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Jim Ross recently recalled how Steve Austin once refused to face former WWE Superstar Marc Mero at a live event.
Although he is best known for his commentary, Ross also used to book WWE’s live event match cards in the late '90s. On one occasion, Vince McMahon wanted Austin to face Mero in the middle of a live show to ensure he could get enough rest before RAW.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said Austin wanted to be in the main event and did not want Mero as his opponent. As a result, Ross was forced to defy the WWE Chairman’s instructions and agreed to Austin’s demands.
“He didn’t wanna work with Marc Mero,” Ross said. “He didn’t give me a specific reason, he just felt it wasn’t right. That’s all he said, ‘It’s just not right.’ So Vince said, ‘You mean he didn’t wanna work with him?’ I said, ‘I don’t know what the deal is.’ I was on the phone with him trying to talk him off the ledge, so the decision to do these things were mine. If you’re gonna get hot at anybody, get hot at me, not Austin. My job is to keep the talent happy and productive.”
Jim Ross said Vince McMahon understood the difficult predicament he was in. The veteran commentator further clarified that McMahon did not punish Steve Austin in any way for refusing to face Marc Mero.
Steve Austin was also hesitant to work with Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit
Kurt Angle recently discussed his Steel Cage match against Chris Benoit on the June 11, 2001 episode of RAW. While both men were keen to impress Steve Austin with their in-ring work, their plan to produce a spectacular match almost backfired.
The 2017 WWE Hall of Famer said on The Kurt Angle Show that Austin was “scared off” to face both men after their physical match.
"We were upcoming talent,” Angle said. “Austin was out there watching the match. We were trying to impress Austin. I think we went way too far because we actually scared him away. We were trying to show him that we wanted to work with him, and he's like, ‘These guys are crazy b*****s, I'm not going to work with them.’” [H/T Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Lennard Surrao]
Steve Austin ended up sharing the ring with Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit dozens of times in the latter stages of his WWE in-ring career. He also feuded with Marc Mero for the Intercontinental Championship in 1996.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
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