Steve Austin on Billy Graham, Wrestling Stories, and His Acting Career

A recent episode of Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 12360 podcast show had Steve Austin as the guest discussing Billy Graham being the proto-Stone Cold, a wrestling story from his career, and his career in acting.

On the topic of “Superstar” Billy Graham, Austin stated he considers him to be the first “Stone Cold” character in the WWE. He mentioned similarities between Graham’s character and his own but with the biggest difference of Vince McMahon Sr. not being able to make Graham into a big face star with the gimmick.

“He was at another level in a different world. Big props to Superstar because really, he was the first Stone Cold because when Senior (Vince McMahon Sr.) was running the promotion he was a white hot heel who transitioned himself into a baby (face), but senior didn’t really know what to do with him.”

During the interview, Austin recalled a couple of stories during his wrestling career with one involving riding with Barry Windham in his brand new Cadillac at the time.

“Windham looks over at me and goes, ‘kid, who you riding with?’ I said, ‘I don’t know man. Guess I’ll just get a Rent-A-Car.’ He goes, ‘Why don’t you ride with us?’ I said, ‘Well cool.’ Got in the car, it was a Cadillac. A brand new Cadillac Four Star V8. I never sat in a Cadillac, much less drove one. Barry goes, ‘Kid, you want to drive?’ I said, ‘Well sure.’

“So we’re going down the highway somewhere in the south; Florida or Georgia, somewhere like that. And we’re going down the road and I’m just looking at all the gadgets you know. The speedometer and all that stuff and I veer off the road and I jerk it back and it was kind of scary because I was going about 70mph. And Barry the king of the no sell, looks at me like this (WTF) ‘You okay kid?’

Later in the interview, Austin talking a bit about his acting career and being proud of The Rock’s success as an actor. Austin stated he regrets not doing a better job with his role in The Longest Yard and blamed his inexperience at the time as the main reason. He did mention if The Rock’s studio ever wanted him to work on one of their films, he’d accept the offer without hesitation.

“When I watched The Longest Yard back, I was mad because I could have toned it down with a few scenes I had with Kevin Nash. I was yelling at the top of my voice and I thought, ‘Man, why didn’t the director call me and say, Steve, that’s a level 10 of intensity. Why don’t you start a level 2 or 3?’ Direct me a little bit. I’m not faulting the guy, I was just a guy.”

“I’m so proud of The Rock and everything he has done. I don’t like to memorize anything. Would I consider it? Yes.”