Steve Austin Says 'Micromanaged' WWE Superstars Hurt By Scripted Promos

The best moments in professional wrestling appear to be real. However, scripted promos can be one of the sharpest reminders that what you're watching is not reality. That said, Stone Cold Steve Austin is here to remind the world the that best in-ring talkers do it from the heart, not a script.

During an episode of The Steve Austin Show, the WWE icon discussed how things used to be a little more relaxed which allowed he and other Superstar bring a more genuine character to camera.

"I think there's micromanaging in the WWE on the main roster. Back before I got my neck injury, a promo was; you go out there with bullet points. If I'm working with Vince or if I'm working with Rock, Taker, Triple H, it didn't matter. If I was going out there to talk some s—t, I might let them know and give them a heads up, but you go out there and cut this promo," said Austin.

There are just as many great quotes in wrestling as there are great matches, and Austin was well to aware that a weak talker has a limited future in the business.

"I started learning that stuff back in Dallas. I couldn't talk to save my life. Through falling on my face and having to get back up or when I got in with Brian Pillman. That guy was a silver tongued devil with a hell of a vocabulary. I was forced to keep up with him or get left behind," he said.

After Austin was fired by WCW, Paul Heyman and ECW snagged Austin before he became the Stone Cold we'd soon idolize. Austin says that this stint in ECW and stiff competition of the Attitude Era forced him to learn to communicate on the microphone.

"Then through ECW, you had to talk there. Everybody in the dressing room could cut a promo. It was sink or swim. We did that through the Attitude Era, but when I came back from neck surgery, that's when they started doing the scripted type thing," he said.

But in 2018, Austin doesn't get the same vibes from WWE's dialogue Instead, he thinks that the crutch of scripted lines could actually be hurting the product.

"Now, when I watch, I know when they're trying to take a talent that doesn't have the ability to...or their character doesn't need to say as many words or sentences to get their point across. It just turns into a bunch of convoluted, watered down paragraphs. Sometimes less is more," he stated. "I can see someone's eye when they're trying to remember something or when they have a spark in their eyes and it's just flowing out of them and they mean every word they say. One promo sells tickets, the other is like, 'Eh, not so fast my friends.'"

[H/T Fightful]