Mick Foley discusses the rapidness with which Stone Cold Steve Austin changed the wrestling industry and the one gripe he had with the present-day product while his son, Dewey, was a writer for WWE.
Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin were two pivotal players in WWE's Attitude Era. Both Hall of Famers signed their WWE contracts in 1996, and they were two of the last to sign deals based on opportunity rather than guaranteed money.
Mick Foley recently joined Busted Open Radio on 3:16 Day to discuss Stone Cold Steve Austin's impact on the industry.
While talking about his friend's meteoric rise to the top of WWE, "The Hardcore Legend" explained that everyone understood how special of a moment the Austin 3:16 promo was when it was cut as WWE King of the Ring 1996.
"It was one of those things [where] you knew [the promo was a special one] as soon as you heard it. Plus, adding to the legend, not in that it's not true, but in that it becomes part of the Stone Cold legend, is that he had to get stitched up in between matches. So you've got him hitting this amazing line with the stitches. He just reeked of credibility," said Mick.
When asked whether or not wrestling would ever see a star of that magnitude again, Foley explained that one of his main gripes with the modern WWE product when his eldest son, Dewey Foley, was a writer for WWE was the inability of anybody to leave a lasting impression with Mick saying that while many aspects were great, he had trouble remembering any particular Superstar's name.
"We saw lightning strike twice with Steve and The Rock. The one knock I would have when my son was one of the main writers for NXT was, 'Wow. That was great, that was great... I don't remember anybody's name.' People tended to look and wrestle similarly, with a couple of exceptions. I'd be hard-pressed to name a handful of people even after watching a major show," said Mick. "Rock had grown up with it in his blood. Steve was one of the last people in my generation to be a territory guy, so he was able to build that up. I don't know if we're going to see somebody like Steve again. I really don't know if you're going to see someone who changes things that rapidly, that fully."
Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin are slated to be part of WWE programming coming to the A&E Network with Mick Foley hosting WWE's Most Wanted Treasures and Stone Cold Steve Austin hosting a brand new show where he takes on odd jobs across America.
Fans can learn more about Steve's new show here.
Check out other celebrations of 3:16 Day at this link.
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