Matt D Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Rollins could bump around the ring for him at least, though. Could he have a sort of misunderstanding face vs face brawl with Ambrose or would that hurt Ambrose since Austin might eat him alive as a personality? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Lacelle Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 You guys need to get over it, Austin is an out of shape reality star/ pod cast guy. The fantasy booking stuff is not unlike reading someone's dreams. Dreadful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 How bad is Austin's neck anyway? I remember the general consensus around 2003 was that he would be risking his life by ever stepping in the ring again. Why does his name keep coming up every year? His C3 and C4 vertebrae (part of the group of vertebrae that connect the head to the body) were pretty knackered by the Owen Hart piledriver, enough that his actual spinal chord was affected, causing issues with numbness, etc. He developed bone spurs in his neck by forgoing surgery for nearly two years. I remember a video package they did when Austin was recovering from his surgery, where the surgeon was explaining that he had to remove parts of the C3 and C4 vertebrae just to relieve pressure, and that was then followed by the traditional fusion surgery - the same kind that the likes of Edge and Lita (who eventually retired completely) have all undergone. It's possible that he is strong enough to have a carefully paced couple of final matches, but whether he passes the medical clearance tests WWE insists on performers taking these days prior to returning to any kind of physical involvement in the company, is another story. To put it bluntly, Austin's pretty fucking lucky that he wasn't left a quadriplegic. His perhaps untimely retirement in 2003 was down to postponing important surgery and worsening an already serious injury. Had he opted to undergo surgery immediately following the injury, things may have been different, but then where would the WWE be today, it was mainly from the popularity of Austin vs, McMahon, that WWE recovered from the beating it was getting from WCW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 I think there's a way to use a legend to get a new guy over without necessarily pissing the crowd off because the legend loses. Someone could wrestle a match and earn Austin's respect or what not. Right, which if you're bringing back Austin to "give the rub" to a younger guy, would be the way to do it. Austin wins, because nobody wants to see Austin lose his comeback match (he lost in his last match way back in 03 vs. Rock) and people would react negatively to seeing him come back and lose. A guy like Ambrose, who is probably the most over guy and best all-around performer in the company right now, would get more over just by working with Austin. Beating Austin? The fans would reject it Let's not forget that what got Austin the most over and is probably his most loved match is a match he LOST @ WM and got over by losing I can't think of a single person on the WWE roster that I would book to beat Austin at this point. I can't think of anyone who I'd book to beat Brock right now either. It wouldn't mean anything. I'm confident enough in Austin and WWE that they know he can come back as a one time deal and put people over in a smart way, and make a lot of money doing so. He doesn't need to lose the big match for that to happen I also agree that if there was the right guy to lose to, Austin would do it. Austin 98 onwards picked his shots with who he worked with and who he did jobs for, but when it was time to lose he would lose. He would job to Punk for sure. But there isn't anybody there who it makes sense for him to lose to right now, imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 I recall Austin saying after his retirement that he was told he had the neck of an arthritic 80 year old, I can't imagine him wanting to risk it. Then again, there keeps being talk that they want to run Wrestlemania 32 in Cowboys Stadium to get an attendance over 100k. I'm sure WWE would feel they'd have to get Austin on the card in Texas to ensure that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 There's a reason why Austin wasn't showing the kids how to bump on Tough Enough. I don't wanna see him in a "let's just work around your obvious handicap" match like Vince and Bret. Do people really wanna see Austin in that type of a match? What are you expecting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Liska Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 If Austin were willing to do a match, it would be such an obvious move on WWE's part to do it for the sake of the Network. All of the other stuff is so small in comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 What's sad is Austin is probably in the best shape of a group made up of him, Bret, Hulk, and Taker. It's good that he seems to both saved his money well and has successful post-wrestling business ventures, so there's going to be no need for him to do it unless Vince backs a dump truck full of money to his ranch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellmania Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 If Austin were willing to do a match, it would be such an obvious move on WWE's part to do it for the sake of the Network. All of the other stuff is so small in comparison. not sure what your point is? The Network is now an integral part of their business model so nearly every decision they make at this point is for the sake of the network. Also as others have said, filling a 100,000 seat arena in Texas will be as big a motivator as any for trying to get Austin in the ring again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 These rumors happen every year and I don't expect it to ever happen. Austin has talked openly about the downside of doing an additional match before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 I don't think Austin should wrestle again. The way he lost his last match was so graceful and full circle that it would ruin it a bit. Having said that, his style isn't based on huge bumps, so they could probably work around the injuries and reduce the risks significantly. If the company policy were different a bloody brawl might have been the way to go. CM Punk is a good shout as an opponent, it seems a natural fit and also [more importantly] Punk's offence is full of strikes and dives where Austin really wouldn't have to take a lot of neck and back bumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Michael Hayes finally joined Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelPSHayes1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Over/Under on Hayes saying something racist and blaming it on a hack or being burnt out? Matt Hardy, Angle, Melina, Taryn Terell, etc. The list goes on. All the dumbshit wrestlers say on Twitter. Michael is not always on his best behavior. I give it until Feb. 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Over/Under on how quickly his "hacks" surpass Kurt Angle's? There's no way Hayes on Twitter ends well for anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hasn't Hayes now stopped drinking though? Wasn't this the problem in the first place, that he would get loaded, and say something completely stupid or racist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 His problem is he would get loaded and forget to not say things he's inclined to say privately in public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 His problem is he would get loaded and forget to not say things he's inclined to say privately in public. So he's a racist and general scumbag with or without alcohol? Does WWE not realise the potential for continued PR nightmares having someone like this in a prominent production position? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Was it ever determined to be true that he was trying to ply Rosa Mendes with booze after she'd been to rehab? I seem to recall it being one of Dave's blind-item-but-not-really-if-you-think-about-it deals when it happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Yeah, I did the same thing. I'll be back in January. I haven't missed the Network for a second. Put some AWA and UWF and Florida and Memphis on there next year and maybe I'll stick around I'm starting to think we'll never get that because the classic archive-motivated subscriber is such a small percentage of the total, and they're too lazy/uncreative/cheap/whatever to market the classic archives so more people will want them. I suppose I could acknowledge that maybe there will never be a large number of people demanding the archives. I wonder if a burn-on-demand system is even possible--their list of offerings would probably never match the deepest of tastes, and a real "anything in the archives" system would require so much manpower it would be absurdly expensive. Still, there must be some way to reconcile WWE's ownership of most wrestling history with the incredible thirst of the few mega-interested people. Maybe they could do Network Gold or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 His problem is he would get loaded and forget to not say things he's inclined to say privately in public. So he's a racist and general scumbag with or without alcohol? Does WWE not realise the potential for continued PR nightmares having someone like this in a prominent production position? Isn't Hayes a goner as soon as Stephy & Trip get full power anyway ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 I haven't heard that about Hayes. Kevin Dunn, yes, but not Hayes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 All I remember is that Hayes got super drunk at Steph's wedding and starting singing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 I love that that was actually mentioned in HHH's documentary, so maybe he's still bitter about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Apparently there's a rather odd rumor going around that Brock Lesnar was absent from Raw on Monday because he had been having heart problems... Brock's always sweated profusely.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted September 24, 2014 Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 I love that that was actually mentioned in HHH's documentary, so maybe he's still bitter about it. I always get the impression that HHH and Steph look at him like he's their drunk uncle who you try to avoid getting seated next to at Thanksgiving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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