Source: heymanhustle.craveonline.com

Paul Heyman: Stone Cold finds life after Pro Wrestling....

I had dinner in New York City recently with UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar and the star of the newly-released DVD action adventure film "Damages," Steve (I'm Still Stone Cold, But Don't Call Me By That Name) Austin. Lesnar was in town for UFC 111, where Shane Carwin and Frank Mir would battle for the right to step into the Octagon against Brock on July 3rd for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World. With the possible exception of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao agreeing to a boxing showdown this calendar year, there is little doubt Lesnar's return on July 3rd will draw the biggest pay per view buyrate of 2010.

Austin, of course, is carving out a niche for himself in Hollywood. His next movie, already completed, is a star-studded blow-'em-up called "The Expendables," starring everyone from Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Randy Couture, and Mickey Rourke to The Governator himself, Arnold Schwartzenneger. Even his worst critics would have to admit Austin delivers a Charles Bronson-like performance in "Damage," and I can personally attest to the fact several producers are clamoring for Austin to headline the next series of action adventures Hollywood wants to kick out.

Lesnar is returning from a near-death experience, a bout with Diverticulitis and Diverticuloisis that almost necessitated a surgery so severe, it would have had the same impact on his career as an amputation. His return to excellent health is, as he described it, nothing short of a miracle.

Austin is defying the odds, staying away from the wrestling profession (besides the film-promoting opportunity to appear as guest host on a recent edition of Monday Night Raw), when in fact most top stars who leave eventually end up coming back. Steve's star is on the rise in Hollywood, and his recent media appearances promoting the movie have been met with well-deserved praise.

I first met Steve in 1991 when he came to World Championship Wrestling. I was Jim Ross' color commentator, and after a falling out with management (really? I had a falling out with management? ME???), I was brought back as the "CEO of The Dangerous Alliance," managing (amongst others) Ravishing Rick Rude and the WCW Television Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin.

I next got a chance to collaborate with Steve when he came to work for me in the original ECW. It was September, 1995, and Steve had just been fired unceremoniously by Eric Bischoff in one of the all time greatest blunders since the Boston Red Sox sent a hard living pitcher to the New York Yankees by the name of George Herman "Babe" Ruth. This was a do-or-die period in Steve's life, as he knew he had to grab the business by the balls to make an impact, or just go down in history as another guy who "should have been someone special."

It was around 4 or 5 in the morning when Steve sat down in a chair and cut that legendary interview, shooting all over WCW but never stepping out of storyline. Everyone in the room was in awe. Sometimes, you just know when you've witnessed magic, and on that night, the ECW crew was treated to the moment when Steve Austin found himself ... and the wrestling business, just a short time later, would dramatically change because of the profound cultural impact of the character only he could pull off.

Just a few days ago, as a matter of fact, Steve referenced the interview on his Twitter page (www.twitter.com/@steveaustinbsr), tweeting "one of the defining promos of my career. gave me a sense of who and what i could be in my career. thank you Paul Heyman!!"

By the time Steve and I worked together again, we were both working for WWE (then WWF), and the world had changed. Steve had become the single biggest star in the business, a one man cottage industry for Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and I was on the air as a color commentator and behind the scenes as a writer.

Steve hated the WWE writing team, and he made no bones about it.

But in 2002, a new factor entered into the equation. The NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Brock Lesnar, who had been recruited by Gerry Brisco under Jim Ross' Talent Relations Department, was bring called up to the main roster. Lesnar was being shown the ropes, wrestling in non-televised "dark matches" at Raw and Smackdown tapings, and riding with Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle and Smackdown color commentator Taz. Seeing all the antiquated, out-of-touch advice Lesnar was being offered by the agents/producers at the time, Taz came to me and whispered "this guy is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. You're not going to see another one like this come along for a long long time!"

I introduced myself to Brock, and struck up a conversation. His dark matches that week were with Funaki and Spike Dudley. The advice I gave was quite simple, but Brock soaked up the information like a sponge, and there was no turning back. We hit it off tremendously. There was no doubt in my mind this 6'3'', 295 pound monstrous athlete was indeed "The Next Big Thing."

Vince scrapped his plans for me to manage Chris Benoit as a heel and paired me with Brock. We started on Monday Night Raw, doing a run-in the day after Wrestlemania. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me as a performer. Brock Lesnar was a goldmine.

Meanwhile, Steve Austin's relationship with the writing team was going from bad to worse. Steve appeared on the WWE's very own Internet program, "Byte This," and ripped into the writing team. Jim Ross, head of Talent Relations and Steve's best friend, tried to broker a peace, but the situation was spiraling too fast.
Austin was sour on the WWE product. He was not happy with the lack of upward mobility displayed afforded the characters on Raw, therefore depriving him of new, fresh, quality opponents. The nWo had come in, but fizzled out quickly. Hulk Hogan, a true dream match if there ever was one, was already a babyface, and was losing steam once the standing ovations following his Wrestlemania match with The Rock wore thin. And the "end all, be all," Vince McMahon, with whom the buck always stopped, just wasn't making the same amount of time for Steve as he used to.

Steve was one pissed off hombre.

Vince wasn't all smiles at the time, either.

One Friday afternoon, he tore into the Raw team as if they ate his last protein bar. Where's the new, must-see matchups? Where's the fresh blood in the main event? Why aren't you exploiting your resources? What's so "Raw" about Raw nowadays?

It was a brutal ass chewing. I'm not saying the Raw didn't deserve it, but they got it, that's for sure.

The original plan for Raw changed throughout the weekend. Vince didn't like anything Brian Gewirtz and Ed Koskey were pitching. And then, on late Sunday night, a totally revised show was sent out via email. The main event for Monday Night Raw, live from Atlanta, Georgia, would be the number one star on the show, Stone Cold Steve Austin, against the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, "The Next Big Thing" Brock Lesnar.

The shit, as they say, was about to hit the fan.
Steve Austin walked out of the arena in Atlanta, Georgia before Vince McMahon arrived. It was the greatest insult Austin could hurl at the Chairman of the Board. Vince loves confrontation. He got in a 2 second physical altercation with Bret Hart and used it as the catalyst to create the "Mr.McMahon" character. Imagine if he "tossed furniture" with Stone Cold Steve Austin!

Steve didn't give Vince the satisfaction of hearing "fuck off" or "I don't like it." Steve was done. He had enough. In his mind, the company's plans for him were revealed not in the fact that Lesnar was set to win the match, but in the lack of foresight to want to do the match in the first place!

To Steve, this was the last straw. How could he, with a clear conscience, perform on a nightly basis with a surgically repaired neck and a brutal travel schedule, when he had zero reason to believe the company he had busted his ass for was going to continue their phenomenal ride of success? Austin vs Lesnar wasn't the issue. Austin vs Lesnar, with zero buildup, placed in the main event slot of just another Monday night ... a Monday night, mind you, with no competition breathing down WWE's neck any more ... scheduled last minute over the weekend so the Raw writing team could get Vince off their backs ... THAT was the issue!

So Steve went home. Brock never took it personally. Truth be told (8 years later), Brock thought "Austin vs Lesnar" with no buildup was a dumb idea, too. Of course, he didn't hear about it until all hell broke loose, and Austin had walked out. But Steve and Brock never had a chance to talk about it.

Less than two years later, Brock's tenure in WWE was coming to an end. Much like Steve, Brock became frustrated with certain things (longer story for another day), and decided it was time to "jump off the train."
Brock was scheduled at Wrestlemania XX in Madison Square Garden against Bill Goldberg. Just to make it a really fun evening for all those involved, Goldberg, who had debuted in WWE only one year earlier, was leaving after their match as well.

The guest referee for Lesnar vs Goldberg? Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had made his peace with Vince McMahon and was doing the "Sheriff Austin" gimmick at the time.

The event took place March 14, 2004.

Flash forward six years, almost to the very day.

New York City.

Brock Lesnar, UFC Heavyweight Champion, signifying him as the best fighter on the planet. Steve Austin, a man who never officially announced a retirement from pro wrestling, but who has done everything in his power to move on, pursue new projects, become a mainstream movie actor.

Just sitting at the table with these two friends of mine, I realized how extraordinary each one of them is. Lesnar, who decided the wrestling business just wasn't for him, and became the first man in history to hold the NCAA, WWE, and UFC Heavyweight Championships. The number one attraction on pay per view today.

Austin. The biggest pro wrestling attraction of the pay per view era, the hottest merchandise seller of his era, who knew when his time was up, and walked away with grace, dignity, and his pride intact.

And yet, despite the fact all three of us, in some way, have done our best to leave it all behind, go into other ventures, pursue other dreams ... old instincts die hard.

There I was, watching Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar trade barbs, share some laughs, enjoy a dinner amongst friends. And sometime during that night, I thought to myself, "Man, what a Wrestlemania main event THIS could be!!!"

Oh well.

Maybe in another lifetime, right Vince?