By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

The following is the cover story of the PWTorch Newsletter #744 from Feb. 8, 2003, the first time Austin spoke out about being buried by WWE months earlier after he walked out on Raw when scripted to job to Brock Lesnar on short-notice...

Steve Austin broke his silence, and gave his side of why he walked out on WWE last year in an article he penned in the current Raw Magazine. Austin didn’t seem to hold back at all on his opinions, and the story he submitted, by all accounts, reflects his actual opinions on the subjects, not a worked version. In fact, the story parallels many items reported in these pages in the months since his departure. Here are the top 15 subjects he covered in the article:

-Regarding Hulk Hogan: “When Hall and Nash were in WCW, they stirred up a lot of crap. The only one I heard that was a pile of trash was [Hollywood] Hulk Hogan, because he’s a manipulator and does backstage politics; he's proven that to this day.” [Anti–Hogan Rating: 8]

-Regarding his position on WrestleMania: “You can tell me this busines goes in cycles, and sometimes you’re not as hot as you want to be, but where I was on that card didn’t make sense to me. The match wasn’t promoted properly. It wasn't built properly. Nothing.” He clarified that he didn’t have a personal problem with Scott Hall, he just didn’t agree that he was ready for a WrestleMania main event match after just a few months in WWE. [Anti-Scott Hall Rating: 0]

-Regarding why he walked out last year: “When I went home the day after WrestleMania X8, I was going to get my head together, man. The way things were going, I needed to take a step back… I was burned out physically. Damn it, I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I can go with the best of them, but I was burned out. That’s the bottom line. I knew I was going to come back. I just needed some time off and didn’t need to negotiate it or talk about it with anybody or anything like that. I wanted to go home, and I did.” [Anti-Regret Rating: 0]

-On how things changed after he returned from neck surgery: “All of a sudden you’ve got someone putting words in your mouth; you can’t do that. The writers are taking the business from the boys, and that’s what the problem with creative is. They’ve got to give the business back to the damn boys When you got a guy who’s been in the business three, six, eight, ten, or fifteen years, it doesn’t matter. Asking a damned writer what he’s supposed to say? There’s a problem. When I was at my hottest, selling out everywhere we went, no one was telling me what to say.” [Anti-Scriptwriters Rating: 9]

-On his relationship with Vince McMahon: “I made it pretty clear that I wasn’t happy, but from where I stood, things had changed between me and Vince... Vince, it seemed like he was on a different page from where I was… It seemed like people were in his ear for his own agendas, and not the direction of agenda of WWE.” [Anti-Vince McMahon Rating: 6]

-On the straw that broke the camel’s back—being asked to wrestle Brock Lesnar on Raw with one day’s notice: “He told me I was going to be facing Brock Lesnar in an unadvertised Raw match—no buildup, no promotion, no nothing… I started seeing the writing on the wall. That’s when I decided to walk. Here’s the bottom line. I’m Stone Cold Steve Austin. I’ve drawn more money than anybody in the business, and I’ve sold more PPVs than anybody in the business. I’m not the first in line for Brock Lesnar, I’m the last in line. I’m happy to do business with anybody—when the time comes to do business. That was the dumbest business decision I’ve ever heard in my life… If you know the business, and you know what is business, then I’m the last one for Brock. That’s the money match. That’s the promotion. That's the match everyone wants to see. Then whatever the outcome is, it’s fine by me. But I’m the last in line, not the first.” [Anti-Brock Lesnar rating: 0]

-On accusations that he was holding younger talent down: “Well, you name me that big star who stepped up that I was holding down. Because I can’t think of one. Edge has come up, but when was I holding him down? I helped anybody out there who asked for an opinion.” [Guilt Rating: 0]

-On the label given to him that he’s paranoid: “I'm not f––ing paranoid! I mean, Jesus Christ, when I left, people started voicing their opinions and saying I was different or I was paranoid, whatever. I feel what I feel.” [Anti-Media Portrayal Rating:

-On Rock criticizing him after he left: “So all of a sudden, you’ve got Rock out there saying, ‘You know, if you don’t want to be here, then get the “F” out!” Well genius, I’d already been out and got out. So, I didn't need you to come on TV flapping your gums telling me to get the “F” out. To me, that was the thing that got my ass the most. Here’s a guy who I was a tremendous influence on his career in the ring. He’ll tell you the same thing—and if he don’t, he’s a liar. Anytime he needed advice for a problem, I’d give him the best advice I could… I thought that was the biggest chickensh–– thing I’d ever seen done to me so far in the business, for him to go out and call me out. That’s how he pays me back? That was pathetic.” [Anti-Rock rating: 10]

-On Triple H: “Triple H’s constant references to me taking my ball and going home. ‘You want me to pull an Austin?” or whatever. Here’s a guy who needs to stop worrying about me—I”m not even with the company right now. He needs to worry about his own character and drawing big money for the company. “Oh, the business is in a down cycle.” That’s very convenient. In my view, he’s not where he should be with the amount of TV time invested in him. So, don’t worry about Stone Cold because somewhere along the line, in the transition from being a Greenwich snob to being the toughest guy to ever walk in the ring who walks down the ramp all jacked up spewing water, I missed it.” [Anti-Triple H rating: 9]

-On Triple H’s muscle-mass gain: “When I look back at old films from when I was gone in 2000, that was the year Triple H stepped up huge. That was the year Triple H carried the entire company. That’s the year Triple H was a hell of a hand. So knock off 25 pounds and go back to doing that and being one of the best. It’s f–––ing simple.”

-On the status of his marriage to Debra: “I don’t want to get into too many details about that. I’ll just say that it happened. It was a long process. I went to court, I‘ve taken responsibility for my actions. I’m living up to that, and I’m moving on. I ended up filing for divorce, so I tore it up. But we filed for divorce again and we’ve living in separate properties right now. I still talk to her every now and then, and, well, the situation pretty much sucks.” [Anti-Debra Rating: 0]

-On his alcohol consumption: “I've never had a drinking problem in my life. I drink beer on TV. To a large degree, the people writing this on the Internet are complete idiots, and they’re very, very young people. I really love when they talk about the business, about how a match is built or about how this guy is a genius. Oh, it’s just horrible. But the alcohol thing—I don’t know how long I’ve been on probation now, but I haven’t had a drop of alcohol, and I don’t miss you. You break the cycle, and—bam—you’re done.” [Anti-Internet Rating: 9]

-On writers overscripting the TV shows: “I think they should do away with the prefab backstage stuff and let guys go back to relearning what this business is all about… Man, that’s what this business is all about! Ric Flair and those guys in the NWA or World Class Championship Wrestling—they didn’t tell them what to do. You knew your program. That’s how you get depth in this business. That’s how you get your scholarship. You’re put in a situation and forced to response. You can’t have some 25 year old guy hand you a bunch of f–––ing words and draw money that way. The only way you’re going to put feeling back in this business is to [put it] back in the wrestlers’ hands, because that’s where it’s supposed to be.” [Anti-Scriptwriters Rating: 8]

-On his future: “I don’t have a clue as to what’s going to happen when I come back. Like I said, we can start something and see what’s going to happen. I know I’m willing to consider anything. Especially if I get that damn adrenaline going… Starting from where I come back, I don’t want to recreate the old Stone Cold or the Stone Cold from ’99. I’ll be the Stone Cold from 2003, whatever that is… I could have been anything in life. What I turned out to be was an entertainer… Man, I love WWE (although he said earlier he thinks the new name that replaced WWF is “bullsh––”)… Through it all, I’m in the entertainment business. I work for World Wrestling Entertainment. I’m a professional wrestler. That’s what makes me happy.” [Overall Anti-WWE Rating: 1]

Austin seemed more peeved at The Rock for going along with Vince McMahon’s request that he bad–mouth him on TV. Of course, that brings into question whether Austin is just playing into that, in an official WWE publication, in order to add hype to their scheduled WrestleMania match. The fact that all of his other criticism falls in line with what others have said he honestly feels, perhaps he is legitimately upset at Rock, but will work with him nonetheless since that‘s what pros do.

Give credit to WWE because, magazine profit motive aside, they gave Austin opportunity to fire back after they buried him last year after he left.

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