Jim Ross Recalls Steve Austin Refusing to Work with Marc Mero at a Show

– During the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross recalled a story about Steve Austin refusing to work with Marc Mero at a show in Los Angeles. Ross recalled that people refusing to work with people was very rare, but remembered the Stone Cold situation as one of the few examples. Highlights are below:

On Austin not wanting to work with Mero: “The only time I ever heard anybody — Stone Cold told me one time, we booked him with Vince’s assistance with Marc Mero in LA. And that didn’t go over well. And Steve didn’t even know who he was working with until he got to the building. And then he got to the building and he’s working with Mero. Jack Lanza called me, one of the agents. He said, ‘Our boy Stone Cold is pissed, JR.’ I said, ‘How come?’ ‘Well he didn’t want to work with Mero tonight.” Okay. And what else? ‘Well, we had had him going on in the middle of the card so he could get on the road early to do TV.’ And I said, ‘Yeah?’ And he said, ‘He don’t like that either.’ I said, ‘He don’t like anything today, does he?'”

On talking with Austin about it: “I said, ‘Okay, gimme a second.’ So I rebooked the card, got Austin another opponent. He didn’t work with Mero, and he went on last. So I see him at TV and I said, ‘Look. Vince wanted you to work with Mero. That wasn’t my original idea, I’m not just passing the buck, if I was I’d tell you.’ So he didn’t want to do that. He said, the thing that stuck out to me was, ‘I worked my whole god-damned life to be able to close the show at a WWF event. And we’re in the second-biggest market in the nation. And you guys want me to go on in the middle of the card. I’m gonna close the show, period.’ So I said, ‘Sounds good to me! Just trying to help you out here.’ And there was no big argument, that was his contention.”

On Vince’s reaction to it: “But in all the years I was there, other than Scott [Hall] and Dustin [Rhodes], and Steve and Marc Mero, there was no issues in that respect. So it was kind of unusual. And Vince didn’t take well to that stuff. I know when he got the agent report about Steve and Mero, he said, ‘What the hell happened to Mero and Austin?’ I said, ‘Well, Austin didn’t wanna work with him.’ So it was pretty simple.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.