Steve Austin Show – Austin vs. Angle from Unforgiven 2001 (Jan. 5, 2016)

The Steve Austin Show
December 5, 2016
Available on PodcastOne.com

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Recap by Corey Freedman

Top Newsworthy Items

– On today’s show, Austin breaks down his match with Kurt Angle at Unforgiven 2001. Austin hits play on the WWE Network and adds commentary to this match.

– Follow the timestamps to watch along with Austin as he adds commentary to the match.

Subjects Covered (w/timestamps)

0:00 – Sponsor Ads (talks DDP Yoga and Jake the Snake movie)
3:00 – Introduction
10:50 – Intro to match vs. Kurt Angle
19:15 – Sponsor Ads
21:20 – Austin vs. Angle at Unforgiven 2001 for the Title
23:50 – Austin hits play on the WWE Network and Angle begins his entrance
50:30 – Sponsor Ads
52:05 – Back from ads/talking with Ted Fowler
1:30:55 – Steve thanks the sponsors/show ends

Show Highlights

Introduction: Show starts with Austin and Ted Fowler talking about the “Broken Skull Challenge” show on CMT.

Intro to match with Angle: Austin talks about enjoying this match even though he taps out at the end. Ted Fowler praises Kurt Angle, but also talks about preferring to root for heels (which Austin was in this match). Austin then praises Angle’s heel work throughout his career. Austin then briefly explains the difference between babyfaces and heels.

Austin vs. Angle: Austin starts by saying the psychology of this match was that Austin had stirred Angle up so much that Angle starts the match by going crazy on Austin. He mentions that this match was in front of Angle’s hometown in Pittsburgh. This match included the Kurt Angle milk truck segment as part of its build up. Austin talks about flipping off Kurt Angle’s wife who was in the audience that night. He talks about needing to take his vest off because they were really expensive. Austin talks about how Earl Hebner gave them a good bit of leeway on the 10 counts so that they could battle outside for longer periods of time. Austin talks about how they didn’t have a specific plan laid out, but the beginning of the match was for Angle to go crazy on Austin because he was so angry with how Austin had acted in the build to the match.

The goal for the beginning was for Angle to come out hot and then eventually Austin would recover and get his stuff in. Austin praises how great of conditioning that Angle always had. He says basically the beginning was a physical beatdown for the face to get over on the heel. Austin says he is the one calling the match, but there was very few calls. He says he told Angle to do his stuff and he would just go along with it. He talks about Angle pulling up the floor mat because Austin had given him a piledriver during the build up. Austin also praises the commentary team of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman for their call of this match. He reiterates that they really wanted to convey how angry Angle was for the way Austin had acted during the build-up.

Austin says that the blood drawn was not a bladejob, but rather the result of Angle’s strong offense. Austin talks about the difficulty of an elbow to the throat. He says there is a fine line between really hurting the other guy and making it look like crap to the audience. Austin talks about him trying to really work the neck given Angle’s history of neck injuries, and that JR is really playing up that angle on the commentary. He says that the match has so far been compelling because it has been hard hitting even with the lack of high spots. Austin mentions paying close attention to not making a chokehold look too loose so that the audience can see through it. He says he was really trying to lean on Angle to make sure it looked like he was truly choking him out.

Ted Fowler asks if Earl Hebner is communicating the time to them. Austin says that the referee can communicate the time in a number of ways and that they will sometimes slip the time into the kayfabe wrestling instructions. Again, Austin places emphasis on making the moves look so strong that the audience couldn’t possibly see through them. Austin says that suplexes don’t feel that bad and that it wasn’t really a concern for him even given his neck problems. He says it depends on who is giving the suplexes. Austin talks about the art of landing safely when taking a suplex by tucking your chin and trying to land more on your shoulders/back.

Austin talks about not staying outside for the 10 count because he didn’t want to retain the title that way. Austin wonders if they made a future issue about Austin having his hand under the ropes when he tapped out. Austin doesn’t remember if they made an issue about that. He also says that Angle was one of his favorite people to work with of all time. Austin says he is proud of this match even though it wasn’t the best Austin and Angle ever had together.

Chatting w/ Ted Fowler: Austin and Fowler talk about drinking too much the night before recording this podcast. They talk a bit about life on the ranch. Ted’s New Year’s resolution is to stay out of debt. Austin’s resolution is to not miss any workouts the entire year. They talk about their respective fitness goals for the year. Austin wants to be able to squat/deadlift 500. lbs and bench 350 lbs. Ted talks a bit about fixing various things around the ranch. Austin jokes that Ted has the manual to everything he has ever bought. They debate whether Austin should shave or keep the long beard he is growing. Austin and Fowler talk about seeing the new Star Wars movie. They talk about Leo Dicaprio as well. He talks about the effort Leo put into film the Revenant even though he doesn’t need to do such hard work. Austin talks about not always having the best podcast guests or episodes when he is out on the ranch because that is his vacation time. So, he is doing his best to entertain but he admits it’s harder for him to put the show together perfectly while he is trying to enjoy life on the ranch. Austin talks a bit with his wife as well.

Score and Review

Score (8.5): Austin breaking down his match with Kurt Angle is a must-listen. The timestamps should help navigate where that part is during the podcast. The rest of the show is a bit jumbled, but still entertaining. After discussing the match, Austin and Ted Fowler talk a bit about life on the ranch and some of their goals for 2016. Certainly two very different discussions, but both were entertaining. If you have the time, you should make the effort to watch along with Austin as he breaks down his match with Kurt Angle at Unforgiven 2001. Austin breaking down the match is a hard thing to take good notes on as he is describing something he is watching. My recommendation would be to watch along with him and enjoy. If you can’t, I tried to provide some of the best insights he gives during the match.

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