← The Steve Austin Show
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- [00:00]
A
The following Program is a podcast ONE.com production from Hollywood, California by way of the Broken Skull Ranch. This is the Steve Austin Show.
- [00:08]
B
Give me a Hell yeah.
- [00:10]
A
Hell yeah. Now here's Steve Austin.
- [00:13]
B
All right everybody, welcome to Steve Austin Show. I am coming to you from the Silver State, Nevada here at the broken skull ranch 2.0 where we've been out here for about a week, got about another week left and I'm enjoying my time out here as you guys know. Got my antelope hunt out of the way. I had an absolute blast doing that. And you know what? One of the things I forgot to talk about when I was talking with my brother in law Mitch about that hunt was the fact that this was the first time I'd ever hunted antelope, you know that. But this is also the first time that I really hunted off the back of a four wheeler. And man, I tell you what, that was probably the most fun that I've had in a long time. Just because most time South Texas we're riding our side by sides to a deer stand, get out, walk up to the deer stand, sit there with your gun. But not this time, man. Before we started off on them four wheelers, we were hunting out of a side by side trying to get a spot in stock. But I tell you what man, we got on those ATVs and that was some fun ass riding through some real technical terrain, I'm telling you, some big ass crazy boulders, inclines, descents. It was technical, it was some tough riding. It was the kind of riding I would definitely not take a rookie out there to ride a four wheeler on for the first time. So it was tricky. Had my gun all lashed down into a soft protective case and tell you what, we had put about 15 miles in that day, almost 20 and we had about another 15 or 20 to go to actually get to our destination. And all of a sudden we happened along to that antelope that we saw. I ended up taking him and, and then we cleaned him up, got all the meat prepared and headed back into camp. But I was really looking forward to putting in those another 15 and 20 miles just because this terrain out here is so fun to ride. It's unbelievable. Yesterday I took my mule out with Callie and Moolah and that's the easiest thing for them to ride on because it's bent seats and those seats are so wide, they have plenty of room and they're comfortable. I took my side by side out the other day and just took it for a ride. And right now as we speak. I had a project yesterday. I bought a skeet thrower a couple of weeks ago when my nephew Neil came down to visit us. And I figured me and Neil would go out there and set this thing up and shoot some skeet. My problem was when we took it out of that damn box, it was called a wheelie bird 2.0. If any of you are familiar with this particular unit. So anyway, it's got a handle on it to drag it around, it's got a set of wheels and big old set of instructions how to put this thing together. And normally I am not the best guy at putting anything together. As a matter of fact, I flat out suck. And this is one of those things, you know, like guys do when guys buy something, they just start trying to put shit together. They never ever want to read the instructions. Well, this is one of those deals where I said, you know what? I'm not even going to guess at how to put this thing together. I need to read the instructions and then I need to follow the instructions. And so, lo and behold, using the back of my Kawasaki mule as my workbench, put that thing together probably about an hour, hour and a half, tested it out. I bought a 12 volt battery. After I tested it out with the cord, then I put the remote control feature on there. So right now I am fixing to, as soon as I finish this podcast, I am fixing to put my skeet thrower in the back of my Kawasaki Mule. I'm gonna put my gun up there on my gun rack. I'm gonna drive down to the BLM and I think I got shoot. I bought 270 skeet the other day. I got I don't know how many shotgun shells. And I'm fixing to go out there and spend about three hours just shooting skeet all by myself with my little remote control skeet thrower. And I'm looking forward to it. I'll send some videos out on my social media account, on Instagram and Twitter teveaulston. So hell, I'm doing the old Barry Horowitz, man. I'm patting myself on the back, I'm stealing this gimmick. So proud of myself when I put that thing together and I didn't even have any spare parts left, if you can believe that or not. But anyway, I'm having a good time out here. I'm getting plenty of riding in. I think I'm gonna take my dirt bike out tomorrow and put some miles on that. And I just enjoy being out here in the middle of nowhere because I ain't hearing no helicopters, ain't no sirens, ain't no ambulances. All that shit I complain about at 316 gimmick street you ain't going to hear anybody complain about it out here because it just doesn't exist. So anyway, enough about me flapping my gums about what I'm going to do. I want to tell you about who I'm talking to on today's podcast. I'm talking to an old friend of mine, Bob Holly, Hardcore Holly, hardcore champion in wwe. He wrote a book a while back called the Hardcore the Bob Holly Story. I read Bob's book twice. He sent me a copy initially, but I never could find the copy. So I had my wife buy me one on Amazon. Sure enough, I was out there in my garage and I ended up finding the copy that Bob had sent me. Well, anyway, I read the book from COVID to cover, enjoyed the shit out of it. It's a great read. If you're any kind of a pro wrestling fan. You really get a sense of the business by reading Bob's book. And he doesn't really pull any punches, doesn't really throw anybody under the bus. He tells it like it is, and that's the kind of person that Bob is. He'll tell you exactly like it. He ain't gonna sugarcoat anything, dude. Just he'll tell you the truth and that's the bottom line. And we don't really even talk about the book. It turns out I called Bob about, I don't know, it was about a year or two ago and we had talked about doing a podcast. And he's as bad as I am about returning phone calls, getting returning text messages or whatever. I had been calling Bob for the last couple months, trying to get ahold of his ass. But what I found out in my conversation with him from back in the day was Bob likes to be by himself or with his wife. He's kind of a loner or reclusive. He loves being around his wife and his dog and that's about it. He's got friends and stuff like that, but he likes to do his own thing, same as me. Turns out Bob does a lot of camping. He enjoys the outdoors, same thing as me. Bob doesn't ride his dirt bikes anymore or doing any four wheeling. He has his Jeep that he's building. He's always working on. If you know anything about Bob, you know he's got a former race background, former motocross background, welding background, you know, certified mechanic. The guy can Work on anything. So that makes it handy when you're doing what he does. So the dude is very, very independent and very into his private time and enjoying the fruits of his labor. The guy was always frugal with his money, saved his money, never blew it on a bunch of bullshit. And him and his wife sound extremely happy and they do a lot of camping. As a matter of fact, as soon as I get all my shit straight over here at the broken skull ranch 2.0, I'm going to try to get out there and meet his ass and go camping with them or maybe they'll come down here. But I had a good time talking to Bob and we're going to talk about a lot of things. We're going to gloss over some professional wrestling, but more of this podcast and it's two hours worth, we're going to break up it into two parts. It's more just about life and bullshit. And certainly there is some wrestling conversation in there because there has to be because of our history and. And a couple of funny stories when we used to work together and we'll talk about Bra for all for a little bit. And one of my famous spots, I called when me and Bob were working a double shot in Pittsburgh. And anyway, dude, I really enjoyed talking to Bob and it was a breath of fresh air to not just talk about pro wrestling as much as we both love the business. You know, sometimes it's fun to talk about just life in general. So I hope you enjoy this podcast I had with Bob. I enjoyed spending time on the telephone with him and talking with him, and I look forward to now, the road, hooking up with him and maybe sharing a campsite and shooting the breeze and just catching up on the old days. I made a couple of loops with Bob as far as traveling partners a while back, you know, way back in the day in our WWF days. And he normally ran with his gang and I ran with mine or I was riding solo, but we made a couple of trips together. Bob was one of those guys. It was just, just straight up. I mean, just like clockwork. Get up, have some coffee, go to the Denny's or Waffle House or whatever, get breakfast and go to the gym. There wasn't a day that went by that Bob did not go to the gym, wasn't a drinker, wasn't a partier, straight up businessman on the road, first guy in the building, always on time, always dependable, always worked, hurt when he got hurt. I enjoyed my conversation with Bob. I appreciate him spending two hours with me on the phone and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Bob Holly and I'll split it up in tattoo podcast before we get to my conversation with Bob. Listen up.
- [09:12]
A
Hey, this is Adam Carolla from the Adam Carolla Show. Betonline continues to be your number one source for all your football betting action. Betonline has more ways to get in and stay in on action with the latest odds, news and scores. Even live in game betting. From beta every NFL and college game to mlb, UFC and NHL futures as well, Betonline remains your choice. For sports wagering info. Head to the website today and take advantage of their industry leading VIP program with level up bonuses and weekly cash boost in between games. Head over to Betonline's casino with all the top Vegas style games including poker and and live casino bet online. The game starts here. This is the Steve Austin Show.
- [10:11]
B
All right, I'm rolling sound right now. I got Bob Ollie on the line. God dang. You talking about one of the hardest human beings in the world to get a hold of. Jesus Christ, dude. Thanks for returning all the text messages, all the voicemails. What? Dude, I didn't know if you were in protective custody or what.
- [10:30]
A
I'm in the witness protection program. No, I, I hide. No, I go in the woods a lot. I go in the woods and I, I practice survival stuff, training and, and such like that.
- [10:42]
B
Yeah, but you ain't keeping yourself with you.
- [10:44]
A
I do, but I don't get no signal where I'm at and every once in a while I could walk around and I might get a signal and then I'll check my phone and I'll see where you called her tags. And I start to chuckle and I'm like, he thinks I'm dodging him or something.
- [11:01]
B
Well, I mean, we only been talking about doing this podcast for two years and I'm thinking, man, I must have done really done something to piss Bob off. I don't know what the hell happened. I read his book twice. I didn't even remember reading it the first time. And Bob said, steve, I sent you one of those books and sure enough, my wife ordered me a new one and I went out to my garage and I had dog eared the death out of that damn book. So I read the book twice, but only remembered the last time reading it.
- [11:24]
A
Yeah, I know. You never made me mad. You've never made me mad. Even when you slapped me, you didn't make me mad.
- [11:33]
B
We'll leave that as a cliffhanger. Me slapping Bob is gonna come up later in the podcast.
- [11:38]
A
Yes, it is.
- [11:39]
B
Hey, man. And one of the things when we set this podcast up is kind of a conversation where it's like not really wrestling centric. I mean, I've heard you do a lot of podcasts about wrestling and we'll obviously get into it and talk about the book. The book's been out for a while. I really enjoyed reading it both times. But dude, what are you up to these days?
- [12:01]
A
Mostly I've been studying survival stuff and I've been doing a survival video which hasn't been seen by the public yet and not sure if it will. I actually go out in the woods. I've been studying botany, which for people that don't know what botany is, it's study of medicinal plants and plants that you can eat out in the wild. There's so many things that you can eat out in the wild. Like you can literally survive out there eating stuff. Obviously you don't get the calorie intake that you'd properly need throughout the day. But if you're in a survival situation out there, there's plenty of stuff you could if you know what to look for to eat. And obviously most people don't know. But anyway, that's, that's what I'm doing. My ultimate goal is to get on the alone show, which is on the History Channel. And that's one of the reasons why I made a survival video. Plus enjoy being in the woods doing, practicing survival. Anyway, I like to hunt, even though I don't hunt that much. I have a bow and stuff and I go out there with the bow and practice shooting and try to bag a turkey every once in a while. That's pretty near impossible these days. But I'm not that good of a shooter. I enjoy shooting my bow, but also I have guns too. And I take a gun out there with me just for protection reasons, basically. But basically go out there and build fire, build shelters and I video everything I do. And hence I put this video together for the Alone show for, for my audition video. For those who don't know what the Alone show is on History Channel is, what they do is they take 10 people and like the last season was in Mongolia and they take 10 people, put them out there to survive and they give you 10 items of your choice of survive with. And obviously they give you few other items to help you build a shelter. Like they give you a big ass tarp and things like that. And they give you like I think five pounds of food to start out with. But anyway, you Try to outlast the other nine that are out there, and you have no idea where they are or when they tap. You just try to stay out there as long as you can. And that's what I'm trying to do, is get on that show because I think I would do well because I have no problem being out the woods by myself anyway, so. And that's. That's my ultimate goal right now. I mean, I do some appearances here and there, but mostly I'm study. I'm. My main goal is to get on that show right now.
- [14:28]
B
So when you say you can be on the show, they drop. They drop a couple of cats out there, and y' all see who can last the longest. And the last person to tap is going to be the winner. Pretty good chunk of change at the end of that show if you win it, right?
- [14:39]
A
Yep. You get half a million dollars.
- [14:40]
B
But that.
- [14:41]
A
See, that's not. That's not the motivating factor for me. Yeah, it's nice. I just want to challenge myself. And it's not some publicity stunt to get on TV or anything like that. I mean, I'm a legit survivalist. I study it, I practice it. And people get on that show because they're survivalists. And some people get on there don't have any experience at all. And like this one guy this last season, Mongolia, he sits behind a desk and he's not really an outdoorsy type person, and he, He. He was a runner up. So the biggest thing that gets everybody is they start missing their family or the starvation starts setting in, because a lot of guys, they just. It's tough to hunt out there. It becomes a point in time where the fish dry up because it's starting to get cold and so forth. So. But the most of the guys, they start missing their family, missing their kids and stuff. And it's funny because my wife told me she get. No offense, but you're not taking no pictures of me out there. And if you, if you come home because you miss me, you better find somewhere else to go. And she was just doing that. That's basically endearing, saying, you better not come home because you miss me. You know, as far as the wrestling business goes, you and I both know we're gone all the time from our family. So it's. It's not a big deal for us to be gone long periods of time. So I think I would do well out there.
- [16:00]
B
Yeah. But just to be clear, this isn't like naked and afraid and they're going to Drop you out there naked with a couple. Hell no.
- [16:09]
A
No, that Joe, I wouldn't even attempt to get on that. So.
- [16:16]
B
I was just really, hey man, how are you doing with your survival skills? I know you've been at this a while and we were talking the other day, I said, hey man, I've got an antelope hunt coming up with my brother in law over here in Nevada. And we got out there and you know, I grew up in South Texas. I'm used to hunting South Texas. Most of the ranches I've been on have good road systems. I pretty well know my directions as far as being out there. But being out here in this big country in Nevada, you know a lot of mountains and you know, big mountains, small mountains, and you can pick out a high ridge as a reference point. And as long as you've got that ridge in view, you kind of know where you're at. But once you start getting away from it, that ridge disappears. So I was starting to read navigation techniques and tips on the Internet and I told my wife, you can get anything on Amazon these days. And I told my wife, I said, hey man, get on Amazon and get me a damn compass. So I picked out the compass, the compass came and I said, man, I'm going to take this when I go out there with Mitch and see if I can kind of get my bearings. Well, a compass. This is me speaking and I want to hear your take on it. But dude, I had a compass. I can get my direction. But if I don't have a map out there, I mean, the compass doesn't really do me a bit of good because even if I know I need to head back north, south, east to west, whatever, you know, wherever I need to go, dude, if I'm just lost over the foothills, I can know a general direction and I can head that general direction, but it's not going to put me back where I started necessarily. So my question to you is, how are you doing with stuff like that? Or are you any good at it? Because right now, dude, I ain't worth a shit.
- [17:56]
A
Right? I'm actually just, it's funny you mentioned that because I'm actually just reading up on that stuff. I do have a compass. If you have a topographical map that has, you know, every map has north, north, south, east and west on it. The good thing to go by, and like I said, I'm learning about this as far as direction and everything, because I don't fully understand it, it gets kind of complicated. I have to read it over several times to start to understand it. But as far as my compass, I've always had a compass and kind of hard to explain. I mean, as far as north, south go, as long as you know where north or north is, east and west is, you should never be able to get lost. As long as you know where north, south, east, and west is. And a lot of people, if you don't have a compass, that's easy to find. And you just. You stick a stick in the ground, and you place a rock a few feet away from the stick, and then you wait about 15 minutes, and when that sun moves, then you draw a straight line across, and that's east and west. So you know, that's how you can find your direction if you know where you're at before you leave. Because that's the important thing is always knowing your bearing before you leave.
- [19:08]
B
Right.
- [19:08]
A
And then that way you'll always know your way back if you go. If you go away from where you. The direction you're at. And there's really no way to get lost as long as you know from starting point. Okay, this is word like I'm northeast right now. And when you find a. Because there's a thing on a compass, it's called a doghouse, basically. And you put that needle in that doghouse. And once you leave the direction you're. You are, as long as that needle stays in that doghouse, everywhere you walk, you'll find your way back. So it gets kind of complicated. Like. Like I said, I'm. It's funny you mentioned that, because just started the other day reading about it. I've been kind of familiar with the compass for a while now, but I've wanted to get more in depth with it and test myself when I do go back out. Because I want to walk away from my camp, and I want to walk for miles away from it to see if I can get myself back. And that's a true test to understanding how a compass works and learning direction. Because if you can make your way back, because the way you do it is you kind of go away from your camp. You kind of make it like a big diamond shape and try to make your way all the way back. And that's what I want to do, is go back out there when I do get to go back out and test myself to make sure I can find my way back. Because it's always important if you're out in the wild, because if you get lost, you're screwed, basically.
- [20:35]
B
Yep.
- [20:36]
A
And especially if you don't have no survival gear, which I always have gear with me. So if I do get lost, I'm gonna be fine no matter what. As long as I have something to build fire with, water and a few other essential things, I'll always be fine no matter what. No matter how far I go away from my camp, if I get lost for several days, I'll be fine. But a lot of people, they end up lost and a lot of times they don't take anything with them and it just blows. It boggles my mind because I see this show on the Weather channel and these, it's a survival, it's a survival show and these people go out and don't think twice about taking anything with them and they get lost. And it's. And to me it's common sense if you're gonna go out somewhere, take things with you to where if you do get lost you'll be alright, or if you break down in a vehicle, you'll be fine. And so. But for me, I'll always be fine no matter how lost I get. But I do want to test myself with a compass and like, like I said, right now I'm reading up on, on that and trying to understand more about it and how a topical, topical map works as far as the geography of the land, as far as hills and mountains and cliffs and waters and lakes and stuff like that.
- [21:56]
B
Dude, I went out, well again on Amazon. I told my wife, I said, well I'm riding my four wheeler a whole lot out here and all my side by sides and man, some of these roads just go, go back, you know, just over ridges, over ridges, over ridges. And I said, you know, if I get one of those GPS things I can plot my waypoints and end up making my way back. But then you know, the damn screen, I'm just holding my fingers open right now and there's a rectangle between my fingers. I mean, you know, those screens are only about an inch and a half by three inches, you know, at max or the ones I have anyway. And so man, you're looking at, I'm in, I'm such, I'm in such a large area and I'm looking at little bitty ass screen screen. I'm thinking, man, you know, fuck this, we sent it back to Amazon and got our money back. I guess that's just because, you know, I don't know, add, don't want to pay attention enough or don't want to take the time to learn it. Have you ever messed with any of those GPS devices? Because I've had several. Way back when I was hunting in the piney woods of Georgia and we couldn't even get a signal up to the top of those trees. So I thought I was plotting my waypoints while I didn't have shit because I didn't have a satellite connection. And that's 25 years ago. So I don't know. Dude, can you take a GPS out there and use that to work for you or is that against the rules?
- [23:09]
A
No, they won't let you take anything. You can't have any. The only thing that you get out there is a satellite phone just in case you decide to tap. Because once you press that, you're done. It doesn't matter what I mean. They come out and do medical checks, I think twice a week or once a week, take your blood pressure, weigh you, things like that. But you're not supposed to talk to them from what I understand. They just come out, do their business and leave. And obviously it gets tougher for you the more weight you lose and the longer you're out there. But as far as those satellites, I've never, I've never experienced experience using them. And I wouldn't even know where to begin to use one. I'm more of a compass guy. And so I just, I would go off of a compass. I know how to, I know how to look at a map, a topographical map and I know how to tell like ridges and valleys and where the slopes are on a map. As far as looking at it and seeing, okay, where the steep slopes and stuff like that are, I can read that. But as far as satellite stuff, I don't have any experience with that at all.
- [24:17]
B
Well, let me ask you this question. I was out there a couple of days ago, we were just on an antelope hunt and we were way back in the middle of nowhere. BFE had an awesome time and ended up taking an antelope and we were coming back and when we went up there, I was following my brother in law and his four wheeler and I was eating dust the whole way and I was three, 400 yards back and then we got into the rocks and there was another guy behind me on a buggy with some gas cans because we were going probably about 40 miles out and we'd only made it about 15 miles in when we came upon an antelope and I took him. So anyway, we got all that business took care of. We ate lunch and I said, hell man, I said, I'll just follow behind you guys. And my brother in Law said, man, just go ahead and lead. There's only one way out. And so basically I retraced all of the steps and there became a tee in the road. And they were way behind me because they weren't riding as fast as I was. And I was sitting there probably for about 20, 25 minutes, and I was thinking, I'm looking over this great expanse. I mean, all of this land around me and it all looks the same. And I'm thinking, somehow, some way, your dumb ass must have taken the wrong turn, because they should have been here by now. And what had happened. We passed by a couple of guys on four wheelers up in the road and one of them was having carburetor trouble, so they stopped to help those guys. And I was sitting there for about 20 minutes. I was thinking, dude, if you get lost out here, they go back to the trucks and load up where we had our staging area set up, you know, I guess you're going to be lost. So anyway, all of a sudden when you start thinking you're lost and because I maintain my composure, but there for a second, your heart starts beating a little bit and you think, God dang, are you fucking shitting me? I'm lost. What is your approach? Because I've been lost several times and I've always found my way back because I'm talking to you right now on Skype, recording this show. But dude, I think it's one of the. And I haven't talked to a whole lot of people that have been lost, but maybe you can shed some light on this or what they teach you and the survival things that you've learned as far as getting lost. Because, dude, panic is not a good thing.
- [26:25]
A
Right? You stay put. You basically stay put because a lot of times when people get lost, they try to walk to find their way out, or like you said, ride a four wheeler and they end up getting, you know, it gets worse for them. Basically, the things I've read and the things I've learned, if you get lost, you stay put. Because especially like with you, you're with a group of people, they'll come back and look for you. And if you're out moving around trying to find your way back, they'll never find you.
- [26:52]
B
Yep.
- [26:53]
A
So the best thing to do is stay put because those guys are going to be like, hey, wait a second, Steve hasn't come back. We need to go look for him. And because if you're out trying to find your way back and they come out looking for you, you guys Might totally miss each other. And next thing you know, you're having to spend the night out there. So just from my experience, from what I. Like I said what I've read, like, I've never been lost before, but not saying that it won't ever happen, but I would just stay put. That's what I would do.
- [27:21]
B
What kind of food you supposed to eat out there? Just as far as foraging around. I know you're trying to find out what plants you can eat, but are y' all able to take animals or what's the storage? Just as far as lasting? Because with the body weight factor in, what are you weighing right now?
- [27:34]
A
I'm like 215 right now.
- [27:36]
B
Okay.
- [27:37]
A
Yeah, I'm not, I'm not. I'm not nowhere near as big as I used to be. Obviously, I was on the gas too, but I stay right around 2:10, 2:15. I still work out every day and I eat like the whore I eat all the time. But, like, if I was going to prepare for this show, like, the guy that just won his body weight was a major contributor to him winning this show because he was a big boy. Like, he was like a big boy and he had a lot of extra pounds on him compared to everybody else. So it helped him survive longer because obviously the fatter you are, the more, you know, the longer you're gonna survive. Obviously.
- [28:18]
B
Yeah.
- [28:19]
A
And so. And so. But that's, that's what helped this guy. He even admitted that he put on a lot of weight for this show to prepare for it because he knew he wasn't gonna eat. But yeah, you are allowed to trap. You could build traps. You. You fish like, you can make your own fishing pole. You get like an X amount of fishing line to use, and you get hooks and stuff like that. And they always put you where water is. So you can fish, you can hunt. Like I said, you can set traps and stuff like that, which you build your own traps, unless one of your survival items is a snare. And you could try to get, you know, use a snare to get rabbits or squirrels or whatever. And so. But yeah, you get certain items obviously to use. And so you, you can hunt.
- [29:11]
B
Dude, what are you doing for water?
- [29:12]
A
Go to the river and boil your water or the lake and just bring your water back and boil it.
- [29:18]
B
So you are boiling it to make sure it's clean.
- [29:20]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, you have to. You have to because you don't want to get giardia. Because if you get giard screwed, you'll get Sick of the dog and throw up and everything. And it could be bad for you, but you always boil your water anytime you're out. If you have a stream or something running by, a lot of times you can dig about five or six feet away from the bank of the water. And a lot of times that's pure water because the sand and the gravel filter that water. So like, if you dig a hole away from that stream and that that hole fills up, you could pretty much drink that straight out of that hole because it's already, it's filtered basically through the sand and the gravel. So. But if you get water directly from a lake or a creek or anything like that, or a river, you. You have to boil it because animal.
- [30:13]
B
Dude, you're gonna be sitting like a couple goose.
- [30:16]
A
Yeah, exactly. And it, I mean, it'll dehydrate you and it'll kill you.
- [30:20]
B
Hey, you mentioned your workouts a while ago. How old are you now?
- [30:24]
A
I am 55.
- [30:25]
B
55. You got me by two years. How's your body feeling? What has changed? Because you and me made a couple of road trips way back in the day. You travel with your normal travel crew, but we hooked up a couple of times and you were always a gym rat every single day you were in the gym. And so how has your training changed now from what you were doing back then?
- [30:48]
A
Oh, God, my training's changed a lot. It. I mean, it has, it has, but it hasn't. Like back when we were riding together and I was even with my other riding partners, stuff like that. I've always trained. I never went heavy and never went heavy as far as my workouts and like that. And like now I actually have to go a little bit lighter than before because like my elbows are really bad. That's. That's the only thing that really bothers me out of everything. Yeah, I have the back issues. I have that. But my back doesn't bother me or my neck doesn't bother me near as bad as my elbows do. Most of my problem is through my, especially my left elbow. It's. Anytime I do any kind of pushing movements or anything or if I press anything, it's really painful. And so I just, I just have to work. I just work through it and I just work around it. I just push through it. I mean, I deal with the pain as far as when I work out because I want to work out and I don't want to lose what I have as far as body wise. I. I mean, I guess I'm in pretty good Shape. Everybody says I'm in good shape, but I mean I, I still work out like a crazy bastard. I do. And I eat like every, my, my whole day is revolved around my eating. So anytime me and my wife go anywhere, I have to make sure I'm eating in about three hours somewhere, something. And because my metabolism is stupid fast, Steve, it's like I'm 55 and you think when you get older, you, metabolism slows down. My, it seems like mine has just sped up even more because if I, if I don't eat my regular meals throughout the day, I can drop 5, 10 pounds within a couple weeks. I mean, that's how fast my metabolism is. I drink a gallon of water every single day, except when I'm on the road, still drink water, but I don't drink near as much because I don't want to piss all the time because like, you know, being at home like that, I've convenience of using a bathroom so I can go to the bathroom whenever I need to. But as far as traveling, I still drink water, but not near as much as I do when I'm at home. So I make sure I drink a gallon every day, every day. And that's all I drink. I don't drink cokes, I don't drink sodas, I don't drink beer, I don't drink anything else but just straight water. That's all I drink. And so my metabolism is just crazy fast. Which I guess that's a good thing still, dude, I guess it's a good.
- [33:14]
B
Thing because I can look at a cheeseburger on a billboard and put on five pounds. But that's what I gotta ask you about. I want to go back to the alone thing or the survival thing if you're used to eating every three hours, you know, I know you, it's probably high protein, moderate carbs or whatever. So all of a sudden you're going to get your ass out there in the middle of nowhere, you're going to have limited food supply and then you're going to have to fish, trap, do whatever. What kind of, what kind of mind games is that going to play with you that you're not going to be able to eat x amount of calories every three hours?
- [33:49]
A
No, that's a great question. And the thing is with me, it's like when my wife and I, we, we do a lot of camping too and we're fixing to go back up to door here in a few weeks and go back up there. But usually when I go camping it's it's funny. It's like when I'm working on my cars or working on anything else, forget to eat, which, I mean, yeah, that's, that's actually a bad thing. But I do forget to eat. And it doesn't it like if I. If I'm really. If I dive into a project, like let's say I'm working on my Jeep or something like that and it's going to take me several hours to work on it or whatever, I'm changing the motor out or doing something to it. Like I'll dive into that project and I won't think about anything else but what I'm doing and I'll forget to eat. And to me that it doesn't really bother me that bad. But even when I'm out camping or something, I'm always doing something to where a lot of times I won't be able to eat and it doesn't really affect me that much. Yeah, I'm hungry, but it's one of those deals where I'm just. I'm almost busy myself where I forget to eat or I don't really want to take the time to stop and eat even though I know I need to. But the whole thing with the alone thing is I'll probably. Most likely I'm gonna train myself. Like I'm gonna probably eat just a bunch of ship if I get called up for the show. Like I haven't even. They haven't even reached out to me yet for the show or anything. And like I said, I'm hoping to get on it and I've already sent in my audition thing or what the hell, whatever did my email, whatever I sent to him. But anyway, so. But if I do get called for the show, most likely what I'll do is I'll just start eating crazy all the time to put on as much weight as I can. And also being in good shape helps too because being in good physical shape really helps as far as the mindset, as far as things go. But I really think I'll be fine because usually if I busy myself, I don't even. A lot of times I don't think about eating. So. And I'll try to occupy my brain like it's easier said than done as far as sitting here being watching the show, a couch quarterback watching the show saying, well, I could do this or this or this. That's too easy to say when I get out there. I have no what's going to happen. All I know is I'll do my best to survive. And I know I have the mental capacity to survive because that's most of it. And as far as eating, I'll do what I can and just, I'll deal with it. That's the thing. That's just. You just deal with it. You deal with the situation on hand. And I have the mental capacity to really push myself through a lot of, a lot of pain and things like that. And if you want something bad enough, you'll achieve it. And that's the way I look at it. And I just, I want to test myself. So most likely I'll do a lot of fishing, I'll do everything I can to busy myself to where I can procure food. And that way I don't have to starve as bad. But hopefully I'm just hoping that I'll be able to, you know, be able to eat and. But the thing is with that show, you just never know if food's going to become available or not as far as fishing and hunting and because a lot of guys, they end up going without for days and days and days and it's just one of those things that I just, I'm gonna have to deal with.
- [37:29]
B
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A
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B
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- [37:41]
A
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B
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- [38:00]
A
This is the Steve Austin Show.
- [38:03]
B
Hey man, you mentioned your bad elbows and I know you had the one operated on and of course you had some time off, so you had to jump on your dirt bike because you wanted to ride. You ended up having a hell of a crash. You jack that thing up real bad. You know, for me, Everybody seen all the leg braces I was wearing? You know, started off with one and then ended up with two. So it's acl, PCL that I just had replaced in my left knee a couple of years ago. My PCL has gone to my right knee. I'll never have that one replaced. It's pretty solid. Had my tricep reattached to my right elbow and that thing will only straighten out at about a 45 degree angle. Had both rotators redone that C3,4 fuse broke those three bones in my lower back. Couple fingers and a bunch of stitches, stuff like that. You sound like you're pretty I mean, with that being said, on a one to ten pain scale, shit, I'm not even really a one. Now, you do have those days, like we were riding those buggies for hours and all of a sudden you get out and you stand up and it's like, okay, give me a couple minutes to get my shit together here, because we've been cooped up. But after all the things that you put yourself through, I mean, you've had some very physical matches. All the hardcore stuff, the big gash across your back, always, you know, pounding the weights in the gym. How beat up are you? How do you feel? Was it all worth.
- [39:24]
A
Was worth it to me. Like I said, my, my elbows won't straighten out. They're probably about like yours. I wouldn't say quite 45 degrees. I don't, I don't know, I don't know what degree it would be. But my, my elbows won't straighten out. Both of them. But as far as, like my neck, I really don't have my neck doesn't bother me that bad because I've had, I had the same surgery you did. As far as my neck, my knees are good. Like, I never have any issues with my knees. My hip is fine, my hips are fine. My back, I had lower back surgery to clean out the bone spurs and I had a few. Oh, what the hell was it? They cleaned out the area. Like they opened the area up for the nerves to give it more room or whatever, whatever they call that. As far like, my shoulders are fine. My elbows are the worst thing on me, actually. So I think I got it. I got, I got away pretty good. I mean, my back gives me problems. Don't get me wrong, like if I'm sitting too long and I go to stand up, it takes a minute for me to be able to like just stand up. Especially like if I'm sitting on a plane and then I go to get up, it's like my back is killing me. But then after a few minutes walking it off, I'm fine. And, but as far as anything else, I think, I think it was worth it actually. It was worth it to me doing what I did. As far as the career wise, I think, I always think, I do think a lot of times, like I wonder how my body be if I didn't wrestle and I did something else, would it be something else that is worse than what's going on now? You know, it's you always, you always question your choices as far as the things you do and I did. I have question okay, why did I get into wrestling? I got into it because I loved it. Was it worth it? To me? Yeah, it was. It gave me a good life. It provided me a good life. I've experienced the world, I've experienced a lot of things, Pretty much seen it all like, like you have. And, but as far as my body wise, I think I'm okay. I really do. I don't, I don't. As far as like being 55, I still move really well. I'm still pretty fast. Of course, not as fast as I used to be, but I still, I'm pretty agile still, so. And I feel pretty good for 55, so. And I think that as far as I attribute that to me staying in shape, working out and things like that. And I stay active because me and my wife, we ride bikes pretty much and like I said, we go camping. We do, we do things every day and always working, like I'm always working on something around the house, but that's pretty much it. I mean, maybe my brain is scattered sometimes, but that's about it.
- [42:20]
B
But hey, man, tell me about the Jeep because I know back in the day you were big in the motocross, you used to race cars. You've always been big into that. And reading your book, I know your bike got stolen, your four wheeler got stolen, and you just said, you know, screw it, I'm not going to buy another one. And you were as mad as a hornet, couldn't find out who did it. So you've never gone back into that world, but you're doing the jeep thing. So do you miss your motorcycles or dirt bikes or the side by sides? I mean, why not get back into that? Or are you just more focused on the Jeep and are you doing crawling, what kind of activities you do with that thing?
- [42:55]
A
As far as my dirt bike and four wheeler, I do miss it. But as far as having people, because when you ride by yourself, you know as well as I do, it's, it's not as fun unless you're with a group of people.
- [43:08]
B
Yep.
- [43:09]
A
And.
- [43:09]
B
And a lot safer.
- [43:11]
A
And a lot safer. Yes. And I used to ride by myself a lot because our days off were completely different from somebody else's. I was telling you the other day after I had elbow surgery, I was, I was bored to death and I took it out there and I was actually by myself. I went out to a motocross track and I was out there riding around and all of a sudden I went over this tabletop and the back tire kicked up and ass over tea kettle I went and luckily somebody had just pulled up because I couldn't hardly move. I thought I'd broke my collarbone and everything. And I, of course I had all the safety gear on the riding gear. The guy came over and helped me up, load my bike and everything. My bike was twisted and so I didn't even call the office and tell them what happened. I dealt with it and went from there. But I think Vince would have had a stroke if I'd have told him what happened. But I do, I do miss riding dirt bikes and four wheelers, but I just never went ahead and got another one. I moved on because my hobbies change. I get into other things and I've always been into motor vehicles. Whatever, anything that goes fast I enjoy. I got a Jeep I've been building and so I've been focusing on that and I just, I just never got back into my dirt bike and stuff like that. As much as I've loved dirt bikes, I've always had one all my life. But like if I was to get on one now, I'd probably kill myself. So it's best for me to just leave that be. And as far as my Jeep, I enjoyed my Jeep. I spent a lot of money actually on that. Too much money. But I enjoy building that and so that's what I do. As far as what your Jeep, do.
- [45:00]
B
You have, what do you have in that thing?
- [45:02]
A
I have a 97 Jeep Wrangler. It's jacked up. I got a 6 inch lift, it's got 35 inch tire. Got aftermarket axles after every. Everything's aftermarket on it. I've got the lockers, front and rear. I've got a onboard compressor. The motor is just a stock six cylinder which is a great motor for as far as pulling and everything else, torque and climbing up hills and just whatever, getting out of sticky situations. So I've got big ass tires on it. But yeah, I just, I've been working on that and just trying to bought new fenders. I paint, I do all my own body work. I paint it. I did all my own paint work. Everything I do to it, I do myself. I don't allow anybody to touch it. Anything I have, I work on myself and saves me a lot of money that way too.
- [46:00]
B
But I've always known that you were mechanically inclined from your job as a welder and all the different jobs you've had. How did you delve into the painting world? Because that is, I don't know, it's kind of like A slow process. I don't understand anything about body work. It's something I've wanted to do over here in my shop. I want to go get just a junk pickup. I told my wife, just because I need a hobby and I'm not the greatest mechanic in the world. So I figured, you know, what if I just get an old, you know, just say, 65 Chevy pickup, and, dude, I really can't screw it up. But give me something to do to occupy my time. Sand the sun bits down, learn how to do a little bondo work, if need be, primered up and painted. So was that how you started, or did you have any instruction done as well?
- [46:45]
A
You know, I just watching other people being around other people that do that stuff, because when I was building my race car, I was around people that knew how to do everything, and there was a lot of stuff that I didn't know how to do that I learned. And bodywork was one of the things I didn't know how to do. And it's just a matter of knowing what sandpaper to use, what paint to use, what grit, as far as grit and everything. And wet sandpaper, dry sandpaper, you basically, your paint job, it doesn't like, when you go to paint something, you're. The prep work is everything. Yep, the paint. The paint is really pretty much how your body work looks and how the prep work looks. That's how your paint's gonna lay down. And a lot of that also depends on the air pressure you got running through your gun. The tip that's in the gun as far as paint and everything, and understanding what size tip you need to use for primer, what size tip you need to use for the paint, what you. What size tip you need to use for the clear coat. What I did is I just started because the thing is, the way I look at it is, okay, if I screw it up, I'd have to pay somebody to. To do it anyway. So why not at least try? Because if I try to do it myself, I might be able to get it and save myself a lot of money. And. And like, for example, I am color sanding. I just finished color sanding my wife's car. And you're gonna think I'm nuts. But what I do, I took 2,000 grit, 2,000 grit sandpaper, and I sanded the whole hood. Because, you know, you get a lot of. After a few years, you get a lot of trash in the paint, and the paint starts to discolor, stuff like that because of the sun. Unless you take Care of it. And a lot of, like, the rain. When it rains, there's little acid. They got acid rain because of the climate, stuff like that. You get certain contaminants in the water, which sits on your hood and sits on your car, and it can ruin your paint job Anyway, So I took 2000 grit sandpaper and I sanded the hood and the deck lid, and it was completely dull. Like, you. You'd look at it and go, oh, holy. You just ruined the paint job. And so I basically buffed it out and everything, and it looked like it. It just looks like glass. It looks so pretty. And the car is black, and it just. It looks like it's got a brand new paint job on it now. So. And I've never done that before, and I thought, well, I'll just do it and give it a shot. And, you know, and I see. I've read a lot of books on painting and bodywork and stuff like that because I enjoy doing bodywork. And that's what I did on my race cars and stuff like that. And that's how I learned how to do it. And as far as painting, you just have to have your gun set right, and just lay down a nice paint job, and that's about it.
- [49:46]
B
But my problem is, dude, I'm a little add and I want to hurry up the process. That's my. That's my only thought if I try to do this endeavor is sometimes I'm out there and I'm always wanting to finish something in a hurry, and that ain't something that you can just hurry up.
- [50:01]
A
No, you can't. And see, I'm Steve. I'm the same way. I want to hurry up and get it done. But when I'm out there doing it, I'll. I'll think about it. Be like, pump the brakes, slow down. Because I'm like you. I want to hurry up and get it finished so I can move on to the next step. And. But I have to. I have to slow myself down and think about that. But I enjoy it. I really do, because it's just. To me, it's therapeutic because you're just. All you're thinking about is trying to get the thing as smooth as possible, as straight as possible. And it's. To me, it's therapeutic. I enjoy working on my own stuff. I do. I don't let anybody touch anything I own. I do everything myself. Something breaks, I fix it. Of course, I have all the tools to fix it too, you know, and that's the thing, having the right tools. I've got one of these rolling cabinets full of Mac tools that I've had for years and just built up over the years and stuff like that. And so having the correct tools helps, too, so. But I have, as far as paint, all the paint stuff. I have everything I need to paint a car, do the bodywork, everything. I have the guns, I have everything, so. And it's fun. I've always enjoyed it. I try to cover all my bases as far as everything automotive wise. That way, if something goes wrong, I'd take care of it myself.
- [51:22]
B
Hey, man. And reading your book, kind of going back and this off the top of my head, dude. Weren't you. You were born in Glendale, right?
- [51:29]
A
Yep. Glendale, California.
- [51:30]
B
And then y' all moved. Ventura, California, and then you moved to Grants Pass, Oregon?
- [51:35]
A
Yep.
- [51:35]
B
Then down to Alabama.
- [51:37]
A
Yep.
- [51:37]
B
And then you're in Iowa now.
- [51:40]
A
Yes.
- [51:40]
B
Why Iowa? How did you pick out there in the middle of nowhere?
- [51:43]
A
Oh, well, kind of a long story. My wife, she. We went to high school together. And I talked about this in my book. I happened to be at my mother's house. My brother was over there. I asked him, I said, you ever talked to Linda Keevic? She. She was the girl I dated in high school, and my brother, who she was too. And he was friends with her, too. And so he goes, oh, yeah, he goes, talk to her every once in a while. She's on Facebook. And I didn't know what Facebook was, so he told me how to look her up on Facebook. And I ended up getting a Facebook, looked her up and sent her a message. And I said, hey, is this a girl that broke my heart 30 years ago? And then I proceeded to tell her, keep. Keep her up to date on what I was doing, get her up to speed on everything. And then she wrote me back, and, long story short, ended up coming up to Iowa, visiting her, and never looked back. And we've been together ever since. Ever since 09. And I love it up here. I love it. I actually. Because I enjoy the snow. I like the seasons up here. And so I actually love it up here. I actually. I go snowmobiling with some buddies of mine. And so a lot of people don't like cold weather, but cold weather doesn't bother me, dude. But that's how I ended up here.
- [52:57]
B
How far are you away from a major city to go get groceries and stuff or. Y' all live in a big city?
- [53:02]
A
We live in a small Dubuque. I was small. It's not big, but it's not small, so we're, you know, we're just right there. We talk about moving and stuff like that. We, the place we want to go is Door County. Up there. It's, it's, we go up there all the time. That's like our second home, basically now. And we go up there and spend a lot of time up there. It's in between. It's right up there off the peninsula. It's, there's a peninsula right there off of Green Bay, Wisconsin. It's kind of north of Green Bay. It's in between Lake Michigan and Green Bay itself. And we love it up there. And in fact, we're headed up there in a few weeks anyway, we're going to go back up there and spend some time up there again for the winter season. So.
- [53:45]
B
All right, listen up. We're in the middle of baseball season and with the sports betting scene as hot as it's ever been, now is the time to get in on the action. BetOnline AG has partnered with us here at Podcast 1 SportsNet to be our go to guys we trust for all things betting lines, odds wagers, inside info, you name it. And heck, football season is here now, too. If you want in on some of that sweet NFL and college football action, then BetOnline AG is your main destination. Head over to BetOnline AG and use promo code PODCASTONE. That's P O D C A S T and the number one to receive a 50% signup bonus today. One more time, BETOnline AG, and use promo code PODCAST1 to start winning with your online sportsbook experts. You and I had a conversation a couple years ago. Again, it's been a long time since we finally ended up doing a podcast and man, I was asking you what you were doing. You said, man, you love camping and doing all this stuff. And you know, my parents were lucky enough. Well, I was lucky enough to have some parents. You know, we were dragging a camper behind us, you know, to deer camps all over the place. And then when we all moved away, my dad and my mom bought a fifth wheel trailer and they saw all 50 states and that was amazing. And then when I heard you were into camping, I don't mean this to sound weird, but it's like so many of the boys are so entrenched in the business, they don't really have any hobbies other than going to the gym and being on the road, let alone. And luckily I talk to Brock every now and then, maybe two or three times a year. And I know he's an avid hunter and he loves to hunt. I heard you out there. I think you guys do a lot of dry camping and stuff like that. Like, what got you into that? Because in the book I don't really remember you doing a lot of camping. So how was it something that you got into?
- [55:38]
A
I've just always been an outdoor person anyway. And so, and you have to understand, before I got into wrestling too, I was a blue collar worker. I was, I was a welder by trade, so I'm you. And I've always been an outdoors type person. So everything I did was always outdoors. And I've always enjoyed camping, even before I got into wrestling. And so. And you know as well as I do when once you're signed wwe, I mean, your life belongs to them, you don't have time to really do anything else other than what you're doing. And that's wrestling and traveling, because you really don't have time to do anything. And it's just always been something that's always been in the back of my mind that when I get more time to do, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to spend more time outdoors and in the woods and stuff like that. And you're right, a lot of guys don't have any hobbies. And also they don't even have anything to fall back on as far as the trade and which I think you know, is, isn't a good thing. You should always have something to fall back on. But you're right, a lot of guys don't have hobbies and, and all they do, all they do is eat, sleep, breathe, wrestling, and it's like, I can't do that. I've got to do other things other than that. And it's like even when I did, even when I was in WWE and I did have the time, that's why I always, I always raced or I always rode my dirt bike and because I've always wanted to be outside doing something other than just wrestling. And a lot of guys, that's all they do is just rest. They didn't have any hobbies. And like for me it was just always either my dirt bike or it was racing or my four wheeler or racing. And because I really didn't have time to go camping because we only had a couple days at a time here and there, so I would just load up my dirt bike and go ride or something like that. So. But it was just, it was always in the back of my mind that's like when I get more time to do that. I'm going to do it because with wwe, you don't have time to do anything else. And so. But now that I've had plenty of time, that's what we do.
- [57:43]
B
Hey, man, let's talk about WWE just for a second. Not so much about just the wrestling part of it, but, man, my whole career, when I came out of high school, I didn't drink at all. When I got in college, that's when I kind of started drinking a little bit. I got on the road with wrestling. I was one of the drinking crowd guys, wasn't really into too much, did a few other things, but I kind of ran with the drinking crowd. But I was always at work. I worked hard, I worked. I was the first guy in the building, the last guy to leave. And I took my job very seriously. And, you know, you get so strung out on the road sometimes. I mean, just with just being on the road and, you know, probably, you know, a little bit more than I do. When I came in, we were working our asses off and we were down in WCW as well. And you were on some of those earlier tours where you guys never came off the road. So my point is, I've always told people when you get in the wrestling business, you just kind of turn into a zombie. Not because I was drinking or anybody else was on any kind of pills or whatever, it's guys like you were teetotalers that didn't do anything. But I always say you just kind of turn into a zombie and you just go from town to town to town, from gym to gym to gym to Waffle House, Denny's, tanning bed, whatever your gimmick is. And then you get sick of the road. Just sick. Hey, man, I'm ready to get off the damn road. And then you go home, and then you get home for those coveted days off, and you're home for about a day and a half and you're bored out of your skull and you're ready to get back on the road. And so when I finally had to walk away from the business because of my neck, I retired at 38. And you always think the retirement word, that big R word, is something to look forward to until all of a sudden you do it and you don't know where to shit or wind your watch. So it took me a couple of years to deal with that and to return to what I call civilian state of mind. I don't like to travel, to go places, just to go places and work. I Do like to travel, to go places with my wife or to go see something or to go hunt with my brother in law. But can you speak to me about the state of mind you put yourself in to survive all those years on the road and your lengthy career with the wwe, as many highs and lows as it had, what was your technique to weathering that storm?
- [60:02]
A
Yeah, my outlet was my working out and sometimes on the road like you said back when I first got there, we were on the road 30, 40 days without a day off and double shots on the weekends. My outlet was the gym and sometimes I did two a day. Which you know, obviously in the workout world, two days isn't really good for you, especially the way we didn't get much rest in wrestling at night. But that was how I kept my sanity. And back then, you know, you were stuck with three other guys in a car. So you were with each other 24, 7. Working out was my outlet to get away from everything and get my mind off of wrestling. And then like I said, when we came home, we had a couple days, that was it, and back out again. And I think when you came in and then finally like when after you, you know, you made it, actually made it big. And I think it was worse for you as far as being gone more because you were doing appearances that we weren't doing and you know, because being a world champion and carrying the company face of the company, guys like you, you, you never seem to get home and you were a lot busier than we were. I mean we got, we didn't have the appearances like you did. Yeah, we had some appearances, but not like you. So I think it was harder on guys in your position more so than mine because I think I had more, a little bit more free time than you did as far as is getting a break from wrestling and so forth. So. But working out was my outlet. And yeah, I had a lot of highs and lows and the way I kept going as far as getting through the lows is things are going to look better. Things are, you know, things are going to start happening. And they did. And they did. You know, in the wrestling business, you know, everything is up and down, everything is up and down as far as it's like a roller coaster ride. It's a roller coaster of emotions and you go through every single emotion there is in the wrestling business. And so. And it's tough dealing with that. And I don't think. And people don't understand if you're not in the wrestling world like if you're not in the type of business we're in, a lot of people don't understand what we go through as far as being away from our family and having to be on 24 7. And it's tough because you. Your mind just. It's an overload on your mind as far as what we do because you're constantly having to be on and the days off are far and few between, so. But my outlet was working out and that. And again, when I'd go home again, that was, you know, getting on my dirt bike was a way for me to get away from it all, too. Dealing with my injuries and stuff like that, that was always back because there's always that next person wanting to take your job, take your spot. And I always, you know, you always had to worry about that. And. And so that was something else that I always had to worry about, too. Okay, I'm off because I'm hurt. Is somebody going to take my spot to where I won't be back? But I weathered that storm, and I lasted 15 years. And I attribute that to working hard and doing what I'm told to do, being on time every day, because I was never late. I was one of those guys that was always early and I was never late. I was always on time. If I was late, it was out of my control completely because it was a travel issue. But I just. I was always one of these guys where I always showed up on time. I mean, I enjoyed my job. There was times I didn't enjoy my job, and that's. That's with everything. But my. My outlet was working out and getting on my dirt bike and riding. And that's like, the things we went through, that was our choice as far as our job decision. That was our career path. So. And that's how I looked at it. Everything that came along with the wrestling business, I looked at it as like, okay, this was my choice to be in this kind of business. And so I just. I need to deal with it. And that's what I did. And as far as the ups and downs, it was one of those things where I just. I just dealt with everything, and I tried to deal with it the best that I could, and that's. And I think that's another reason why I lasted 15 years. You know, some people get burned out. Before that. I got. I started getting burned out at the end of my career, and it's like, I can't do this anymore, you know, And I just. It's time for me to go but.
- [64:23]
B
You know, Bob, a lot of guys get caught up in the grind of the recreational things that you can get into on the road. How was it that you always avoided that?
- [64:33]
A
Honestly, I don't. I just. Because I was ignorant too. I didn't know what the hell was going on basically before. But I mean, I did end up. When I broke my neck, I did end up getting into the pain thing and getting on those. And I was able to get off that stuff. And so, but that wasn't easy. So I had to have. I went. I had to have help. Like I talked about my book. I had to have help to get off that stuff. And I did. And. But that was the, the worst. I did. I didn't get into the alcohol, I didn't get into the cocaine. I didn't get into anything heavy like that. I mean, yeah, I did steroids, Whoop dee do. And. But that goes without saying. And I just. But as far as when I broke my neck, that's. I think that was the word, the heaviest I've got into anything as far as that you shouldn't be doing. And, But I got. Like I said, I got off that and everything, but I never drank. I never did anything else. Really.
- [65:27]
B
What kind of issue did you have? The pain pills?
- [65:29]
A
Well, I just, I started taking too many. I just started taking too many. And I was like, this is ridiculous. I gotta stop. And I. So I did, you know, what kind.
- [65:38]
B
Of level did you get to? I remember talking years ago, I was talking to Dale Wilkes and I hear him and some. Some of these other guys taking anywhere from 30, 40, 50 perks or Vikes a day. And those numbers astound me. And they just tell me, yeah, these are totally shoot numbers. I promise you. These are shoot numbers and they've got, I don't know, 8 or 10. And this is back in the old days, Bob, when it was kind of still wild, wild west these days, cracking down on everything. But what kind of numbers did you get to?
- [66:06]
A
Probably about 10 somewhere around there.
- [66:08]
B
So you just weren't just bad off on them, but that's too many.
- [66:14]
A
Yeah, that is too many. Yeah, three or four is too many. But, you know, I just, I stay away from all that stuff now. I don't, I don't do anything. I just, I, you know, as far as, like, my body, I just deal with what's going on.
- [66:26]
B
Hey, man, when you finally decided to leave the business, I mean, didn't you. I love you had a backup plan and you can get. You can give me an answer if you did or not. But you knew how to weld. You had mechanical abilities, you had a lot of. You had a lot of skills that you could fall back on. Like we just mentioned earlier, a lot of guys don't have an exit strategy or a backup plan, and myself included, I didn't have an exit strategy. I figured I was going to be a wrestler my whole life. My body got beat up, I had to get out. I was 38 years old. I didn't know what to do. So I ended up finding my way. And, you know, for me, getting out of the business was extremely hard. It wasn't a thing where, oh, man, I'm going to miss being on tv. You know, to me, it was just. I missed doing something that was the love of my life, professional wrestling. I grew up on it, I loved it, I was passionate about it. And there's not too many things that I'm as passionate about as that job. I love my hunting, I love my four wheelers and stuff like that. But when you decide to leave and get out of the business, were you worried about not being on tv? Not having the attention or the name or that pop factor? Was it the money? You're going to miss being around the boys. Tell me about you getting away from the business and what went through, you know, your mind and how you dealt with everything and got into a different groove.
- [67:42]
A
Yeah, you know, it's funny because the way I always looked at myself is I was, I was never a big deal. And so walking away was actually easy for me. It was, it was like, we came to the, you know, when I talked to Johnny, we came to the agreement. It's like, okay, let me go. They sent me my release, but I didn't think twice about it. It was, I didn't think about, okay, what am I going to do now? Just like, you know what, life gone. I'll figure it out along the way. And that's what I did. And yeah, I'm a welder by trade. I could. I'm a mechanic. I'm a heavy equipment mechanic. I can do anything. So work was never an issue for me. It's like the whole time I was wrestling. If they let me go midway through my career, guess what? I can have a job today if I wanted to. Just like right now. If I wanted to go out and find a job, I could find one right now. Today. We hung up from this phone. I can go find a job right now. So it was never an issue for me as far as having the, the Validation of walking down that ramp, getting the cheers from the crowd and all that stuff. I, it doesn't bother me. I don't. You know, some people, like, even today, they post these goddamn selfies every frickin day. And it's like, how many people, how, how much validation do you need that you still matter in this world? And it's like the same pictures every day. Look at me working out. Okay, yeah, you're big. You're jacked. Okay, so fucking what? What's next, you know? Okay, yeah, you still look good. And, but, and I don't have to do that. I'm comfortable enough within myself. I don't have to do that. I don't need validation from people verifying that I was hardcore Holly. Hey, you're a big deal. I don't need that. If I was never on TV again, I'm okay with that. If I was never recognized ever again in my entire life, I'm okay with that. I'm okay being Bob Howard. I have no problem being that person. I don't mind. I could stay in my house. I don't have to go out. I don't. You know, in fact, I don't like leaving my house, to be perfectly honest with you. But as far as career wise, I've just dealt with every day as it comes, and I had the mindset, I'll figure it out. As time goes on, every day that goes by, I'll figure it out. And that's what I do. I don't worry about it. I'm not one of these kind of guys that have to walk out in front of a crowd just to get that validation. Like, hey, you're still, you're, you still matter in this world. You know what I'm saying? I don't need that.
- [70:10]
B
Oh, I know you don't need it. But going back to the days, you know, as hardcore Holly, that run you had towards the end, and a lot of ups and downs, you gotta, I know. You gotta, you gotta admit that that adrenaline rush is pretty fucking addicting.
- [70:28]
A
Oh, it is, it is. I won't deny that for a second. It is. Because when you walk down that ramp and you hear those people cheering for you or booing you and you get goosebumps like I did often. It is, it's very addicting, but it's not one of those things where it drives me to make sure I'm relevant, if that makes any sense.
- [70:49]
B
Right?
- [70:49]
A
Like, like a lot of guys, they still feel like they have to be relevant and they. But for me it's like I can just go on. I can go out in the woods and never come back out. And I'm okay with that. I've just never. In the wrestling business, you have to have an ego to an extent, but I've never had that ego to where the people have to feed my ego constantly to make me feel accepted in this world. I don't need. I don't have to have that. And so it's like, it's just like when I finished with wrestling, it was. It was easy for me to step back. It really was. To be perfectly honest, I think it had a lot to do with one. I was burnt out. I was tired of a roller coaster ride. It was just time for me to go. But it was never one of those things with me thinking in the back of my head, like, I've got to get back out there in front of everybody.
- [71:37]
B
All right, everybody, give it a go. Home cues. I'm gonna wrap up his podcast right off from sunset. Before I do that, I want to thank Bob Holley for joining me on the show today. He will be back on the next podcast to finish up part two of our conversation. Hey, man, I've been talking about coming up with some Nevada designs from a Broken Skull Ranch stuff here in Nevada. And we're going to do that asap. You can find the shirts I got right now@prowrestlingtees.com SteveAustin and if you're thirsty and you like to drink beer, I got the best damn IPA in the United States of America. And that's the bottom line. And that's a shoot. Broken Skull IPA from El Segundo Brewing Company. You can find it at Whole Foods and Total Wines. If you live in Southern California, if you don't live in Cali, you might be shit out of luck. This is a badass beer. If you come to LA, take a left out of LAX, go down to the brewery at 140 Main street and grab you one fresh off the tap. This is the badass beer. You owe it to yourself to try it. And every single day out here at the Broken Skull Ranch, I use my knives. I got two badass pocket knives for you and everybody should have one. The cold steel Broken Skull knife and the Cold steel Working Man's knife. Find them at my new Amazon store. Amazon's got the best price on both knives. Just go to Amazon.com shop steveaustin or go directly to the Cold Steel Knives website and check out all their badass knives. Folks, I am on social media, Twitter and Instagram, eveaustin bsr Till next time, my name is Steve Austin and I will catch your ass down the road.
- [73:16]
A
This has been a Podcast one production. Download new episodes of the Steve Austin show every Tuesday@podcast1.com that's podcastone.com.
- [73:30]
B
This October, Fear is free on Pluto TV with horror movie collections from Paranormal Activity, the.
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A
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B
And From Dusk till Dawn.
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A
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B
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