Steve Austin Speaks On Hogan, Bret Hart, TNA, More

[Black Widow]

Austin speaks at Condemned screening...

Credit: BostonWrestling.com

Thanks to WWE and Lionsgate, over 100 athletes, staff members and fans of the Millennium Wrestling Federation poured into the Boston Common Theatre last night with a turn away crowd for a private screening of "The Condemned," starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Austin was introduced to the crowd by Boston entertainment reporter Sarah Edwards to a huge reaction and greeted the fans for a few moments before the film began.

"The Condemned" revolves around a heel international television producer who buys ten prisoners sentenced to death from different parts of the world to compete on an internet-exclusive thirty hour marathon. The prisoners are forced to kill each other off one by one and the final survivor wins his freedom and cash. Once they hit the island, it's violence, blood and mayhem for an hour and a half. We learn that there's more to Austin's Jack Conrad character than meets the eye. The producer of the kill-a-thon has his staff create a make believe background on Conrad for the program, saying he's killed children, the mentally retarded, was part of the KKK, etc. Conrad really isn't Conrad, he's Jack Reilly, with a girlfriend and her two kids he cares for back in Texas.

Without giving away too much, "The Condemned" is by far the best WWE Films release to date, and you'll thoroughly enjoy it if you enjoy a blow 'em up, beat 'em up action adventure movie with a few sarcastic laughs thrown in. If you have non-wrestling fans on the bubble, tell them to drop the idea that it's a "wrestling" movie and they'll get lost in the action a few minutes in.

On a side note, Nathan Jones, who had a cup of coffee with WWE, is one of the prisoners.

After the movie, Austin took part in a Q&A session with the fans in attendance. Highlights included:

-- Austin said if you liked the movie to tell your friends, if you didn't "keep your mouth shut."

-- Favorite actors included John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Leigh Taylor-Young.

-- When asked about returning to the ring, he says "never say never," but due to health concerns, it's not in his current plans. He put over working WrestleMania 23 with Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. He's focused on the future and would love to star in more action adventure movies.

- When asked about Samoa Joe, Austin really wasn't familiar with him, but feels that if TNA is going to compete with WWE, they need to get rid of the six sided ring and bring back the proverbial squared circle.

-- Austin is under contract to WWE Films for two more movies and would like to do "thirty more" after that.

-- In regards to the difference in pay between pro wrestling and movies, it's simply "a lot."

-- Asked who is on his future stunner list: "not Donald Trump."

-- John Cena's name drew some boos from the crowd, but Austin feels he's doing a great job carrying the ball as the top guy in the company. Austin's told him to enjoy the ride and make as much money as possible because you never know when you're going to wake up and it will be over.

-- When asked if how the Guerrero family is doing, "Stone Cold" said he had a chance to speak with Chavo and Vicki over WrestleMania weekend but is so busy right now he really isn't keeping in close contact with anyone in the business right now aside from Kevin Nash.

-- Austin shares a story about DDP visiting his Malibu, CA home and wearing him out with an intense
yoga session.

-- Favorite Boston memories include defeating Shawn Michaels for the WWF Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 14, and having fans almost tip over a cab he shared with Brian Lee after a house show.

-- Enjoyed working with Vince McMahon because he loves being hated and was willing to do whatever it took for the fans enjoyment.

-- When presented "The Condemned" script, he wanted to take the role as the heel killer on the island but Vince wanted him to be Jack Conrad and it worked well.

-- When asked about the infamous Montreal Screwjob, Austin says McMahon did what he had to do as Bret Hart was the champion leaving for another promotion. He says everyone in the room would have did the same thing if they were in Vince's shoes.

-- Finally, when Austin was asked about the possibility of Austin vs Hogan, he said "that one's a
never!"

After the Q&A, Austin signed autographs and posed for photos for well over an hour. Sarah Edwards was trying to "take it home" a few times but Austin said the Q&A could keep going. It was nice to see a star of his magnitude be so unbelievably good to the fans.


411mania.com

[legolas4792]

is he best friends with kevin nash?