It was early last week when the two worlds of professional wrestling collided head on, and the result wasn’t exactly what the world of wrestling fans had expected.
It was in 2001 that WWE, the professional wrestling conglomerate owned and operated by Vince McMahon, bought out their only competitors in the business, Ted Turner’s WCW. For almost two decades thereafter, WWE was able to grow to incredible heights with little or no competition. Of course that was until now.
Tony Khan, co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars has decided to throw his hat in the wrestling game with the inception of AEW—All Elite Wrestling; along for the ride are some familiar faces: Names like Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega make the list and they are fresh off of their second event that did very well in both ratings and financial return.
In order to promote the company, Tony Khan visited the set of Steve Austin’s podcast at 316 Gimmick Street in Los Angeles, California, and the two seemed to hit it off instantly. Of course Stone Cold Steve Austin needs no introduction, as he was the single most lucrative draw the company and industry had ever seen since Hulk Hogan and that’s definitely saying a lot. He retired from active competition in 2003.
What was interesting here however, was the fact that Steve Austin has pretty much always been associated with the WWE and his involvement here, promoting AEW, has left many in the industry scratching their heads. The internet is now ablaze with many wondering if Steve Austin would consider a return, if not in a wrestling capacity, then maybe in an announcer’s seat instead. Time will tell of course, although many in the industry consider this unlikely.
During the podcast, they covered many items of interest in the just under one hour and a half conversation, but many were left wanting, as the recent rumors that CM Punk, a WWE expat, would soon be joining the fold at AEW went unmentioned and unaddressed. As did the rumors of turmoil and unrest felt by many at the WWE camp at finally having some worthy competition in the market.
Regardless, the podcast was a success overall, and the ever-growing hype surrounding AEW has risen even more. If you’re interested, as you should be, check out their next pay-per-view, All Out, coming on August 31st.
(Sources: The Steve Austin Show)
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