Steve Austin On Paul Heyman & Roman Reigns’ Alliance, Charlotte Flair Appearing On His Show

Steve Austin is a big fan of what Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns are doing in their partnership, and he discussed the alliance and more in a new interview. Austin spoke with Sports Illustrated for a new piece promoting the premiere of Straight Up Steve Austin season two, and you can check out some highlights below:

On Heyman’s alliance with Reigns: “That’s such a great package. They complement each other so well. Roman can work his ass off. He’s always been very solid in the ring, but now there’s this bond and this chemistry between Roman and Paul. That’s what Paul Heyman does. He makes anybody he’s with that much better. It happened for me, too. If you want to suspend your disbelief, you can’t but help believe he’s Roman’s rock of knowledge. The presentation, the package and the chemistry between these two looks and sounds like money.”

On his goal with Straight Up Steve Austin: “My goal is to highlight my guests and facilitate the process. The Straight Up show lasts 30 minutes but it takes all day to film. All the guests were tremendous. Every time we filmed, I was laughing my ass off. I’m really happy with the way it turned out.”

On Charlotte Flair appearing on the show: “Anybody that knows anything about the wrestling business knows that my favorite of all-time is (the Nature Boy) Ric Flair. And even though I’ve known Charlotte for years, this is the longest I have ever spent with her. We had so much fun during that episode. She’s polished, she’s a star, but I think this episode also captures how deep of a person she is outside of the ring.”

On his retirement: “If my issue wasn’t neck and neurological issues, I would have done the same as Brett [Favre] and kept going. When I walked away from the business of professional wrestling, I had to make the call. The doctor didn’t make the call. Vince McMahon didn’t make the call. It was the hardest decision I had to make, one that took me a long time to come to grips with. It was so hard for me to leave the business, so I can understand why Brett chose to hang on as long as he could. He’s one of the top quarterbacks to ever play the game. That’s another episode I really hope people enjoy watching.”