Stone Cold Steve Austin sat down with Zack Heydorn on The Takedown on SI this week and offered one of the most candid portraits of Vince McMahon as a performer, boss, and psychologist that Austin has ever put on record.
On Vince's surprising ability in the ring despite having no real training, Austin was blunt — but complimentary.
He didn't have reps in the ring. He's green as hell," Austin said. "But for some reason that guy just had an innate ability to perform. He thrived on the reactions of the people, and because he had such a vast knowledge of seeing some of the greatest heels and baby faces perform, I think he drew from that. He's clumsy, he's not graceful — but the chemistry between us was so strong that whatever obstacles were there, he really spun up and learned the patience process.
Austin recalled a moment in Memphis where Vince insisted on taking a dangerous bump off the top of a cage onto an announcer's desk despite Austin urging him not to.
He was resolute on taking that bump," Austin said. "I told him, 'God dang, man, are you sure you want to do that? I don't think you need to.' He goes, 'Oh, you know Steve, it'll be great.' His thirst as a performer to give the fans their money's worth, and then some — he would do anything. I loved working with him.
Austin was equally candid about Vince's psychological grip on the locker room, describing a pattern where talent would walk into Vince's office with a grievance and walk out having accomplished nothing — yet somehow satisfied.
You go in there one-on-one with Vince and all of a sudden you go in there with an issue, he does this whole cycle thing with you, you shake hands, you walk out the door — and you're like, 'Holy [shit]. I walked in there with a problem. I still got the problem. But I'm in there with him and I agreed that everything was cool and I didn't get anything done,'" Austin said. "He's a master of mind games and psychology. He wore a lot of hats — psychiatrist, psychologist, motivator.
Austin said his own relationship with Vince worked because he asked for very little.
I was the top guy, and I was a low-maintenance guy. I don't require a lot of attention. Just tell me what we're doing and I'm good. I'm going to make all the house shows, show up early, stay late. I never was a diva. I was never jealous of anybody," he said. "Once I proved myself to Vince as the guy that I could be, we were golden.
He also recalled the moment after WrestleMania 14 when Vince signaled the full organizational machine was about to get behind him.
I shook my head because I knew it wasn't a great match," Austin said of his title win over Shawn Michaels. "Vince looked at me and said, 'Don't worry about that. It'll all change tomorrow.' When Vince says things are going to change and he lights a rocket and sends you up, that's what he does. And that's when it was all hands on deck.
