Steve Austin Speaks On WWE Rumors: Turning Down Tough Enough, Missing WrestleMania, Network Podcast

WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin addressed some rumors surrounding his status with the company on the latest episode of The Steve Austin Show. You can hear the full interview at this link. Below are some highlights:

* Austin said there is no heat on him from WWE for allegedly missing WrestleMania 31 Week. He brought up the rumor that he was supposed to be on a flight with The Undertaker and said that was not true.

* Austin said he was never a part of any creative discussions for him to participate at WrestleMania 31. Austin said he didn't turn anything down, he simply wasn't there and was never scheduled to be there.

* Regarding Tough Enough rumors and heat between Austin and Vince McMahon, Austin said he did not turn the show down. He said he's been talking with WWE about Tough Enough for some time and it was supposed to be filmed in February-March but we're in April and it still hasn't happened. Austin said the delay was nobody's fault as it takes a lot of work for the different pieces of a reality show like Tough Enough to come together. When WWE got their pieces together, CMT wanted to do more Broken Skull Challenge and Austin couldn't do Tough Enough due to the BSC commitments. Austin said he didn't turn down Tough Enough because of heat with Vince and scheduling problems are why he couldn't do the show. Austin said he wishes he could do Tough Enough but it didn't work out. Austin said in a perfect world, he would have filmed Tough Enough in February-March and that would have been it.

* Austin also addressed the rumors about his podcast not being on the WWE Network. Austin said they did the first two and were going to make a deal to move forward. He said there was a deal that could have been made but it wasn't and they're not moving forward but there's no heat there. Austin he heard Vince wasn't happy with some of his questions for Triple H and Austin said that's not true.

* Austin said WWE is going in their own direction and he's going in his and down the road if they hook back up, it'll be gangbusters. Austin said he will always have WWE in his blood. He acknowledged both sides have helped each other over the years and said it's always a good thing and a fun thing when WWE and Steve Austin are in business together. Austin guesses there is no animosity towards him from WWE's point of view and said he has no heat with them. Austin said, "No heat, nowhere. It's cool, moving on..."

What Sean Waltman Has Said About Triple H Potentially Assaulting Chyna, More on Waltman’s Own Issues with the Former Diva

As we reported several weeks ago, Chyna revealed during an interview with Vince Russo that while she and Triple H were in a relationship, Triple H physically assaulted her. Triple H quickly issued a statement denying the assault claim.

In an update on that story, Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer reports Sean Waltman, who also had a relationship with Chyna, has told him a similar story about Triple H assaulting Chyna, but later admitted all Triple H did was push Chyna out of the way.

No further details were provided by Waltman as he said he cared not to be involved in a “mudslinging” story with Triple H and Chyna.

Furthermore, while Waltman was an admitted junkie during his relationship with Chyna, he revealed the claim she makes in her book, which is that she was raped in college, is not true as Chyna later told Waltman it wasn’t true.

Additionally, Waltman has denied much of what Chyna had to say publicly about him during the time they were together.

**Update**

Waltman posted the following response on his twitter page:

"I haven't read whatever was written about me in The Observer, so it's hard to comment. One thing I can tell you is that Paul never hit Joanie."

Rumor Mill - Chyna accuses Triple H of hitting her during their relationship breakdown

Well, Stone Cold Steve Austin really opened up a can of worms when he asked Triple H whether his ex-girlfriend Chyna would ever be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame last Monday on his podcast for the WWE Network, and I'm sure he, nor Hunter, was fully aware of what the consequences would be.

Maybe The Cerebral Assassin could have predicted the inevitable accusations of hypocrisy and sexism that followed over his excuse that Chyna's porn career would exclude her from the institution in today's PG-rated environment. Even the criticisms of on-air bullying by Chyna's friend Vince Russo could be taken for granted. But I don't think even Hunter himself would have forecasted that Chyna would give a lengthy interview for the VIP section of Russo's website PyroAndBallyhoo.com giving full details of how their relationship broke down, including allegations of domestic violence against WWE's current Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative.

It was well known that Chyna was the last person in the company to know about Paul Levesque's affair with Vince McMahon's daughter, Stephanie McMahon. Thus, the anecdote that Triple H once stood up Chyna at an arena whilst unbeknownst to her he flew with Vince and Stephanie to the next town in their corporate WWE jet isn't all that shocking, even though it's still objectionable behaviour.

However, what was surprising was Chyna's new claim that Triple H had assaulted her during an argument where she confronted him with her suspicions that something was going on behind her back:

"So I think Hunter's plan was to get me to leave the relationship first and then that way he can start dating Stephanie and like everything would be cool. So I would ask Hunter time and time again, I figured it was better just to address the problem and ask him honestly and I would have to believe his answer, so we got into a heated argument, we were not getting along, I told him 'I know something's going on. Don't tell me something's not going on.' He swiped my hand, I swiped his hand, he hit me. I went back like Jerry Springer and then I was like OK that's the deal breaker for me, the relationship is now over, so now I have to leave. After that, I know that he was crying and I know that he felt bad that he hit me, and my first initial reaction was to get up, and like I don't know, I was just in shock and it felt like a Jerry Springer moment, it was very surreal, and I just couldn't believe that he hit me. But he knows that like I don't stand for physical violence, albeit we'll get to that after with Sean [Waltman], so I knew at that point I had to leave, but I needed some sort of closure so when he was gone I started looking all over the house, and I looked into his, long story short, I looked into his briefcase and I found a love letter from Stephanie that had [been] dated a year back, so the whole time they were doing the storyline basically they were together."

I think it's important to stress that we have absolutely no reason to believe that these allegations are true, but equally, Chyna would be very foolish to make up such stories against an executive of a publicly traded company. As always, in such private incidents, the only people who know the truth are the two parties involved.

Chyna's tale then returned to familiar territory, as she corroborated the story in Matthew Randazzo V's book Ring Of Hell that immediately upon finding out that Triple H was two-timing her with the boss's daughter, she rung Vince McMahon himself up to inform him of the news, only to be told in no uncertain terms not to kick up a fuss about it:

"And I immediately called Vince McMahon, and got him out of a meeting that he was in and he said 'Chyna, what's so important that you have to talk to me right now.' I told him, because in my mind I was thinking he doesn't know, of course Hunter's not going to be dating his daughter, it's secret, he's gonna be on my side right? Well, doh. He said, 'Well, I hope you don't lose your job over this.'"

Chyna then details the environment backstage on the first Monday Night Raw after her break-up with Hunter, how he gave her the cold shoulder and never even spoke to her again until many years later (when he picked up Chyna's then boyfriend Sean Waltman for rehab), whilst Stephanie later pulled her aside and gave her a good ticking off.

Later in the interview, Chyna criticised WWE for ignoring her many pleas for help whilst she was plagued with substance abuse problems and suggested that this was an indictment of their Wellness Policy. The truth to this statement depends on when Chyna contacted WWE, as their open offer of WWE-sponsored rehabilitation for all former talent wasn't made until September 2007, long after her addiction issues began.

For a fuller recap of Chyna's chat with Russo, please read the coverage by DailyDDT.com.

We reached out to WWE for a response to Chyna's allegations that Triple H once hit her. They quickly got back to us and we obtained the following statement from Paul Levesque himself:

"The false statements and reckless allegations made by Joan Laurer (aka Chyna) on a recent podcast about a physical dispute are a complete fabrication. While Joan has had significant struggles in life, this does not justify making such claims."

source: cagesideseats.com

Did Triple H Really Bury Chyna?

I’m sure by now everyone has either listened to or at least read the transcript from the Stone Cold Steve Austin interview with Triple H. While it may not have been the most revealing or groundbreaking of interviews they did touch upon certain topics such as CM Punk, fans booing Roman Reigns and if Chyna should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Chyna part seems to be the most controversial of the comments as it has received a certain amount of backlash namely from one Vince Russo who took to Youtube to dish out a 30+ minute rant about Triple H’s comments. However before we cover the Russo rant let’s address what Triple H actually said that was apparently so bad words like bury and revolting have been attached to it.

So Steve Austin asked if Chyna will ever go into the Hall of Fame to which Triple H replied with the following quotes

“Does she deserve to go into the Hall of Fame? Absolutely.”

“Completely 100% transcended the business, changed the business, paradigm shifter of the business.”

“Done what no woman had ever done before and was awesome at it and a phenomenal talent.”

“From a career standpoint should she go in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely.”

Then Triple H spoke about the flip side to the coin and how an eight year old could possibly look up Chyna online and find out about various events that she has participated in since leaving WWE. Triple H made it clear that he wasn’t criticizing her lifestyle choices and that he didn’t know her reasons or care to know it wasn’t a morality thing and it was difficult choice.

At no point did Triple H say she couldn’t or wouldn’t go into the Hall of Fame and, actually, on several occasions put Chyna over in my opinion. Dare I say it Triple H put Chyna over more in those few brief sentences than Chyna has put herself over the last 14 years.

Still this did not stop other people from looking at the comments differently and indeed Vince Russo took real objection to what Triple H had to say and put this video up. Please be warned that this video goes over 30 minutes and does contain mild swearing.

I appreciate Russo is trying to stick up for a friend but unfortunately his rant was filled with so many mistakes and silly comments that it could be argued that him interviewing Chyna will do more harm than good.

More?

Update on Chyna’s Response to Triple H & Hall of Fame Comments; Dropping Tell-All Interview Next Week

Late Monday night Triple H was the guest on a live edition of The Steve Austin show, hosted on the WWE Network. During the interview, Triple H was asked about Joanie Laurer (aka Chyna) being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and had the following to say:

“From a career standpoint should she be in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. It’s a bit difficult though. If an 8-year-old kid sees the Hall of Fame, and goes on the internet – ‘who is Chyna, I’m 8-years-old I’ve never heard of her, so I go type that in’ and what comes up? I’m not criticizing life-style choices. I don’t know what they were, and I don’t care to know. It’s not a morality thing or anything else, it’s just the fact of what it is, and that’s a difficult choice.”

The Game is obviously referencing Laurer’s pornography career, as the former Intercontinental Champion has starred in a number of adult films since 2004. In response, her official Twitter account (@ChynatheIcon) thanked wrestling fans for “keeping her name out there” and even hoped a “dialogue” could be started following the podcast.

Wrestlezone has since learned that the thoughts expressed Monday night were NOT made by Joanie Laurer, but rather by an individual who runs her account. She was not aware of the comments made by Triple H, and the Twitter response made does not accurately reflect her thoughts on the issue.

Chyna recently sat down with Vince Russo to vent her true feelings about the Hall of Fame, as well as issuing some never-before-heard statements about Triple H, WWE and her departure from the company. The must-see, controversial interview will go live on pyroandballyhoo.com next Monday.

Chyna Responds to WWE Hall of Fame Talk After Triple H Interview, Says She's Tried to Contact WWE

Former WWE star Chyna was trending on Twitter last night after Triple H and Steve Austin talked about her possibly going into the WWE Hall of Fame on their live WWE Network interview.

Chyna tweeted the following in response:

Wow. I just put my Twitter on and I have all of these messages. Never been a trending topic before. I understand that the question was asked why am I not in the HOF? I have my reason as to why however, let me make this clear. If the WWE was ever to say that I was going to be inducted, either as part of the groundbreaking DX or as an individual, well, my answer would be what a friend of mine us to say in the ring, O HELL YEAH! It just want to take a minute and thank all of the fans that keep my name out there. You have no idea what it means to me. I love you all. I have contacted the WWE several times over the years. They have not responded back.

Steve Austin - Triple H Interview Recap - Feelings on CM Punk, Chyna - HOF, Brock Lesnar's Future, More

We're live from backstage at the Pepsi Center in Denver with Steve Austin and Triple H. Austin talks about how hot fans were when sending feedback for the podcast. Austin brings up the controversy surrounding the Royal Rumble. Austin says it seems like kayfabe is dead and asks Triple H how hard it is to book with that. He says it's rough. Triple H brings up the different component that is the internet and how fans quickly see when the company gets behind someone. Triple H brings up how some places were booing Roman Reigns out of the building because they think that's the push he's getting but nobody booed him at this weekend's live events. Austin says some fans feel like Reigns hasn't earned the push yet. Triple H says there's one guy calling the shots - Vince McMahon. Triple H says the Rumble was talked over and debated. He says there were lots of suggestions. He says Vince takes all those ideas and puts them together. Triple H says nobody is perfect - Vince, himself and the writing team. He says Vince doesn't always make the right call but has a pretty good track record.

They give props to Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan for their match on RAW. Austin brings up the resentment for Reigns and Triple H says it's a tough environment. Triple H talks about how half of the people have booed John Cena while half have cheered him but he was selling out arenas. Triple H says it's hard to find the star that every single person likes. Triple H talks about how they knew who they were targeting in the Attitude Era but now there are so many age groups and demographics that they cover. Triple H mentions how dirt sheets were rare back in the day but even major media outlets give you the inside of the business these days. Austin says he hasn't seen Twitter feedback yet but believes that tonight's RAW may have quelled some of the resentment towards Reigns. He says Reigns shined tonight and what he did at the end of RAW helped him. Austin says he needed that and Triple H agrees. Triple H says people say all the time that Reigns isn't ready and Triple H says nobody is really ready for "that." Austin agrees. Triple H says you think you know what it means to be that guy until you get there and put a whole different world of pressure on yourself.

Triple H talks about how he wasn't ready in 1996 and if he would have won King of the Ring instead of Austin then he would have failed. Triple H says he knew he wasn't ready and doesn't think he would have succeeded. Austin is looking to forward to seeing how the main event picture unfolds going into WrestleMania. Triple H talks about how WWE is a never ending book and you can't really knock today because you don't know what's next. Austin asks what Triple H's exit strategy if he didn't marry Stephanie McMahon. Triple H believes he would be in a similar place, working behind-the-scenes. He says he fell in love with the creative and "making of" pro wrestling as much as the other side. He talks about falling in love with working with talents and other aspects of the business, and talking to Vince McMahon about it long before he got with Stephanie. He talks about what he gets out of working with the talents at NXT. He says hats off to Vince for allowing him that. Austin has our first Twitter question - does he think it's beneficial for a talent to go to a wrestling school and then the PC or work the indies. He says it depends on the guy. He talks about Kurt Angle and praises him, talking about how he picked up the business faster than anyone he's seen. He says sometimes it's hard to knock some of the bad habits of the indies out of a guy. Some indie guys come in and they're a sponge, some come in and think their way is the only way.

More?

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
September 20, 1951

Happy Birthday to Arn Anderson (Martin Anthony Lunde)
September 20, 1958

Shawn Michaels became the first ever "grand slam" winner in the history of the WWF(E) (Heavyweight, I.C., European, Tag)
September 20, 1997

Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chyna form D-Generation X.
September 20, 1997

Vince McMahon gave up the WWF(E) Heavyweight title and declared it vacant.
September 20, 1999

This Day In Wrestling History

Chyna becomes the first and only woman to ever win the WWF(E) Intercontinental title. She defeated Jeff Jarrett at No Mercy.
October 17, 1999

Rumor Mill - DX/Chyna/Ultimate Warrior in the WWE Hall of Fame

Recently there was speculation that Degeneration X would headline the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame inductees with all the members of the group including Chyna being inducted together. However, now it appears the inclusion of Chyna is unlikely due to her recent and continued involvement with the porn industry. There was talk of induction for DX last year as a group but this never materialized due to reports that Triple H wanted to be inducted by himself. Furthermore, the growing speculation is that the Ultimate Warrior will headline the 2014 Hall of Fame class. It is unlikely that either Triple H or Shawn Michaels would want to play second fiddle to the Warrior nor would Warrior want to be pegged behind DX.

source: wrestling observer

Rumor Mill - WWE Inducting DX In The HOF With A Controversial Member Next Year?

It looks like DX as a group will be the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame headliners. They were going to go in this year until WWE worked out a deal with Bruno Sammartino.

The big news coming out of a possible DX induction is the return of Chyna to WWE TV. Word going around WWE is that she will be invited. Sources close to Chyna are also aware of a possible induction and there may have been some early communication between the two sides already.

This Day In Wrestling History

42,000 fans attended the WWF and Super World of Sports' WrestleFest event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
March 30, 1991

Triple H kicks Shawn Michaels out of D-Generation X and becomes the leader of the group. Later that night X-Pac, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg join DX with Triple H and Chyna.
March 30, 1998

WWE issued the following:

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. Closes Transaction With Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2001--World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWF - news) today announced that it has closed its transaction to acquire certain assets of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
March 30, 2001

Wrestlemania 24 takes place, featuring Ric Flair's final WWE match. Flair would retire after Wrestlemania, but later come back to wrestle on shows in Australia for Hulk Hogan and for TNA.
March 30, 2008

This Day In Wrestling History

A double World Heavyweight title match in Nagasaki, Japan between NWA Champion Jack Brisco and PWF (AJPW) Champion Giant Baba ends in a draw.
January 23, 1974

Hulk Hogan wins his first WWF(E) World Title defeating The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden.
January 23, 1984

Road Warriors reunited.
January 23, 1996

Eric Bischoff promoted to President of WCW.
January 23, 1998

Chris Jericho defeated Chyna and Hardcore Holly for the WWF(E) Intercontinental title.
January 23, 2000

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Jim Ross
January 3, 1952

Bruiser Brody defeats Fritz Von Erich to win the World Class American Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending Von Erich's 13th reign, which lasted only four days.
January 3, 1977

The Monday Night War entered its final full year, with RAW is WAR defeating Monday Nitro solidly, 6.4 to 3.3.
January 3, 2000

WWF(E) RAW is WAR took place at the brand-new (it opened three days earlier) AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida. That night's RAW featured D-Generation X's "epic" Mankind-bashing film entitled "Have a Bad Day". The show also featured Triple H winning his second WWF(E) Title, defeating Big Show. That night's RAW also featured Stephanie McMahon declaring Chris Jericho and Chyna co-Intercontinental Champions, after their double-pin on the previous week's SmackDown!.
January 3, 2000

This Day In Wrestling History

Bret Hart defeated Bill Goldberg for the WCW World Heavyweight Title and Chris Jericho and Chyna pinned each other to become co-holders of the WWF(E) Intercontinental title
December 20, 1999

This Day In Wrestling History

Larry Zbyszko stripped of the AWA Heavyweight title. He was the last AWA Champion.
December 12, 1990

Chris Jericho defeated Chyna for the WWF Intercontinental title.
December 12, 1999

Triple H defeated Vince McMahon in a No DQ, Falls Count Anywhere match when Triple H pinned him after hitting him with a sledgehammer. Due to the stipulations of the match, if Triple H won, he received a World Title match, and if Vince won, then the marriage between Triple H and Stephanie McMahon would be annulled. However, after the match, Stephanie turned on her father and willingly joined with Triple H thus beginning the McMahon-Helmsley Era.
December 12, 1999

Blast From The Past - Eddie Guerrero talks about Chyna, Vince McMahon, and Triple H

Click here.

This Day In Wrestling History

Chyna becomes the first and only woman to ever win the WWF(E) Intercontinental title. She defeated Jeff Jarrett at No Mercy.
October 17, 1999

This Day In Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
September 20, 1951

Happy Birthday to Arn Anderson (Martin Anthony Lunde)
September 20, 1958

Shawn Michaels became the first ever "grand slam" winner in the history of the WWF(E) (Heavyweight, I.C., European, Tag)
September 20, 1997

Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chyna form D-Generation X.
September 20, 1997

Vince McMahon gave up the WWF(E) Heavyweight title and declared it vacant.
September 20, 1999

Former WWE Diva Ivory comments On Chyna, Tough Enough, Miss Kitty, More

Lisa “Ivory” Moretti was recently interviewed by RingbellesOnline.com about Stacy “The Kat” Carter using Jerry Lawler, hating the finish to her WM 17 match with Chyna and more. Here are the highlights:

On what caused her to go to the GLOW audition, and why she stuck around: “I went there because my girlfriend Nadine – who was my tag team partner Ashley – was an actress, so she got a call for an audition. So she wanted to drag me over there because we were friends from our cheerleading days… I didn’t know anything about wrestling and didn’t want to get squashed by a bunch of big, huge musclewomen but when I met Mando [Guerrero], he was the guy that turned me on to wrestling because he was so passionate about it.”

On being a Tough Enough trainer: “I wouldn’t have picked Linda Miles [to win Tough Enough 2]. I avidly said that when we had our sit-downs to decide who would stay and who would go – I mean, it was just all up to us, of course – but Linda Miles definitely has great charisma, but I knew she had an ego problem and I outwardly said ‘I will shoot myself in my foot if Linda Miles gets picked,’ because I don’t want to share a locker room with her.”

On standing up Ricky Steamboat at the Cauliflower Alley reunion last month: “I had a date with Ricky Steamboat to go to the pool and have a vodka rocks with him, the the GLOW girls said, ‘We’re all getting together for lunch, you gotta do that,’ and I was like, ‘Ooh, Ricky Steamboat and vodka or all the girls at lunch.’ And I did the girls and lunch because there are more of them and this is the beginning and we’ve all got to stick together… I hoped he would have forgotten, but then later at the banquet he reminded me, and he couldn’t find me. I was like, ‘Oh, man! Did I just blow it!’”

Her opinion of Stacy “Miss Kitty” Carter: “She was a poison. She used her Jerry Lawler card just to get on board and Jerry Lawler was an announcer, so he’s got a lot of push on who he can say great things about and interject about during his two hours on TV and then he’s also privileged to be in on the writers’ meetings. So here you’ve got a person who comes on board that has somebody rooting for them. She snuck her way into an angle with Chyna as the Mini-Me girl; look at all the stuff she got on board with that was already existing without her help – Right To Censor… she [even] got in on the Women’s Title and what did she do with it? Nothing.”

On Chyna squashing her at WrestleMania X-Seven: “She was a taker in the ring, not a giver… The only regret I have is that I should have kicked out at WrestleMania. If Mae and Moolah taught me anything, it was, ‘It’s live, do what you want to do.’ And when she lay on me like she did at the very end, I thought, ‘That is so rank’… and then the very next day at lunch, Stone Cold said to me ‘I didn’t like the way she pinned you.’ I said, ‘Me neither!’ “He said, ‘You should have kicked out.’ And I said, ‘That’s what I was thinking!’”