let him play around, but I got five cats and a pet lab. But I don't think it'd be his best interest to let him fly around the house and hang out. But, you know, he's got plenty of toys and stuff inside of his cage. He's got a huge cage for his size, so he has plenty of things to do. He's got mirrors and bells and, you know, every now and Then he'll start ringing that bell like he's ringing the dinner bell. And he'll usually, right in the middle of me doing something, the bell will go up. Like he knows when I'm doing something. Like right now, he knows I'm on the phone with you. I'm the opposite of the house. And he's been squawking for five minutes straight because he knows I'm doing something. He's just a constant river, you know, he can't help it. Like, the birds are like. They say birds have the mental equivalent to like a three or four year old child. They're very emotional. You can't. If you yell at them, they react poorly. They're smart, they're intelligent, they're manipulative. Just like a small child, you know, they'll have temper tantrums like a small child too. I mean, you know, so you have to kind of learn your bird's behavior. And, you know, some days he's an absolute angel. I can pull him out of the cage and, you know, and, and him and I will hang out when I get the room cordoned off so I don't have any loose predators in the room, you know, and he has fun and some days he doesn't want to come out of cage.

Steve Austin (16:57)

How old is he?

Paul Wight (Big Show) (16:58)

Kind of tough for him. He is. Well, he's got to be 15, 16 years old now. He'll live to be over 100.

Steve Austin (17:05)

Hey, man, so you guys got a plan in your will for him to go somewhere? You know, he's gonna outlive you guys.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (17:12)

Being outliving me when he dies? When I die, I'm having him stuffed. He's going with me. That's in the will. So there's no way that little prick's gonna outlive me longer than five minutes. So. No, I don't know. I mean, hopefully, hopefully it's one of those kind of things that, you know, I'll be able to pass them down to my daughter or something like that, you know.

Steve Austin (17:29)

Hey, what do you guys do with all those animals? When Bess comes to like a Wrestlemania or whatever type of event or if you guys go on vacation, I know you guys probably don't do too many vacations.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (17:38)

Vacation.

Steve Austin (17:39)

I know, I know. If you ever take care of all.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (17:44)

Those animals, we have some friends who do it. I mean, we have, we've had Karen for years, who. We call her Yankee Karen. She's one of Bessel friends from Toronto and, and Yankee lives down here in Florida now. She takes care of A lot of elderly people at home, like here in Florida. So she's a nurse and she's known all the animals since they were a little bitty. My dog likes it when Karen comes around because he puts on weight. She's around because I think all she does is feed the treats all damn day. We have people that we can depend on. I mean, that's the tough thing when you have animals. You know, if you want to travel and do anything makes it difficult. You know as well as I do, when you're on the road, as much as you and I were, the last thing we want to do is go anywhere. Vacation is my couch with no one around. That's an ideal vacation. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to go out to dinner to me, I don't have to pay valet. I don't have to deal with that. I can walk 15ft from the table to the couch. It's a good night. So. But yeah, I definitely need somebody to help you with that many animals.

Steve Austin (18:43)

And I tell you what, when someone has to watch our dogs, I mean, my wife Kristen, I mean, she'll interview these people. I mean, there's only like a select few. And then, you know, they basically go everywhere with us. But I mean, man, you gotta pass this. It'd be easier to get, I don't know, a job with the FBI than to be able to watch our dogs. So it's like, my wife is crazy about this and I don't want some psychopath in my house going through all my shit. But like, right now we're in Nevada and we don't have a doggy door out here. So we got a big ass backyard, it's fenced in. But my wife just for some reason, like Callie, my black lab, she's a year and two months old. She's like a psych man. She is my best buddy. She's always up by my hip moolah. She can stay in the house all day. She's a little bit of a house dog. But anyway, yesterday, because we're out here in Nevada, man, I got a Kawasaki mule, I got a four wheeler, I got a dirt bike. So I figured, okay, yesterday, I'm gonna take the mule out and you can fit six people in this thing. So Callie sleeps beside me in the front seat and mullah stays in the back seat. And so that's where they ride. And so I was thinking, okay, I'm gonna take the mule. So I'm gonna drive slow. Cause I have the dogs with me. So I'm riding around on this flat stuff and a lot of this terrain out here in Nevada is very, very rocky. And I'm taking it easy. I'm just kind of on a joyride. But you know, the guy part of me sees this real steep incline and says, you know what, it'd be cool to climb that. So that's what I'm going to do. And I veer off the smooth path and I'm starting to drive up the side of this mountain. Well, I get about halfway up there. Well, it's about a third of the way up there. And all of a sudden, man, it's pretty damn vertical. And then, you know, if you're, if you're not picking a good line, you know, when you're going up, you know, in a buggy or four wheeler like that, you want to point north and south, you start getting a little bit of east, west, you're going to roll that damn thing. So I kind of started getting between a rock and a hard place. I'm sitting there and I just mash on the brakes, I put on the parking lever, I shut it down. I'm just kind of chilling out there and I'm just saying, okay, now what are you going to do, dude? It's not like you can just go up and turn this thing around because you're on a pretty steep plane. And you know, to the top was about another 300 yards. And here's the deal. The machine has the capability to get up the mountain, but it's because Callie's there in the front seat with me and then Mula's in the back. I'm thinking coming down, this thing is going to be a real bitch because just because the dogs will be bouncing everywhere. And it's one thing, dude, if I roll that buggy, if I did, you know, that's on me. And I can handle that or jump out or do whatever, because shit happens sometimes. But when with those dogs in there. If I was to roll that thing, boy, my wife is gonna skin my ass.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (21:23)

So yeah, you don't go home, buddy. You get your passport smuggled to you and you leave the country. You wind up in Mexico somewhere with Toby Keith having cervezas on the beach. List of your life.

Steve Austin (21:34)

Yeah, dude, I started kind of said, okay, you know, here's the deal. I said, let me see if I can just ease backwards down this some bitch. And I started going backwards. I'm riding the brake. You know, you're trying to pick the same line that you took up but while you got your head cranked around to the right or looking to the left with a stack of dimes I got, which is basically all fused up, I can't turn around. So I said, effort. I said, I'm going to the top. There's a place about halfway up on this damn mountainside that I said, I think I can attempt a turn around there. And I just said, you know, I locked it in, four wheel low, hit the gas pedal, and off we went. And I was able to. It took me about five minutes to spin that thing around because, dude, you know how it is. You'll roll that bitch. I come back down, it happens real quick. Cali's riding beside me, and I've got, you know, Moolah always stands in the back seat. So I'm turning around and I'm using my right arm to give her the Heisman stiff arm to keep her stuck to the back seat so she doesn't come tumbling down into the floorboard. So anyway, it was, you know, today I'm going back with a vengeance. I'm taking my four wheeler and I'm letting Kristen babysit the dog so I can go out there and raise hell.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (22:44)

That's funny. I thought you were gonna say you got halfway up the hill and the dogs bailed on you.

Steve Austin (22:49)

Oh, no, them dogs ain't bailing out of nothing. But, you know, because, like, Callie's still getting used to it. Moolah's been riding forever. She's taking Hershey's back spot back there in the back and, you know, going back to what you were saying.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (23:01)

Yeah, she's an old pro. She gets it.

Steve Austin (23:03)

Oh, yeah.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (23:03)

Who's gonna go all over the place. We'll be safe.

Steve Austin (23:06)

But there we go. Anyway. Not everybody wants to hear about my precarious tales of riding the back roads.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (23:12)

And mountainsides after the life that you and I lived. Little stuff like that is. Even though we started it way back when, before we ever did anything and toured the world, that's what we did for fun. We rode mountain bikes. We did four wheeling, we went mudding. I mean, you know, that's stuff that we did. And now to be at a point in your life where you can. You can do that, it gives you a sense of humility. It's not the extravagant things in life that make life. It's the little things. It's little fun things, like you're getting out today. You're going to go out after this podcast, talking to this old grumpy giant, and you're going to climb that mountain. So it's a good thing.

Steve Austin (23:49)

God dang, I get so, so much enjoyment out of being out here. And you know, out here, you know, basically, Basically no one bothers you? No one bothered me in LA because they're used to seeing me in la. But man, I get out here and it's just kind of like heaven.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (24:01)

How do you deal with the summers out there though? Isn't it like, you know, 120 degrees or some stuff?

Steve Austin (24:05)

No, no, no, man. I'm in northern Nevada. So, you know, down there in Vegas, I'm sure it's like people think I'm close to Vegas. No, I'm nowhere near Vegas, man. I'm up here. I'm at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. I've got incredible water pond in my backyard. I'm on a artesian well. So I mean I have premier water where I'm at. And where I'm at, like we're at the base of the Sierra. So, you know, a lot of Nevada is brown. I mean it's mountainous country, it's basically a high desert. But where we're at is kind of like cattle grazing properties, horse properties, because the runoff from those mountains is so great. Alfalfa fields just everywhere. So like our place is just a big green spot and it's kind of like just a little piece of heaven. But you don't need a big place because, you know, 90% of Nevada is BLM. So I can go ride everywhere. And as a matter of fact, before I started skyping with you, I was on am. Well, my wife was on Amazon, ordered me a GPS device because, man, I don't know how you were when you had your boat out there a while back. Like out here I'm used to navigating South Texas, but out here you get up on some of these ridges and I'll kind of keep one of the peaks as far as my landmark and I'll always know where the sun is. But you start going over these different passes and over these different hills and all of a sudden everything changes. It's like before you know it, you got a quarter tank of gas left. You spent three quarters of a tank getting there. It's like, dude, I'm a little bit turned around. So the last thing I need is for my bald headed goatee ass with bad knees to have to run out of gas, walk back down my pickup and my trailer and then walk back with a gas can to fill that some bitch up if I can find it.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (25:50)

Now I think when I Had the boat because I would go out 25, 26 miles into the Gulf when I lived in Tampa, and I would just drop anchor, 28, 30ft of water. And it was nice out there, and it was quiet. You know, that's the thing you look for, you want. You know, you love your fans, you love the attention you get. It's what we do. We're all attention hogs, because otherwise we wouldn't do what we do. But that. That sense of peace to recharge. You need that isolation, I think. I know I do. But for me, it was. I. It's a lot easier because it's on the water. You know, I have my course and my headache, so I didn't. I still had GPS navigation, all that stuff on the boat, but I would just set my degrees, and I knew that, you know, if I was going out, you know, whatever it is, if I was going out 360, I would come back 180. So, you know, I would just do my degrees and I would take the boat out by myself, which is real damn stupid because I would go way out there by myself, drop anchor and go swimming. And I was out there one time, and I'm just thinking, no, this is what happens to dumb, rich white people that go swim in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico by themselves. That's all I need to do is run across some rogue shark that thinks I'm a lost walrus. This is back when I was 500 pounds, get my ass nailed, and nobody ever knows what happens to me. You know, I'm gonna. I'm gonna quit doing dumb stuff like this. So it was funny. I just. I ended up selling the boat after that. I got rid of it. I just. I got rid of it because I got tired of being the one that paid for the gas, being the one that cleaned it, being the one that drove it. I couldn't drink on the boat. I couldn't have a good time, no matter who I had on it, because I had to get everybody out, everybody back. So it was like I was a glorified chauffeur. Now, I'd rather rent a boat, let somebody else drive it, enjoy it, ruin the laboratories like everybody did. My boat and see you by. Happiest day in a boater's life is the day he buys it and the day he sells it, Man.

Steve Austin (27:36)

Me and Kristen did a bunch of research for man, almost two years, because, man, we're living Marina del Rey when you take off at lax. I know, but if you take off at lax, and all of a sudden that plane starts turning around. If you look to the right, you can see the marina. Hell, my house is with a stone's throw of that place. But the thing about it is, you get out in that marina and this is me on my jet ski and everything's fine and dandy, it's smooth. But all of a sudden you get outside those jetties, dude, you're in the Pacific Ocean. And back when we used to film Redneck island on Lake Hartwell over there, you know, kind of in South Carolina. Georgia. South Carolina, Lake Hartwell, basically. Georgia. So anything, you know that that lake is 43,000 acres. That's a big ass lake. One time on my jet ski, I got a little bit turned around as far as my sense of direction because those coves and those fingers that where I was staying back in. From a topo map, they look very definitive. But when you're three feet off the water, it's kind of hard to. If you lose your bearings, you're screwed. But the saving grace is if you're.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (28:39)

Riding along enjoying, you'll lose your point of reference from the shore where you are or whatever, and then you are turned around.

Steve Austin (28:45)

Yeah, the thing about riding on a lake is you can pull over to somebody's pier, you can pull over to shore, but if you're in the Pacific Ocean, dude, you can't come on the beach. But because you're not allowed on the beach, and then, dude, you're like a cork bobbing up and down on the ocean. So, you know, now that I have this place in Nevada, there's several lakes. Well, you know, I'm just a few miles from Lake Tahoe.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (29:04)

Okay.

Steve Austin (29:05)

There's another smaller lake nearby. So, man, I got all kinds of, you know, now that I have, you know, lake access, I'm going to bring my, my jet skis already here. But, dude, I'll stop riding in the Pacific Ocean because again, I was doing the solo thing, you know, what am I going to do? Hire some guy that knows his way around the waters to run, ride, you know, behind me and hang on my waist? I don't think it's gonna happen. Yeah, I don't know anybody else that's got a jet ski that I like.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (29:29)

You can get David Hasselhoff to follow you around one of those red buoys around his chest. It's funny, when I moved to Miami, the biggest difference was like in Tampa, you get out in the Gulf, you don't really have a lot of currents out in the Gulf. The Gulf Is pretty much. I don't want to knock it, but from my experience around Tampa, Clearwater, idiot water, you gotta watch out for your sandbars, low tide, stuff like that. But you get down to Miami and you start getting some of those currents and the reefs and stuff like that, it's more work than it's worth. It really is like I'm. For me, it just got to be just too much grief. And I had the only boat slip I could get in Miami. When I was in Miami, I had a 47 foot boat. I had a 40 foot boat, I think with a seven foot swim deck. So I had 47ft of boat and bowed astern, basically, and 12 and a half, 13 foot beam. So it was pretty wide. But I'm in a 50 foot boat slip, you know what I mean? So parking that some bitch was really tense. Like, you know, you didn't come up and talk to me about, you know, like football teams or the weather or, you know, wrestling angles while I was trying to park it because, you know, I mean, my butt was chewing a hole in the driver's seat of that boat trying to park that thing because, you know there's other boats around you, there's boats across from you, you know, and then if you're battling the wind, even though it's a motorboat, you know, because the marina is so dead calm, back where it was, the wind will drift you, stuff like that, you know, and it's like, you know, this is, this, this has not become fun anymore. This has become too stressful. I don't, I don't need this. I just want to jump on and enjoy. But up in Nevada, I went years ago out to, in Vegas. I went out to the lake out there in Vegas. What's that lake outside of Vegas? Lake Mead. Yeah. And I rented a houseboat, one of those pontoon boat. Boy, you know what, it wasn't very fast, but man, you talk about fun, jump off of it, swim, you know what I mean? You know, had a little cooler beer, had some food, you know, it was one of those things. We had like a pay per view or something. So I had like a Saturday off and then Sunday, pay per view. I just spent the whole Saturday out there at Lake Mead. Man, it was just awesome. But Lake Mead was pretty big too. I could see where if I wasn't, I didn't get too far away from where I was because I didn't know the lake. So I kind of kept the shoreline in sight. I didn't get all Indiana Jones and Adventurous or anything. But I could see real quick Vegas, Lake Mead is, you can get lost on that pretty quick too. That's a terrible feeling, being lost too, because one, you feel like an idiot. Two, you know, hopefully you'll find your way but eventually you're going to have to ask somebody, then they know you're an idiot too. So that's, that's a, that's a double edged sword. GPS is a good idea though.

Steve Austin (32:06)

Yeah. But when you're, when you're on the water or, you know, how do they know you're lost? Or if you are lost, you're sitting there trying to chase them down, to flag them down and say, hey, where am I? How did I get back to shore? But all of a sudden it's just like I was talking to someone the other day. The first thing you don't do is start panicking because all of a sudden you realize you don't know where you're at. It's kind of like your heart starts beating a little faster. It's like, okay, there's really no impending danger, but it's just the fact that you're not in control anymore. You might not know where you're at a little bit disconcerting.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (32:36)

Right? Right. Well, the main thing to do is if you, if you've got common sense, no north, south, east, west, you know your basic orientation. Before you take off from your port, you should know relatively where your port is. So worst case scenario, you can be calm, shut the engines down, chill, figure out where the sun is, where it's starting to set. Okay, that's west, I need to go east or what have you so you can get an idea where, you know where landfall is. Because the worst thing you want to do is start heading the wrong way, especially out in Atlantic, you know, you wind up in France, you know, a couple of days later, you kind of went the wrong way.

Steve Austin (33:14)

Dude, that's one of the things that used to kill me about traveling across Canada. You can be in Calgary or you can be in Montreal. I mean, if you ask somebody for directions, they're going to speak to you in English. All of a sudden, if you're on your way to Quebec City or whatever some of those provinces were towns, whatever you call them, all of a sudden you walk into a gas station, you was going to buy some skull, maybe you gassed up, but she was there also to ask for directions. And that's if you're buying, if you're.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (33:42)

Buying, if you're buying. Skoal in Canada, you screwed up and didn't bring any from home because you're getting that african skull in canada. Remember that? So you half a ten.

Steve Austin (33:51)

But, dude, that's the way it was. You pull over. But my whole thing is, I mean, they know what's up. They're speaking. They can speak english, but just because you walk in there without that text or whatever accent, they're going to rip you.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (34:03)

Or south carolina.

Steve Austin (34:05)

Yeah, yeah. And all of a sudden it's like, come on, man, you know, no paula vu francais here. Give me the directions. Tell me how to get to where I'm going or ain't gonna buy it. Show in the back.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (34:14)

You know, funny thing about canada, you know, here, drive here in the u. S. You know, no matter where, where you're at, eventually within, I would say within 10, 12 miles, you're going to find food, you're going to find civilization. What's amazing about Canada is as massive as canada is and as underpopulated as a lot of business. Between vancouver and montreal, some of those places, there's just, you know, kilometers and kilometers of highway with nothing except maybe a tim hortons and a gas station if you're lucky, you know, I remember that was one of my first things I'd learned on the road. Driving up there in Canada is like, there's. There's nowhere to get food after the show, really. Like, you know, you better get something before the show because afterwards, if you're driving to another town, you're SOL buddy, you have tim hortons day. That's about it.

Steve Austin (35:02)

Yeah. Normally when you ask for a bottle of jack daniels at the tim hortons, they ain't got one.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (35:10)

What am I supposed to do for supper? If you don't have jack daniels, I can't eat. What's wrong with you? That's right.

Steve Austin (35:15)

Hey, man, I used to love working in canada. It's a great place. But, you know, the problem was working canada was so many of the boys had so many issues at the border for various reasons.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (35:27)

Oh, yeah.

Steve Austin (35:27)

It was like when we did. When we came through there, it was like, okay, red flag. We're checking every one of these mfers out, and they got to go through all your shit and, you know, just all that. And it's like, that's one thing, but they start. Even in the states when they start raffling through your stuff, I do it and plain view of everybody, and it's like, dude, I ain't got nothing, but they're going through all your shit. But. And also, I do give them credit for being stiff at the border, because I do believe in that. But it just made traveling to Canada a real pain in the ass.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (35:59)

Well, it made it tough for me a little bit, I think, too, because, you know, traveling for me is not the most convenient thing in the world. But the part that would. Would aggravate me is if common sense was used in any type of those security checkpoints, it would make me feel better. But when you sit there and ask for a picture and ask for an autograph and then turn around telling me you got a rifle through my stuff, it's like, how am I a threat? Like, if you know who I am? Like, you know, I get it, you've got the big badge, you've got the power, you can go through my stuff. But at the same time, like, you know, you know what I mean? I mean, it's not like I'm asking for him for reference differential treatment. I guess it's just, how can I be a random check or a check? Because it's always for me. It's always, oh, you've been randomly selected, sir. And then they'll send some guy over 5 foot tall to give me a pat down and 20 PSA agents for laughing. So I'm like, you know, you can't really work a worker, you know. Random my ass. You thought it'd be funny to send the five foot guy over to give me a pat down. So I can't complain now. Now I get a pat down every time. I got metal in my hip now, so I get a pat down regardless. I get. I get a free fondle every time I fly. This is the Steve Austin Show.

Steve Austin (37:15)

You had your hip replaced. How did that go?

Paul Wight (Big Show) (37:18)

I didn't have it replaced. I had a. Had a surgery done called resurfacing, which I kept 98% of my bone, man. If I, if I showed you the pictures of what my femur bone looked like the ball socket looked like. I mean, I had holes and it looked like a bowling ball. I showed it to Undertaker and, you know, he sent back, he said it looked like a jack o' lantern. There were just holes in it from where I'd worn the bone down so bad because it hurt for. Oh, you know how we are. It probably hurt for three and a half years. And then I started losing range of motion. I started. I couldn't. I noticed for me in the ring, you know when a guy's working his strides along.

Steve Austin (37:52)

Yep.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (37:53)

You know, when he's hitting the ropes or he's shooting somebody in the corner, but I noticed, like, for me, my steps, I were just really short because I couldn't. I couldn't open my stride up anymore because the bone had. The pelvis had grown over the bone. There was no range of motion. And the joint was chewed up. It wasn't cartilage left. So, yeah, I was in constant, you know, agony, I guess. But you know how we are. I mean, stuff that put a guy in the hospital. You know, you and I have a cup of coffee and a couple of aspirin, we go to work, you know, so when people look at it, oh, how did you even walk like that? I don't know. I had to go to work. I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's just mind over matter, I guess. I mean. But now quality of life is really good. There's no stiffness, there's no range of motion is ridiculous. But again, it's. It's artificial device. It's metal. It's titanium in my hip, which. The movement's great. But I had a little complication after. After the surgery, which happens sometimes when you put metal in the body, you know, and it was. That was a real trying time. It cut my return. I got about another five months to my return, longer it should have been. I got a surgical infection from it because I learned more about infections than I ever wanted to know. Like, I guess our bodies are full of staph, our noses, our skin, we're covered in it. So sometimes you have major surgeries like that, especially put metal in the body. You know, there's a lot of things that can act up and react. And so I had to go in, be opened up again. They did a real good job of really cleaning the joint the best they can and put some vancomycin pellets in it. I was on an IV drip all through Christmas for seven weeks. I had a thing called a PICC line, which was an IV line that went into my heart, into my arm, and went to my heart because the medicine was so strong. It burned your veins out. You know, I didn't want to ask them what the hell it did to my heart if it burned my veins out. But I went through all that for about seven weeks, which is real pain in the ass, because they say, oh, you can't work out. Because I got this tube hanging out of my arm that I had to hook up to three times a day, just like you're putting in gas, you know, I had to do this 500 milliliter bag, antibiotics, so. But I had what I called yard time because I had to do a bag every eight hours and it took about two hours and 45 minutes to drain a bag. So I would get what I call yard time in the afternoon. I had about four hours where I could, you know, if I wanted to go to the store or get out of the house or go to the gym. And they told me not to work out, you know, you know how important my fitness was. And I made so many changes and I'm like, well, they don't know I can go work out. I'll do right handed dumbbell curls. You know what I mean? I mean I could do something. So like a dummy, I'm in there a couple days after getting this pick line put in and I'm got a 20 pound dumbbell in my right hand. And I'm thinking, well, I'll just do a couple of dumbbell reps. And I got an apple watch for Christmas that does your heart rate and all that stuff. Probably a damn good thing I had it. So I'm sitting doing these one arm dumbbell curls and all of a sudden I'm like, oh, my heart rate's really kicking. I look down, my apple watch is hopping up and down on my wrist throwing fit because my heart rate's up to 200 because of this. Apparently when you increase your blood pressure, I've got a line in the vein and that line I guess can, can vibrate or elevate your heart rate because there's an obstruction in the vein. So when they say don't work out, they mean it. It's a shoe. It's a shoe. Yeah. It's not one of those wrestler things. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I got you, I got go do what you want anyway. No, they mean don't work out. They mean, hey dummy, keep your blood pressure low, don't strain yourself because it's, it'll elevate your heart rate. So after scaring the ever loving crap out of myself for that, I chilled out, got the pick line out. In January, I missed the Royal Rumble. I was supposed to make my return at Royal Rumble. That didn't come to fruition. Then my contract expired. I was unemployed for a while and just a couple days. You know how that stuff goes in negotiation, you know, I mean, I mean both sides are trying to get the best deal they can for themselves. I mean, I just, you know, my last match was with Braun Strowman and I did the best I could to get him over and pass big man torch to him. If I had it, whatever to give, I had, I had no problems making him. I think he's a great guy and hell of a talent, and it was my pleasure to put the guy over and send him on his way, hopefully making him better. So I was happy with that match. It was a hell of a match. If that was my last match, I mean, you know, you can't ask for anything better, you know, so I was willing to accept the fact that maybe things were done. And then, you know, I spent some time with the big man himself. We talked. Hunter and I talked, you know, because we were concerned about my hip, we were concerned about a lot of things. And they put together a really nice, you know, three year deal for me. So I'm there another three years. I get to do a lot more work with things that I'm passionate about with Special Olympics and being a global ambassador with Special Olympics, and I get a chance to have a little bit more free time. Now I'm not in the trenches five days a week like I was for 20 years, working every house show and every TV, probably being on TV too much as a giant, where I should have been an attraction. Instead I was in there, you know, working all the time. And, you know, it's not like I was a carpenter like you, who's a good worker. I mean, I took up a lot of space, so I probably shouldn't have been on TV as much as I was. But now I'm in a little bit more limited role and we're finding the right creative and there's not a. There's not a lot of pressure on me to have to be there every week and get people over or carry two or three segments or whatever we're doing. I can kind of show up, help the younger guys here and there, and I get to pursue outside projects that are important to me. So all in all, after going through all that hell with my hip surgery and. And Vince and Paul gave me a hell of a deal. Steve, you know how this business is. I mean, 20 years in this business, I didn't expect wow. To get the respect that they gave me by giving me this deal. It's one of those kind of things. That's very humbling because both of them really appreciated the work that I give in the company and put me in a position to where in all sincerity, I mean, they're getting this deal in January and I haven't done a damn thing yet, but a couple of parents just here and there. I haven't gotten a ring because, you Know what? We think of earning our money as stepping between the ropes and earning your money, you know what I mean? You know, there's no pressure from Vince, there's no pressure from Hunter. They understand. I was supposed to go to Abu Dhabi, I mean, Jeddah, for the greatest world rumble. I'm supposed to make a return there. I got cleared at WrestleMania, but there was no creative for me. I mean, they'd done that great angle of Braun, Strowman and the kid for a partner, which was an amazing angle. What? You know what 10 year old kid. What a dream to have, you know, a pro wrestler pick you out of the crowd, make you a tag champion.

Steve Austin (44:39)

You know what I mean, for that kid.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (44:41)

And it is awesome. It did a great job for Braun because Braun doesn't need a tag partner, you know what I mean? I mean, that's one thing they're doing right and they're making him a monster. As long as they don't have him doing some stupid stuff, you know, they keep that monster element to him. I mean, I know now he's a, he's a smiling baby face, which he is a good guy, you know what I mean? It's gonna be tough for him to sell and get sympathy, you know, we went through that, you know, but, you know, if he can keep that monster attitude about it, he'll do very well. But that was a great opportunity for him. But I had the doctors look at it. I had some hardness around the scar and they're like, oh, that scar tissue, you know, you can foam roll it and help break it out. So you tell me now, before I was a 500 pound, two packs a day smoker, you told me to work out, I'd agree with you and I'd go my ass out on the couch and get the TV remote. Now if you tell me something that's going to improve my health, I'm probably going to do it 10 minutes after you tell me, you know, so I just. Different attitudes because for a long time I thought I'd never live to be past 50. I thought, oh, you don't see any old giants. I'll be dead at 50. You know, I live like, you know, like rock and roll. I live like James Dean, you know, now that I'm 46, I'm like, hey, 50 is not that far away. Let's shoot for 80, you know, let's eat right, take care of ourselves, exercise and, you know, I'm still having fun in life. I may be 46. I don't feel 46. I feel 25, I want to start taking care of myself and live longer and do more things. But so I foam rolled it to make a long story short. And I had some capsuleized infection that was still in there that broke open. My body had just sealed it off, I guess around the scar. So when I broke it open, my legs started swollen up and I was like, oh, I started freaking out because I'm thinking, here we go again. And they wound up cutting it open and exercising the hard infection. And then we did an open wound treatment which was all superficial, just like most any staff infection that you get, you know, it was an open wound treat. But, you know, I got a hole in my leg and I had to call Vince on a Monday and say, hey, because I was supposed to do the media the week before. I said, I can't go. I've got a 3.5 centimeter deep hole in my leg right now and I probably shouldn't travel with it, especially out of the country and be on a plane that long. You know, I'm at a higher risk for getting a deeper infection and then some. Paul's credit, they, you know, because after about four days it started closing up really quick and I said, you know what, I can go if you guys want me to go. And even Paul says, why risk it, dude? You know what I mean? I mean there's plenty of times we're going back again, you know, there's, there's no reason to risk your health or, you know, our investment in you as a talent, you know, so again, they're very cool because, you know, there's a lot of those times they could just, they literally could just cut you loose. I think that's that for me it's very humbling and I'm very appreciative and very thankful for the fact that the hard work that I put in the past 20 years.

Steve Austin (47:34)

Well, I think they're recognizing, I mean you're, you're a loyal guy and you're not going to phone it in. And you know, if you're, you're. No, nine times out of ten if you're hurt, you're going to work. Hurt.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (47:42)

Yeah, I'm not a phone in guy. I'm not going to call out for a tummy bug, that's for sure. So it's kind of hard when, you know, in the big men circles, you look at the guys that I've had to, I don't want to say grew up with, but I grew up with in the business, so to speak, you got Undertaker, who doesn't sell anything as far as being hurt or sick. I mean, we've seen that dude with 103 fever wrestle 30 minutes and get an IV bag, put in a gorilla as soon as he comes to the door. So there's no, there's no bitching up there. Kane, who's one of the toughest son of a guns around, who never complains about anything. I mean, I don't think I've ever heard complain Kane, complain about anything other than my work.

Steve Austin (48:19)

I don't think I have either. And he's one of the smartest, most well read guys. Nicest guys in the locker room.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (48:26)

Oh, complete gentleman and actually insightful and brilliant. Then he goes out there and put that mask on. And so, you know, that's part of being the character, you know, when you.

Steve Austin (48:36)

Were putting those bags of antibiotics in yourself three times a day, every eight hours, were you doing that on your own or did you go in?

Paul Wight (Big Show) (48:43)

I was doing them. No, dude, it was crazy. I had a nurse show up first. They sent me this case of stuff to put in the refrigerator, and it took up two shelves in my refrigerator, and I've got a big fridge, you know, and all these implements. And you have to be careful about getting air in the line. And there's clean product. You have to have gloves on and all this safety stuff. So, you know, I ended up setting up like my. My medical ward. I had to have a little IV stand that I had to wheel around with me that had the bag hanging on it. And it was an exercise with patience because I had to watch this thing drip for three hours because if I move my arm wrong, because I have a lot of muscle. If my muscles move, they'd close the line off so then it would stop dripping. So I had to get a pillow and hold my arm just right, sit there and watch it drip for three hours. I mean, it wasn't like you just put it in for three hours and go do something else. I couldn't. I had to literally watch it and drip. And at first it was overwhelming. They had a nurse that came twice a week to check the bandage under the arm because, you know, you've got a. You've got a bandage under your arm with an open lining that's going right to your heart. So you have to make sure that area stays infection free. And you have to wrap your arm in plastic when you shower and stuff like that because you can't get water in it.

Steve Austin (49:56)

Dude, that's a hell of an infection.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (49:59)

Extremely stressful. But I guess, you know, it's. It's what the. It's what they do. For me, it's a little bit harder because if the infection was to get to the metal, because once infection gets to the metal, it's almost impossible to get the infection out, because no matter how smooth or how polished metal is, it's still very porous. And I guess it's small enough for the infection to hide in. And what they'd have to do is they'd have to put a cement spacer in the joint for three months, and then three months later, they would go in and cut the metal off, because they put a bonding putty that fuses to the bone so they can't just, like, unscrew it. You know what I mean? Like, you take a cap off a wine bottle and screw in your cap on. You can't. You got to cut all that off and do a full hip replacement. Once they do full hip replacement, there's no way I could be in the ring again and do anything. That's why the avoidant infection thing is been very stressful and of the highest importance because, you know, I'm not done in the ring yet. I mean, hell, I'm 380 pounds. I feel like now especially that my hip is. Has more range of motion. I move faster than I moved in, you know, 17, 18 years. I wrestled with Fit Finley a little bit up in. @ WrestleMania and got in the ring and rolled around Fit a little bit there with the doctor. And Fit was laughing because he's like, you're fast again, you know, which made me feel good because of my mobility is back where I had lost so much mobility before. Pitt would laugh at me, said, yeah, for a while, you kind of lean to the left and go that way, or you lean to the right and go that way. Because I couldn't. I didn't have the ability to plant my foot and turn because, you know, there was no joint space. So I've got a.

Steve Austin (51:37)

Question. With all that healing up and all the patience and, dude, I'd be worried about the. The air bubble. Bubble going into my veins. But my. My question is, I've always had a real cool relationship with. With Bess. Every time we see each other, it's always great to see her. When you start shooting the breeze and laughing and joking, how in the hell did Bess put up with your big, cantankerous ass while you was going through all that healing.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (51:59)

Up? She did great. I mean, obviously, it was very stressful, but if you know her she's, she's not gonna sell it. So, I mean, that's just not who she is. Just not gonna sell it. You know what I mean? But, you know, she wrote down the list medications. I mean, it was a little overbearing because it was like reporting for, for a friggin, you know, muffler inspection every day. It seemed like, you know what I mean? Like we had to do this. We laid out all the instruments. Everything was done according to how the nurse that came explained it, followed the rules, check stuff off. So it was a little OCD on some parts, but you know, it was. I think she did a great job with everything because it's pretty stressful because you don't know what's going to happen. You don't know if, if the device is going to go bad or if the infection is going to go bad or other complications arise. You don't know. But, you know, all you can do is, you know, have faith in doing the right thing and, you know, go forward with it. You know what I mean? You can't sit there and feel sorry for yourself and give up. I mean, shit, man, I think all of it, as difficult as it was, none of it that I went through made me any worse off. If anything, it made me a little bit more appreciative of things that I've done, things that I've accomplished and things that I want to.

Steve Austin (53:16)

Accomplish. How do you feel at £380? I mean, you've got, you've got to feel great. I mean, because what were you pre surgery or at your heaviest when you know they're there for time, you're looking rough, you kind of went downhill. And then now you 380 and jacked and you have abs. So that 380 has got to be a lot less wear and tear and easier to carry.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (53:37)

Around. Well, it is, I think a lot of it. When I was, you know, 500, I think my heaviest, I was 537 when I did the match with Akibono. I think Akibono weighed, or shoot, weighed 488 and I weighed 509 because I remember Vince getting pissed at me because Akibono was supposed to weigh more than me. And then he just looks at me, he goes, 509 pounds. He shook his head and walked off like, I don't know, I'm a quarter ton of fun. What do you want me to say? So, but, you know, for our business too, and not that this is an excuse, but I think a lot of it was was psychological that we had a lot of big guys, Bradshaw, Kane taker, Billy Gunn. I mean there were a lot of big dudes walking around all the time. And if I didn't weigh five bills, I wouldn't have been the big show, you know. Yes. Was it harder on my joints? But I was younger, I could carry it. Now at 46, I'm way part of it, you know, I like having the mobility that I have now. I like having, you know, the only effed up part is I, it's hard for all. Like a lot of custom clothes that I had made that I really enjoyed. I can't wear anymore. I had some suits that I really liked and I took them off so I'll get them taken in. I dropped 12 inches off my waist. So the Taylor said there's nothing I can do with them. You can lose the back pocket. And I was like, well okay, so those are gone. You know what I mean? It's ridiculous how much things have changed. So. But for the health wise, it's better. And I want to start doing more things in Hollywood, you know, do some more movies and really start to expand that you know as well as I do. You look big on camera anyway, £500. It'd probably be too big for me to get a lot of roles. It's going to be tough now because I'm going to be typecast in whatever I do because I'm so big. And you know, a lot of those actors out there are.

Steve Austin (55:27)

Smaller. Oh my. Well, you'd be amazed at how small everybody is because there's no one big standing next to them. All of a sudden you get a guy who's just six two, they look gigantic on screen compared to everybody else. Because you know, most, most of the women over there, I mean television actresses or movie actresses, I mean they could be, you know, five feet to five, four would probably be on average. Of course you have your tolerance, but even the dudes go five, six to five, eight. But you don't really have a scope until you have this big ass dude standing next to him like oh, so and so is not as tall as I thought they.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (56:00)

Were. Yeah, and it changed. And I can't blame, you know, these guys that are, you know, running their territory, so to speak, that are big time actors that are, you know, action heroes and stuff. I mean, look at, look at Rock. I mean Rock's lost, lost a lot of weight to fit in and trim down and lean down, you know what I mean? He still looks massive compared to everyone else. You.

Steve Austin (56:21)

Know, he's pretty jacked up right now. And going back to the height difference thing, there was a picture, I guess, from, from their last movie, Fate of the Eight or whatever it was. It was a Fast and Furious franchise. And there was a picture, I guess it was him and Vin Diesel in a scene. And, man, they're eye to eye. Or just maybe rocks a shade taller. But Rock is a legit 6, 4, 65 and Vin Diesel is not near that tall. So I know they had that guy on an apple box on that scene. No, I'm serious. Because, dude, I mean, yeah, Rock is a big ass.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (56:56)

Dude. Yeah. And you don't want to kill Vin Diesel's gimmick by showing, you know, that, you know, that he's not, you know, of the stature that somebody like Rock, like Dwayne is. You know what I mean? So it's tough, you know. You know, Peter Dinklage is, you know, the actor from Game of Thrones. He's a little guy, all right. Well, he is such a great actor that he's able to get parts now that he's earned through his ability that aren't written for little people anymore, you know what I mean? Because they overlook that even though he's a small person, he's getting different parts because people are looking at his ability, you know? And I think for me, believe it or not, as odd as it sounds, even though we're on opposite ends of the spectrum. Spectrum for me, when I look at somebody like Peter Dinklage as being such a great actor for size, with the personality and things that he's able to convey, I mean, you know, I've got a personality and range and stuff like that. That's one of those kind of things I'd like to try to do as well, where it's not just, oh, look at this massive individual, which is always going to be there, but hopefully I can. Can earn the kind of roles and put up the kind of material that people overlook. The fact that, oh, I wasn't bad. I actually got into that character. I didn't get into the fact that big shows half the size of a building. So. But I mean, you know, that's, that's those, like when you're a kid and you're saying, oh, I want to wrestle as good as Harley Race or as good as Ric Flair, you know what I mean? You know, whether it ever happens, who knows? But you have something to look forward to and work towards, you know, So I don't want to just be your average big.

Steve Austin (58:24)

Guy. You want to go out acting stuff. What about that? Me, not so much. I got into to reality television. That's where I kind of find my stride. I enjoy being myself and I just hate the memorization process, so. So what is it about the acting that really appeals to.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (58:39)

You? Appeals to me is the ability to be a different character. I mean, I've been the big show so long and I've done 38 or 39 heel face turns over my career, I've done comedy. So I mean, Vince has tried everything he can to play with my range and showcase it. But for me, I enjoy the new challenges. I think that's one of the things that attracts me the most about working with movies and television is playing a character, playing a role, delivering the dialogue, working with the other actors. You spend two, three, four, five, six weeks doing that project, and then I roll into another project. So it's a new challenge, new actors, new director, new character, and start all over again. I think for us, it's like when I first started wrestling, it was the same thing. There were new opponents to wrestle, there were new buildings I'd never been in, new cities I'd never been in. I was a small town kid from South Carolina. So that magic for me was something new to look forward to. I think that's right now where I'm at mentally is looking for that next thing that gives me that same kind of excitement. Now. Sure, there's not the instant gratification that we get as a performer like we do in front of a live crowd. I mean, you know, we feel that audience, you know, we know how to make them, you know, that's an instant gratification. You walk through that curtain, you know, if you've done well or you know, if you screwed the pooch, you know what I mean? With, with the acting and the discipline, the art of that. You're trusting director, you're trusting yourself, you're trusting your fellow actors, you know, and then you have to go one step further and trust the guy editing the scene because he puts, he picks your best take, he fix your best angle, and then you have to sit there and see what's done at the end. It's an incredible rush of an experience, you know, that I kind of dig. I mean, you know, let's face it, I don't have any real job qualifications. I could probably work at Jiffy Lube and change oil or pass out shopping carts at Walmart, but you know what I mean? But you know, this, this whole pretend thing, I'm pretty good at. So I think I'll stick with for that for a while if I can. I mean, you know, who knows? I mean, I think ideally I'd like to find the ability working. I can get regular work and do a couple of projects a year. And I listen, I'm not going to be, you know, a Dwayne Johnson and be a leading role man or Matthew McConaughey or Mark Wahlberg. That's. That's not my gig. I get it. But I'm a pretty good villain. I'm a pretty good sidekick. You know what I mean? I'm a character element to enhance something. And all those scripts and every time you see a movie, that's people that have put together money and put an investment together like a business, and they're investing in you to pull that role off. And that's the one part I understand. I don't worry about the rejection. I don't worry about parts that I've missed or read for and I haven't got because I understand it's a business. If you don't think I'm the right investment for that business project, then that's fine. I'll keep moving on. I'll find something work. I'll find something that'll showcase the talent and just go stay positive with it and stay after it, you know, So, I mean, you know, who knows? I mean, I might be 20 years from now and still haven't done, but, you know, I have a belief. I kind of believe that once I get in the right crowds and work with the right people and do the right project, they'll see, oh, big guy's not half bad. He's fun to be around. Let's work with them more. And you know how that works. You know, it's not what you know, it's who you.

Steve Austin (61:59)

Know. Yeah, you get on a couple gigs out there, you get the right click, get around the right people, and then, you know, they, hey, man, this is a good dude. I mean, it's kind of like Sandler's crew. He kind of puts together that crew. He rotates all those guys in and out. He'll bring a couple of guys and he'll keep them out a few times and he'll work them back in. And he's smart about it. But you know, those.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (62:16)

Guys. And I keep Frank, I keep Frank emailing Adam Sandler to do Captain Sano too, you know, or just Captain Santa one. I keep Frank emailing him. I think the part where he told me to F off and don't email him again was probably the sign that I shouldn't keep bothering the guy. Maybe. No, I'm.

Steve Austin (62:30)

Kidding. Hey man, what do you, what do you think you'd be doing right now if you, you would have never gotten into the business of pro wrestling and you would have never went out to Hollywood? Dude, being a guy, legit giant, what would you have done.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (62:43)

With. Oh, I know, I know exactly what I probably done. I probably would have finished up some kind of education, one or two things. If I'd have had the opportunity to go to college on an athletic scholarship like I did, I probably would have finished up and gotten a teaching degree and I'd have taught high school history and been a high school basketball coach because that's something that I know would give me fulfillment, enjoyment. I love history, I love talking about history and I love taking a guy, a young man or young woman, depending upon coaching, male or female, from the time they're in 9th grade to 12th grade, young men, young women and transform into young adults with, you know, class and character, respect and good work ethic. And that's, you know, things are instilled in me by the great coaches that I experienced. That's something I'd love to pass on. That's still something I might do down the road too. I get a little bit older, I. I might find a school that needs a basketball coach and donate my time. And if not that, my dad told me all the time I should go to tech school and be a welder because you never see a welder that's not working. So that was his philosophy. He told me I was wasting time playing basketball, I should go to tech school and be a welder. That way I'd always be able to put food on the table. On one aspect, he's right. But you know, sitting under that hot welding hood in 100 degree garage is probably not my idea of a fun way to make a living. But you know, you got to do what you got to do. And my hat's off in respect to those that do.

Steve Austin (63:59)

It. Hey man, with signing your new three year deal, getting rid of all the infection, when do you expect to be back in ring or back on television with.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (64:07)

Wwe? Hopefully soon. I mean, I know this month I've got a lot of commitments with Special Olympics. I'm getting ready for the USA Games in July 1st in Seattle. I'm looking forward to that. I'm visiting with a lot of different athletes in different states now. I spent some time last week in Chicago with a young lady named Katie Who's a powerlifter, who's deadlifting 215. She said her own personal best, but she lives in a community in Chicago. You know, they changed the term, it says special needs. They came up with a term now that's pretty positive. It's called People of Determination. So it's more of an empowering title, you know. You know, today's society, everybody's important on titles. And I agree in a lot of ways that people should recognize how amazing these young men and women are. But she lives in a community that the entire community, our people of determination. She lives in a house with two other roommates. They're also athletes. She has two part time jobs, pays her own grant, does her bills, the whole deal. But in the center of the community is a community center with a gym and a pool and like a place where they all watch movies and they have like little dance club parties and stuff like that. So it's a community group, but they're all independently living. And to me it's just what amazing little athlete. I gotta just say on camera that I was better than the Rock and John Cena. So I have actual footage of somebody saying that on camera. So I'm pretty positive about that. Whether or not I, whether or not I bribed her and coaxed her into it, that's not the point. The point is I got it on film. Whether or not WWE will ever let it see the light of day, that's yet to be, yet to be known. But I get to spend time with these athletes on their journey, how they get ready for, for the USA Games. And it's pretty inspiring. I mean, you know, I got a 20 year old daughter, I'd love for her to be able to pay her own rent and pay her own bills, that would be pretty impressive. But the fact that these kids now are getting out and doing their own thing in these communities and living a fulfilled quality life where, you know, before Mrs. Kennedy got involved and set up Special Olympics, there wasn't a lot of support for these individuals. You know, you should think about Special Olympics to too. When you go there and you see the volunteers and the sponsors and how, you know, there's medical people there to make sure these kids are, you know, their teeth are clean and they're getting good medical care and they're healthy. And then the spirit of competition is amazing because they'll run track. If one of them falls, they'll all go and help pick up the one that fell. You know, when you look at it, it's like, wow, that's human beings. That's really nice how we should act. We should encourage each other. We should hug it free, you know, freely, all the time. But, you know, my problem is that sometimes, you know, we don't live that way as human beings. And I think for me, I tell people all the time, why do you work with Special Olympics so much? I work with them because they make me happy. They're like chicken soup for my soul. When I work with those kids, they make me feel good. I love the innocence, I love the drive, I love the passion they have for whatever they're doing. You could be in the middle of talking in a business meeting. If somebody breaks up music, they're going to dance right there. The hell with it, dance time. And I love that freedom of just joy and happiness that they hunt for. You know, we let bills build up, you know, taxes, mortgages, bs, all that stuff builds up and weighs us down. And you look at the purity of life. Every day is a gift, every day is a blessing. You know, tell the ones you love, you love them, hug people as much as you can, you know, and be thankful for the things you have. You know, I'm not on a soapbox preaching, but I'm just saying you can learn a lot from seeing how these kids interact with each other. That gives you some own insight for your own life and what you're doing.

Steve Austin (67:40)

Wrong. Dude, I've known you forever and I never. When did you really become heavily involved with the Special Olympics? Because I mean, you and me don't talk every day, but. And you.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (67:50)

Were. No, I know because I FaceTimed the other day and you told me that dudes don't.

Steve Austin (67:53)

FaceTime. Now here's before, before you answer that question, here's a story. Me and my wife were driving down to Best Buy to get a gimmick speaker for my gym over here in Nevada and pair of tennis shoes. So all of a sudden I'm driving down the road, my phone starts ringing and you know, got hands free Device, the whole 9 yards because you're not supposed to have an iPhone in your hand in California. So I abide by the laws. And all of a sudden I just look at the screen to see who's calling FaceTime, Big show or Paul White. And I'm thinking, God dang, surely he butt dialed me because the only other person I ever FaceTime is my wife. So I'm like, well, the thing is still ringing, so maybe he needs to talk to me for a shoot. And so anyway, I went ahead and answered it. And then I had my earbuds in and everything. I said, hey, man, what's up? As I'm driving through El Segundo traffic and we had this conversation, and the only reason you were calling me. Go ahead to tell.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (68:50)

Me. I'm telling you. I just heard the new Judas Priest album Firepower, and you're the only person that I know personally that appears appreciate great guitar licks and great drum riffs and, you know, music that makes you want to get up and do something. And I just had to call you because I was like, man, look, if I'm going to come across a good truck, good gun, good heavy metal music, I'm going to call you and let you know because I don't bother you. Hey, I know what the road's like. A lot of times when we're home, we don't want to hear from anybody. But once in a while, I get some good information I want to share. I was like, dude, this Judas Priest album's on fire. You got to call it. And you're just, like, driving. You're doing a good job of not looking at me other than when you saw my face on the screen. And then you kept your eyes on the rope. You said, dude, dudes don't FaceTime dudes. I was like, see, I didn't know that. I just learned a lesson in cool. See, that's why I always call you, because I always learned something more manly by talking to you. So now I know that dudes don't FaceTime dudes. I can use that line and everybody else. Oh, man. Dudes don't FaceTime dudes. Tom Cold said.

Steve Austin (69:51)

So. It's kind of a weird factor. As good friends as you and me are, it's like.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (69:57)

Looking. You see my face, at least I have my shirt on. I didn't make it weird. I could have called you from the gym or something, taking my shirt off and be like, hey, Steve, what you doing, bud? You know, I probably got dial tone, but, you.

Steve Austin (70:10)

Know. All right, everybody, give me the Go home Q. So I'm gonna wrap up his podcast right off in the sunset. Before I do that, I want to thank Paul White the Big show for joining me on my podcast and prowrestlingtease.com SteveAustin has all the shirts that I wore on previous seasons of Broken Skull Challenge and all the shirts that I'm wearing now. Check them out. Best damn IPA on the planet is Broken Skull ipa. My ipa brewed by El Segundo Brewing Company. You can find it at Whole Foods and Total Wines if you live in Cali. If you ain't in Cali, check inside the cellar.com and see if they ship to your state. And while I've been at the Broken Stage Skull Ranch 2.0, I've been using the hell out of both of my pocket knives. The Cold Steel Broken Skull Knife and the New Cold Steel Working Man's Knife. And you can find both of them at my new Amazon store. Amazon has the best price on both knives. Just go to Amazon.com shop steveaustin I gotta say one more thank you to all the fine sponsors of the Steve Austin Show. That's how I'm able to do this podcast for you twice a week for free. And you can find all my sponsors@podcast1.com just click on the Killer Deals button at the top of the page, then click on the Steve Austin show banner. Folks, I am on social media. I'm on Twitter and Instagram, eveaustin, bsr and until next time, my name is Steve Austin and I will catch your ass down the road. This has been a Podcast one.

Paul Wight (Big Show) (71:30)

Production. Download new episodes of the Steve.

Steve Austin (71:32)

Austin show every Tuesday@podcastone.com that's.

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Steve Austin (72:10)

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