Jerry Lawler Speaks Out – WrestleMania, Vince McMahon, More

Jerry Lawler recently spoke to IGN.com about his match at WrestleMania with Michael Cole and more. Check out the highlights:

On wanting the original WrestleMania to fail: “Well of course the whole world was talking about the first WrestleMania and how it was a huge risk on the part of Vince McMahon. And there were a lot of people at the time that had local promotions, like myself and Jerry Jarrett who were partners in Mid-South in Memphis, Tennessee. We were hoping to see it flop. We were hoping that it wouldn’t catch on and wouldn’t be a success. But as we all know, it did catch on and it did become a success and it’s the crown jewel of WWE pay per view events each and every year. It’s the biggest thing in the sports entertainment world now. But personally, my old personal self-interests at the time, we were worried that if the first WrestleMania went over big then it would spell the end of the local and regional territories. And we were pretty much right. And Vince was right too, in the respect that he thought this thing had legs and would grow and it has. And it’s just become phenomenal.”

On Vince McMahon’s opinion on the Andy Kaufman feud: “I just had Vince McMahon tell me, not that long ago, he said, “Man, you can’t imagine. I’ve never told anyone this but I was actually jealous of the fact that you got to do what you did with Andy Kaufman because I knew that we had the opportunity to do it first and we turned it down. And then all of a sudden you guys were on TV and in New York. You got to be on David Letterman and Saturday Night Live. It just blew up.”"

On whether he would rather face an actual wrestler at WrestleMania: “Would I have preferred for it to be a wrestler? Maybe at first. But now, looking back on the way this has all unfolded and the way it’s going to be now, I couldn’t have had a better opponent. Especially now that it’s so reminiscent of the actual Andy Kaufman feud. I mean here, just like Andy, I’m going in the ring against a guy who’s never competed. Not only at WrestleMania, but anywhere. So the curiosity factor of what will be going through Michael Cole’s mind, other than my fist, makes this the perfect match up here. The people want to see Michael Cole get completely destroyed. They know without the help of Jack Swagger he’s going to be helpless and they know that with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin being in the match as the referee, they know he’s not going to put up with interference and foolishness. So it’ll just come down to me and Cole once that bell rings. So, to me, that’s perfect. Because if I can’t put a major league whooping on Michael Cole, after all the years I’ve been in the business, then something’s wrong.”

Steve Austin Speaks Out: Tough Enough, ‘What’

Steve Austin recently spoke to IGN.com about how eliminations will be handled on WWE Tough Enough and more. Check out the highlights:

On the elimination process: “My job is to sort through these contestants, weed out the weak and find the strong, and look for the person who is strong enough and tough enough and smart enough to be a WWE superstar. You know, there’s a lot of people that can get in this ring at a local or independent level, but it take a real special person to compete at the level of the WWE superstars and divas do. So, it’s my job to weed through that. Some of [the contestants] are green as grass, some of them have never really been in a ring before. Some of them have quite a few years of experience. But I paid a lot of dues when I broke into this business. I want them to learn to respect what goes on inside this 20×20 ring, and just pay some dues, as much as they can, while they’re here, and to learn this business from the bottom up. I just want them to have a sense of really what are the responsibilities of a WWE superstar, and I want them to pay some dues, and I want them to appreciate the rise or fall, but I want them to have a good time while they’re here.”

On “What” chants: “I tell you what, I would have never in a million years went up to Vince and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this thing that I’m going to do and it’s going to make people say ‘What?’ after every pause or break in someone’s promo for the next ten years. I had no idea that even these days, when Michael Cole’s in the ring cutting a promo, if he puts that pause in there, they’ll come with a ‘What?!’ – but it’s been interesting!”

Steve Austin speaks out – RAW return, retirement, & more

IGN.com recently sat down with WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to promote the new WWE All Stars video game. Here are some highlights:

On His RAW Return: “I didn’t get a chance to do exactly everything that I wanted to do because I wanted to give the fans so much more, and they expected more”

On Being Retired & WWE Tough Enough: “I’m close enough — I’m as close as I want to be and can get to it right now by being the host and watching Bill (DeMott) and Booker and Trish (Stratus) put them through their paces .. The days of lighting up 20,000 people every single night of the week, no matter what day it was, and 90,000 on a big show like WrestleMania, that was a blast, but those days are over, and I’ve had some great times in this ring. And when I think back, I’ve got a lot of great memories, and this is about as close as I want to be.”