Steve Austin On How Kliq Curtain Call Changed His Life, If Brian Pillman Always Stayed In Character
On episode 366 of The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall Of Famer Steve Austin conducted a question and answer session with fans. Among other things, Austin discussed how the infamous Madison Square Garden 'Curtain Call' benefited him in his professional wrestling career, whether the late great Brian Pillman ever clued him in on his 'Loose Cannon' gimmick, and whether he would ever consider selling the WWE Intercontinental Championship he owns that was held by some of the genre's all-time greats.
On the subject of 'The Curtain Call', Austin said he was confused as he watched it happening from backstage and that he could not believe Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels were breaking kayfabe.
"I'm glad about 'The Curtain Call' now, but I remember being very confused watching it all go down because I was right there, behind the curtain watching it all and I couldn't believe these guys were breaking kayfabe."
According to Austin, he is now glad the 'Curtain Call' incident happened because he took Triple H's favorable position of winning the King Of The Ring tournament. Moreover, the six-time WWE World Champion admitted that he may have stayed a midcarder for his entire professional wrestling career without 'The Curtain Call'.
"Vince [McMahon] wasn't going to screw Shawn Michaels because Shawn was already cantankerous. He was his World Champion and he needed him happy, so he had to punish somebody and he punished Triple H. And he told me, two weeks going in the event I was going to win King Of The Ring. Had I had not won that event, Austin 3:16 would never have happened. 'Cause Stone Cold Said So' would never have happened organically, so I don't know what would have happened. I might have been a midcard guy my whole career. And that's the bottom line. Who knows what would have happened? I'm just glad it did and I'm glad I got the opportunity."
Austin said Pillman kayfabed everyone about his 'Loose Cannon gimmick'. Even though Austin and Pillman were close friends, Pillman never smartened up Austin about his antics and plans.
"Brian didn't smarten anybody up to what he was doing. He worked everybody and if anybody ever talked to Brian, and he dropped some 411 on what he was doing, I'd like to hear it." Austin continued, "but, man, as far as I know, Brian kayfabed everybody on that 'Loose Cannon' s–t. Guys didn't know if he was crazy, shooting, working, what, because there was no separation." Austin continued, "Brian called me all the time, but Brian never called me and said, 'hey kid, here's what I got going next', and he was totally in character 100% of the time. He worked himself out of a contract that was signed. They terminated a contract because he wanted everything to be a shoot and that was the biggest work of all time, to terminate a contract to play into his storyline when he knew he was going to jump, so Brian didn't smarten anybody up to anything."
Also, Austin went on to say that his former tag team partner was way ahead of his time and that it would have been interesting to see how 'Flyin' Brian's professional wrestling career unfolded had he not passed away.
"That guy was way ahead of his time. It really took a lot of guts to do what he was pulling off and it was just absolutely incredible. I really wish Brian would have lived to see, first of all, how the business would unfold, but also, to see how his career could have unfolded, maybe had he gotten that foot or that ankle healthy. But he was a dynamic person, a dynamic personality, hellacious professional wrestler. He was born for the business."
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Source: The Steve Austin Show