Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time2011

Paul Heyman:
I was post-producing an ECW television show, and I got a phone call from a friend of mine in WCW informing me that Steve had been fired by Eric Bischoff. So I called Steve on the phone.

Steve Austin:
My phone rings, and there's Paul Heyman calling me. Now, me and Paul had known each other for years down in WCW. I was part of the Dangerous Alliance, he managed me, we traveled together, and just had a blast and man, we just had an instant chemistry, we instantly liked each other and mutual respect. But anyways, so Paul E. goes to Philly and he starts Extreme Championship Wrestling. My phone rings...

Paul Heyman:
"What are you doing?"

Steve Austin:
"Nothing, Paul. Just healing my arm up."

Paul Heyman:
I offered Steve a chance to come to ECW.

Steve Austin:
I said "I can't work, Paul. My arm's busted."

Paul Heyman:
"Can you talk?"

Steve Austin:
"You're gonna pay me once a week to come up there and cut promos?" I said "All right, I'm in."

Paul Heyman:
You know, today someone gets frustrated and

[pantomimes typing on his phone]

Paul Heyman:
they start tweeting and they put- post on Facebook, and they give interviews about how upset they are, and how they're being held back, and how the system doesn't appreciate how great they are. And back in the mid 1990s, there was no platform. I offered Steve a platform.