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STEVE AUSTIN COMMENTS ON RELATIONSHIP WITH WWE, TOUGH ENOUGH, PODCAST, WRESTLEMANIA 31 AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2015-04-07 09:40:27

On the latest edition of his podcast, Steve Austin addressed reports there has been a falling out between himself and WWE, some of which was a response to things reported here on PWInsider.com over Wrestlemania week. As you might guess, Austin publicly tried to smooth over the idea that there were any issues between the two sides while giving his side of things that PWInsider reported over the last several weeks:

*Austin claimed there was no heat towards him for missing Wrestlemania 31, per rumors. It should be noted PWInsider.com never reported there was any heat on him for missing Wrestlemania. Austin also said he was never part of any Wrestlemania 31 creative. Again, PWInsider.com never reported that he was.

*PWInsider.com did report that WWE expected Austin to attend the weekend as a flight had been purchased by WWE for him to come into San Jose, which Austin never took. Austin specifically stated he was never supposed to be on the same flight into San Jose as Undertaker - PWInsider did report in our Elite section that he was and I stand by that report. Now, whether Austin was even aware WWE purchased travel for him I cannot confirm. However, as we reported Mania week, when Austin did not fly into San Jose, it was a topic of conversation among those within the company.

*PWInsider.com also reported that when the backstage area for Wrestlemania was set up, there was a clearly marked locker room for Austin, so again, the company obviously expected him to be there at some point leading into Wrestlemania. There were marked locker rooms for every "name" expected to be at the event, with the exception of The Rock, who dressed in an unmarked room.

*PWInsider.com did report, in our Elite audio section, that we had heard there was an issue regarding Austin's podcast on the WWE Network that led to friction between the two sides. On the podcast, Austin said there was going to be a deal made between the two sides for him to continue doing the podcast on the WWE Network and then the deal wasn't made. Austin did not discuss what happened that lead to a breakdown between the two sides, but his comments confirm our report that there was an issue. Obviously, Chris Jericho is now doing the podcast instead.

*PWInsider.com did report, again in our Elite audio section, that Austin turned down a new season of Tough Enough, which WWE was especially not thrilled about. Austin addressed that as well, saying that he wanted to do the show but WWE didn't film when he originally expected them to do so (February into March) and now it's April and the show still hasn't launched production. Austin also noted that he wanted to do Tough Enough but now CMT is producing new episodes of his "Broken Skull Ranch" reality series and he could not do Tough Enough due to CMT commitments. So, he confirms our report that he was off Tough Enough.

Austin said that he has no heat on his end with WWE and "guesses" there is no issue on their end towards him. He then noted that he was going in his own direction and the company was going in their own, but down the line, they would work again. Austin's comments echo what I said in the Elite section of PWInsider.com while discussing the story last week - that while none of this was expected to be a major issue going forward and that in the end, they will spend time away from each other before working together down the line. But, Austin did confirm that there were two separate WWE projects that he was linked to that he is no longer doing.

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