Jim Ross Thinks Steve Austin Held A Grudge Against Owen Hart After Neck Injury

On a recent episode of his podcast, “Grilling JR,” Jim Ross discussed Steve Austin changing his style after a neck injury, Austin not working with Owen Hart in 1998, and more. Here are the highlights:

On Steve Austin changing his style after neck injury: “I had a lot of talks with Steve. I’ve been a friend of his that we needed to just tweak his presentation a little bit and give the people what they wanted. The fans wanted brawling. The fans wanted him to be him hammering the other guy with his right hands and kicks and stomps, and things of that nature. So I said, ‘You’re going to be fine. The fans love you, and what they love is you. They love your persona, your presence, and so forth.’ So that’s kind of how I approached it with him, that we’re still in business, we’re doing good. Just, you gotta get healthy enough to go out there and stomp and kick and not unusual for a babyface to be his style.”

On whether Austin was open to working with Owen Hart in 1997 after the neck injury: “I don’t think Steve was extremely pleased with that opportunity. I think he held a grudge against Owen, because Owen was careless on that pile driver. And Austin paid the price for that for the rest of his career. So I’m not sure Austin would have ever wanted at that time. Now maybe later on, it would have been a different ball game. But at that time, Owen was not welcome into the Austin world.”

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