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Steve Austin and WWE


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Obviously the WWE went with Jericho instead of Austin in the podcast role on Monday. The rumor is that Vince and co. weren't happy with the Chyna reference. I haven't heard Austin say anything about it. I listened to his Mania review and he seemed to have more critiques of the show than usual. Even in comparison to Fastlane and the Rumble . I thought his critiques were fair though. Some of them were Sting should have gone over, the interference in the match the allegiances weren't quite right , having a concert hurts the crowd , he had a few others. I was wondering if anyone had some takes on this.

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Haven't heard Austin's response to the rumors yet, but it seems weird to me that this caused so much controversy. It wasn't like either party ever claimed that Austin had exclusive rights to do live podcasts on the Network. I mean Austin and Jericho both have fairly successful wrestling-centric podcasts so I don't know why people assumed that Jericho wouldn't get a chance to do one of these eventually.

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This probably belongs in the pet peeve thread, but if you film it and air it on the network, it's not a podcast. It's a tv interview.

It's an episode of their regular podcast series that happens to be aired live and recorded for the Network.

 

So it's fair to say that it is *both* a podcast and a TV interview. The two things aren't really mutually exclusive.

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Well, the Steve Austin/McMahon one wasn't intended originally to be put out on his podcast, but was advertised as a "Live Podcast on the Network". And the Jericho one won't be on his podcast, and to his credit he has made a point of saying it's not a podcast.

 

And yes, you can turn a tv interview into a podcast, and you could air a podcast interview on tv. But if I'm watching it on tv, it's not a podcast. Words mean things, and the misuse of this one irrationally irritates me.

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Meltzer reported two different ideas: he talked w/ Austin, and Austin claims there's no heat and that it's all been blown out of proportion. But then someone internally gave him the impression that they weren't happy with the Chyna questions. So split the difference. It's a company that deals in passive-aggressive moves: they went with Jericho for one podcast that was far less meaningful than the Vince or HHH versions with Stone Cold. But does anyone really think any of this will have longterm damage?

 

Austin says he's watching WM32 from home because they haven't yet pitched him a good idea. Most realistic option still seems to be that he's involved in some angle, doing his usual Stone Cold deal of guest ref/enforcer/opening promo/McMahon family tormentor. I don't see him jumping into the Rock N' Rousey Connection, but he would make quite the ref in a tag against Steph and Hunter. Having him be the guy who makes the three count in Taker's last match is interesting. If he doesn't do anything on the show, it'll be because of some serious (and as now unknown) heat, or them just presenting him terrible creative options, which has been a problem in the past.

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I'm guessing the company's not happy with the Chyna comments and are their usual passive aggressive selves, but Austin is in full IDGAF mode. Knowing their mindset, that probably makes them even madder that he doesn't seem to care about it.

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I'm guessing the company's not happy with the Chyna comments and are their usual passive aggressive selves, but Austin is in full IDGAF mode. Knowing their mindset, that probably makes them even madder that he doesn't seem to care about it.

 

This is the impression I get. I feel like passive aggression from WWE is pretty likely here, but Austin is too generally content and busy to keep up with the gamesmanship. They need him more than he needs them at this point.

 

Edit: And I don't think anything bugs the WWE more than individuals who can be bigger than the company

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Meltzer reported two different ideas: he talked w/ Austin, and Austin claims there's no heat and that it's all been blown out of proportion. But then someone internally gave him the impression that they weren't happy with the Chyna questions. So split the difference. It's a company that deals in passive-aggressive moves: they went with Jericho for one podcast that was far less meaningful than the Vince or HHH versions with Stone Cold. But does anyone really think any of this will have longterm damage?

 

Austin says he's watching WM32 from home because they haven't yet pitched him a good idea. Most realistic option still seems to be that he's involved in some angle, doing his usual Stone Cold deal of guest ref/enforcer/opening promo/McMahon family tormentor. I don't see him jumping into the Rock N' Rousey Connection, but he would make quite the ref in a tag against Steph and Hunter. Having him be the guy who makes the three count in Taker's last match is interesting. If he doesn't do anything on the show, it'll be because of some serious (and as now unknown) heat, or them just presenting him terrible creative options, which has been a problem in the past.

 

In the Observer, Meltzer clarified that "The story we were told is that Vince McMahon was unhappy about his interview with HHH but multiple sources confirmed that it was not anything to do with the questions on Chyna."

 

Maybe the Chyna question was a pre-planned and pre-approved spot, otherwise it's hard to believe that the company was happy about a question being asked that led to the heir apparent being accused of domestic violence. Unless Vince is so thinskinned he can't handle some gentle criticism of the Royal Rumble finish?

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I agree that having different people do them makes sense to some degree, but at the same time Austin is a far bigger star than Jericho, and so he's more likely to get eyes on the network, and he doesn't seem remotely as likely to toe the company line like Jericho will.

 

He's a bigger star and more likely to get network eyeballs with wrestling fans.....but let's not discount that Jericho and Fozzy have legitimately crossed over. Look at the outside of wrestling guest Jericho has had on his show....massive rock stars like Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Slash, Rob Zombie etc. He's been on the cover of Revolver and other big rock magazines.....hosts the Golden God awards.....plays huge rock festivals.....people know him from Dancing With the Stars......three best selling books........etc etc. Outside of the wrestling bubble don't discount how well known he is

 

As far as podcasts go......Jericho is neck and neck with Austin in the charts. Jericho is higher in the sports category most weeks, but Austin's Family and Unleashed are listed separately and both are generally in the top 10

 

As far as it being a "Jericho vs. Austin" thing.......Jericho had mentioned he had things in the works with WWE for the Network before the HHH interview even happened, and we know he has a great relationship with the company (he just worked house shows a couple months ago and comes and goes as he pleases), while Austin is far more removed from it. I don't believe it's an either or thing, the Jericho thing was happening either way.

 

I do believe that WWE and Austin have some heat right now, but what else is new? Their relationship has been up and down and all over the place for more than a decade. Austin doesn't need them and is happy to tell them to fuck off. I thought it was inevitable that something would happen again

 

As for Jericho's podcast with Cena, I thought it was great. Some great stories there that I'd never heard before, and Cena came off great. I'm a much bigger fan of Jericho's conversational style than Steve's, and that held true here

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I don't think Jericho gets much of a popularity push from his band. 1) They're awful. 2) When I see attendance figures from Fozzy's shows, they're extremely low. 3) I think the fact that he has a name from wrestling and a few of the guys in Fozzy have been around the rock/metal scene for a while helps get them booked on big festivals. 4) His record sales are also very low.

 

Dancing with the Stars, however, that does wonders for a person's Q rating. I doubt Jericho gets Dancing with the Stars fans to listen to his wrestling/metal-themed podcasts, but that show really boosts a person's overall popularity (at least it used to).

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a few things

 

1) Fozzy isn't awful

 

2) they play a lot of smaller clubs in the states, but they get bigger crowds in Europe, and they were just a supporting act for Slash's latest tour, and on the 'KISS Kruise'. They're also pretty well respected and liked in hard rock/metal circles, by other musicians and the fans. Their last 3 albums have gotten very good reviews, and I liked all 3 of them.

 

3) their last album was top 10 on the metal, hard rock and independent charts. I don't know how much that means these days in the digital music age, but it's something

 

4) You're totally right about Dancing With the Stars......it's amazing how many people watch that. My 86 yr old grandmother remembers Chris Jericho from the show and she hasn't watched wrestling since the days of Haystacks Calhoun and has surely never listened to anything remotely metal. To her he's the handsome/charismatic guy with nice hair from the dancing show :)

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Fozzy might be an okay nostalgia band if Chris Jericho could actually sing.

 

His vocals are heavily processed and autotuned......Ozzy style. He's improved as a singer a lot IMO, but basically he's a charismatic David Lee Roth style frontman/showman (without the pipes DLR had). I actually like the processed/autotuned vocals......I'm not expecting to hear Sam Cooke......but I get why some people would hate it

 

I'm not saying Fozzy is the best band ever, but calling them 'awful' isn't fair

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I don't think the goal of Fozzy is to be a "great band." It's just a way for Chris Jericho to live out his other dream of being a rock star after already achieving his pro wrestling dream. The fact that he's built it up to the point where he can just do Fozzy gigs full time is actually pretty impressive.

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