Stone Cold Steve Austin on CM Punk

I have just had a read over Stone Cold Steve Austins interview and its interesting to note that he finds CM Punk a great worker, performer and praises his "straight edge" personality stating "theres no smoke and mirrors". Ever since his invisible mic act in the independent circuit (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdRo9JsfBZM), I have been a CM Punk fan and although he hasn't got the push he deserves, I think he is the next Chris Jericho. Do you agree with Stone Cold?

Full article: http://www.straightedgereport.com/2011/04/steve-austin-on-cm-punk.html

A few of us were strangely enough discussing the possibility of Austin v Punk at next years Mania to join with Rock v Cena.

I don't though think Punk is the next Jericho.
Because I actually think Punk is better than Jericho.

Here's the full report:

Steve Austin recently spoke with Xfinity, promoting Tough Enough, here are the highlights:

On CM Punk: I really like C.M. Punk. I think he's one of the top workers in the ring. I love his promos. I love his style. There's no smoke and mirrors. I like the straight-edge lifestyle stuff he does. You want to start pairing that against the beer-guzzling "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, I think you'd have an interesting feud to say the least. He would push me to the limits, I would teach that kid a thing or two, and there would be some wonderful promos going back and forth. I like him a lot.

On Getting In The Ring On Tough Enough: One of the kids was pretty mechanically inclined, so I got in there with him…and shoot, I guess that means I haven't been in the ring in seven or eight years…but I took a few bumps from him, gave him a few bumps, it was a lot of fun. I think if we do it again, I think I'll be even more active and get in the ring a lot more.

On A Possible Return: I could still, you know if I was in a bad situation, I could still get two years out of my carcass on a full-time basis." He then added, " But I'm happy where I'm at. And in ten or twenty years I still want to be doing the things I'm doing with my hunting and fishing. I want to continue to do that in a pain-free fashion. And right now I'm living a pretty pain-free lifestyle.

On WWE's Roster: They're pretty thin on talent, they've had some injuries. They've brought the Rock in to host it. They brought me back. I didn't know if the Undertaker was going to make it, he's had some injuries. Triple H is getting back in the ring. Until they brought all those players out they had a lot of green guys.

That's really interesting. I had no idea Austin's body was holding up so well; it definitely points to a couple of special attraction matches down the line.

The weird thing is, considering Austin was the number one star of the most lucrative era for any promotion in wrestling history, I don't think his return to the ring would mean much. He has been so overexposed in recent years that his appearances don't really feel all that special any more. It also doesn't help that since the last year or two of his career he's become a parody of the character that was so popular. Beer drinking was never a major part of his gimmick when he was really huge, whereas now it's pretty much all he does.

Even after breaking his neck, Austin was very good in the ring and at his peak he was phenomenal on the mic. If that Austin comes back, it's great news for WWE. If Austin comes back with the lazy beer drinking gimmick, and can't cut an inspired promo (it's a long time since his promos had a real meaning to them), and encourages the crowd to say "what?" at everything, and his in-ring work isn't up to scratch, it would just be another obstacle to the fresh, young, new, exciting wrestlers who could be the next batch of main eventers.

I think an Austin / Punk feud would be gold on the mic, but perhaps not at first. I agree with crips that Stone Cold has become something of a parody of himself but I think Punk would be the perfect guy to snap Austin out of it, he'd rip into Austin and force the Rattlesnake to rediscover his edge.

They have been having a mini feud on Twitter recently. I spotted it a few days ago.

Punk would own Austin. End of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pt1HTZUQtM

A taster promo of a future match. Really well put together.

I don't think Punk is the next Jericho. I think he is already far better than Jericho ever was, and I say that as a big fan of Jericho's work.

I’m the same, I will happily admit to being a huge mark for Jericho (I always preferred the spoilt brat Jericho) but Punk for me is another league up entirely.

Theres alot of love for Punk on here recently.

And its all deserved.

The guy is quality and has been my favourite wrestler for the last 6 months atleast, nobody else comes close. I really hope the WWE put the strap on him at some point this year.

I hope Punk doesn't become the next Chris Jericho, he deserves to be one of the main men on RAW or Smackdown, not a stopgap like Jericho was. No disrespect intended to Y2J, as I'm a massive fan of his, but I never really regarded him as a top, top star and I don't think WWE did either. He's the guy they could throw a title on and get back regardless, Punk should be the #1 heel in the company.

I agree with the similarities between Punk regarding Mic ability, size, in ring ability and being loved by the IWC. However, I would say Punk still has a little to go to reach the level Jericho once did. And that's not a reflection on his ability, but rather his booking. A clean victory over Orton one on one would have been huge for hiim, Orton gained nothing from winning. Jericho will always have the accolades of being first undisputed champ and beating Rock and SCSA in the same night. I do think that Punk will surpass what Jericho, and most others, have done in the WWE. He is that good.

Regarding Austin, he has always been my second fav behind the Hitman, and agree with the posts that his appearances since 2005 have been a parody of the Austin of old. It makes sense for the WWE to do this though. I don't know if we saw a return to the old Stone Cold at WM when he stunnered Booker T, his tough enough colleague, but I wanted him to hit King with one also like the old DTA Austin would have. To me he is a bigger star than the Rock, and one year of full time would be help the WWE more than one full time year from the Rock, in terms of elevating other wrestlers.

The only problem is that WWE haven't given him the push that he deserves. There was no reason for Orton to have won at Wrestlemania as he has done it before. Lets not forget though that he has as much of an ego as John Cena. Afterall his politics led to the sacking of Ken Anderson.

Regardless, Orton is a lesser wrestler compared to Jericho and Punk. When Jericho puts another wrestler over it hardly affects his following and CM Punk is now developing in a similar mould. It is a pity though that WWE doesn't use him as a heel champ.