''STONE COLD'' STEVE AUSTIN TALKS WWE 2K16 AND SUMMERSLAM

When it was announced that the legendary "Stone Cold" Steve Austin would be on the cover of WWE 2K16, fan reaction was a bit mixed. Many felt that the ass-kicking, beer-swigging mega-star of the Attitude Era was the perfect choice while some thought the honor should have gone to a newer superstar. And while Stone Cold himself certainly sees both sides of the argument, he knows that when "you get that call from Vince to be on the cover, you don't turn it down.

IGN had a chance to speak with Austin in New York at 2K's Summerslam Kickoff Event and ask him what he thought the fans would love most about WWE 2K16 (as well as get a few SummerSlam predictions). "I think the fact that this is the largest roster ever assembled within the confines of a WWE game is great," Austin said. "And also that you can create whatever kind of character that you want. Now, the story mode is highly intriguing because it covers my career from start to finish. So you get to experience that and play through it. Experience a lot of my trials and tribulations along the way."

"Obviously, you can skip that and just play the video game," Austin continued, "but to me I was blown away by it. And for me to be able to look back at my own career through a video game is pretty damn cool. So for a very passionate fan who digs the product, I think it'll be a cool ride for them as well." Austin also mentioned that - bah gawd! - Jim Ross, the iconic voice behind so many classic Stone Cold matches, would be calling matches during his story mode.

What did Austin think of SummerSlam being four hours long this year? "Man, I don't know. It's gonna be interesting," he said. "You're going to have to have a lot going on to fill four hours of action. But if anybody can do it, obviously WWE can. They seem to be the masters of creating content. They've got a very large roster right now. But it remains to be seen. I'll be watching it. It's one of my favorite events of the entire year. It goes - for me - WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Summerslam. The big three. All the rest are very important, but obviously this being four hours is big. That's a hell of a long time to fill. They better have some good stuff. To keep these guys entertained."

Talk then turned to the two SummerSlam main events. Austin chose The Undertaker as his pick to win on Sunday. "I think it's his turn," he said. "And if you go that way then you can take the rubber match to WrestleMania and then Brock goes over and Taker rides off into the sunset. That'd be my prediction."

The title-for-title match between Cena and Rollins however, was more challenging for him to call. "It's hard to pick that one," Austin explained. "Because I'd hate to see Seth Rollins' momentum stopped right now. And that being said, if John Cena goes over and he's got those two titles with him, what do you do with him? Again, you're setting up a return match, but you can't have too many return matches going into 'Mania."

"But everybody also knows that I'm a huge John Cena fan for his contributions for what he's done for the business," he added. "He's been the top guy for the last ten years. I've been there and I did it, so the run that he's had is amazing. When you get the IWC involved, a lot of people have had a gut-full of him. But when a guy like me from outside, who was inside in the business at the highest level, looks at what he's done, it's phenomenal. So you could flip a coin on this one. You'd really have to get inside Vince McMahon's head and see the chess game that's going on. Get his mindset to see what he wants to do with the pieces on the table. That's a hard one for me to pick. I'll go Taker on Taker/Lesnar, but it's really hard to call Cena/Rollins."

As part of his podcast, The Steve Austin Show, Austin regularly breaks down WWE pay-per-views after they air. A process that, as he revealed to IGN, can be tricky for him. "When I see things through my eyes, I don't want to ever just be really negative towards someone's performance," Austin revealed. "There are many ways to skin a cat. Sometimes I watch the guys and they're doing different things than I would have done, but I don't ever want to be too critical. Because it's not my place. I'm still one of the boys. I don't want to come down too hard on their work. If anything, the best thing I could do is offer a bit of constructive criticism. And when someone knocks it out of the park, that's easy. Everyone can have a rough day at the office, as they say. I've had those myself many times, when the bell rings. It is what it is."

"I want to be careful when I'm breaking down matches because I don't want to offend anybody or knock anybody's work," he continued. "It took me a long time to get where I was at so I know how it feels when someone knocks on you. And certainly, as one of the boys, I wouldn't want to alienate myself for being too critical. By the same token, I still want to be honest, and if I can help somebody, I'll help them.