"If you want to send me footage, I'll gladly watch it" - Former AEW star says Steve Austin gave him his phone number (Exclusive)

As Stone Cold Steve Austin prepares for his WrestleMania return, several pro wrestling personalities from WWE, AEW, and beyond have shared their memories of interacting with the Hall of Famer.

Marty "The Moth" Martinez appeared on Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted this week, and the former Tough Enough contestant revealed the support he received from The Texas Rattlesnake in 2011.

Steve Austin hosted Tough Enough's season five and even gave the former AEW Dark wrestler his phone number later as he was interested in watching the talent's tapes.

"After Tough Enough, Stone Cold Steve Austin literally gave me his phone number and said, 'Hey, if you want to send me footage, I'll gladly watch it.' I was like, 'Absolutely; I want to send it to Stone Cold Steve Austin.' So, I took a lot of his advice after, but what got me originally influenced was Shawn Michaels, The Heartbreak Kid," recalled Marty 'The Moth.' [24:47 - 25:07]

Martin Casaus also spoke about Tough Enough's old format and how during his time, participants were eliminated after discussions between the trainers and not based on votes from the audience

The former AEW star liked that Tough Enough was not a "popularity contest" when he battled with other rookies on the reality series.

"In my season of Tough Enough, actually, the coaches were the ones eliminating instead of the fans," stated Martinez. "So, we would do our day of work however long it was even before we were eliminated; I don't remember nowadays; holy crap, it's been ten years now. They would go in the rooms and converse amongst themselves about who the bottom three were, and then Stone Cold said who the last guy to go was. I was on the show where coaches did get to pick, and I liked it that way, and I would rather have that than a popularity contest." [11:15 - 11:52]

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Former AEW star Marty "The Moth" Martinez reveals who he connected with the most in Tough Enough

Marty Martinez was one of the favorites in Tough Enough, and while he eventually failed to win the competition, the wrestler made a few good friends along the way.

After Tough Enough, the ex-AEW wrestler revealed that he maintained a close relationship with fellow contestants A.J. Kirsch, Eric Watts, and Matt Cross (Matthew Capiccioni). Interestingly enough, Kirsch and Watts also attended Martinez's wedding.

Martinez, who currently trains at the QT Marshall-helmed Nightmare Factory, also revealed a wrestler from Tough Enough who was not the easiest to work with:

"From Tough Enough, I really had a great time, and I connected with A.J. Kirsch and Eric Watts and Matt Cross," revealed Marty. "Those three were the ones I just gelled with; Matt Cross, unfortunately, didn't last super long, which as a competitor standpoint, it was sweet winning; as soon as he was gone, I was like, 'Hurrah, we got this in the bag' (laughs). But those were the guys I connected with. They were at my wedding. Actually, A.J. Kirsch, Eric Watts, and Matt Cross wasn't there, but he's my boy as well. The ones I had really hard to work with? I try to get along with almost everybody, to be honest, but Luke Robinson was the big heel of that season. So, he definitely had something to prove, and he was very good at what he did at playing that role." [12:05 - 13:06]

Marty "The Moth" Martinez has not wrestled for AEW since his last match in May 2021. The star also revealed what AEW officials told him about his brief stint with the company, and you can read more on that right here.

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