Kevin Sullivan Interviews Steve Austin
Source:  http://kevinsullivanbooks.com/

It took you eight long years to win the WWE Championship, compete with firings and injuries. Did you ever think of quitting prior to your run as WWE Champion?


I never thought of giving up. But I never dwelled on being the world champion either. I when I first broke in in World Class Championship Wrestling–which later turned into the USWA–I was greener than hell. I was just worried about trying to string a match together to go six to eight minutes, then 10 to 12, then 15 … I was just trying to put my time in and learn how to tell a story. I was so caught up in the mechanical end of the business, I was just trying to become a good wrestler. Of course, I watched what the world champions were doing too.

When I came to WWE, I had been out of work … I had a busted arm … I was working for ECW. When I finally got hot and turned into Stone Cold Steve Austin, I still didn’t think about being world champion until I got the championship put on me at XIV.

I never thought about giving up, but I never dwelled on being world champion either, I was just worried about making a paycheck.

You were white hot at the time of your championship win at WrestleMania XIV. At that time, did you realize how much success you were about to experience?


I didn’t think my success hinged on the fact that I was world champion a couple of times. It was more or less because I sold tickets and it was good to put the title on this guy a little bit. But I was probably better at chasing a belt than I was maintaining a belt.