“Stone Cold” Steve Austin has found himself back in the news lately thanks to a handful of WWE appearances and the first season of his new interview show, Straight Up Steve Austin. The latest episode will take place at 11 p.m. Eastern after this week’s Monday Night Raw and will feature a conversation between Austin and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch.
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Fans have been making comparisons between Austin and “The Man” ever since Lynch adopted her new outspoken persona in mid-2018. One of the aspects of her new character many fans seem to enjoy is her usage of social media, where she’ll poke fun at, taunt or outright threaten whoever she is feuding with at the time while almost always staying in character.
In an interview with ComicBook.com on Thursday, Austin gave his thoughts on wrestlers using social media and if he would’ve used it had it been around during the height of his powers back in the Attitude Era.
“Man, I didn’t touch it for the longest time and then finally I said, ‘everybody else is doing this and you’ve got got to jump in at some point to promote yourself,” Austin said. “So I started a Twitter account. And me being the tough guy that I thought I was or whatever, I said, ‘Man, what is this social media thing called Twitter? When you said the messages, it’s called a tweet. That sounds stupid.’ Okay. I’ve been a part of Twitter for eight or 10 years now.
“I don’t know because that’s speculation and looking hindsight, but I don’t really [know]…,” he continued. “Social media is a good way to engage the fans. As far as selling matches, I’m not sold on it. From the era or the days that I was active in the ring, it wasn’t around. News didn’t travel quite as fast. You still had the Internet. But who knows? I really can’t answer that question because I don’t know. I don’t knock anybody for doing it. And I think it’s entertaining and engaging for fans and I guess it has its pros and its cons. But does it sell any more tickets? I don’t know.”
One of the biggest surprises when it came to wrestlers getting social media accounts was seeing The Undertaker get both a Twitter and Instagram account, the latter of which shows a rare glimpse at the legend out of character.
Austin compared Undertaker getting an Instagram to him launching his podcast, The Steve Austin Show, several years back.
“Really, with my podcast starting six years ago, people got a chance to see the other side of Stone Cold because they saw me on TV for so long been so effective at being that guy, they figured that’s who and what I was 24/7,” Austin said. “And so through my podcast, I was able to break out of that shell from an audio level. And with this show I’m able to break out. People say, ‘Hey, man, the guy’s actually halfway funny or pretty funny or I’m not mad all the time.’
“So the same thing with Undertaker,” he continued. “He’s been wrestling for damn near 30 years, 25 years, however long it’s been. One of the greatest runs in the history of the business. And for him to have a social media account, it’s a way for him to, why shouldn’t he be a part of social media as well? But he’s not trying to sell tickets but you get a chance to see the fact that that guy, his name is Mark. He’s not really The Undertaker 24/7. He has a life, and from what I have seen on his Instagram account, he’s enjoying his life to the fullest extent.”
Austin is set to return to WWE television on the Sept. 9 episode of Raw, which will take place at Madison Square Garden for the first time in a decade.
