Steve Austin On What He Loves About Japanese Wrestling
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is known by most fans as a WWE Superstar, a man who has headlined four WrestleManias, and a WWE Hall of Famer who has won six World Championships in WWE. However, prior to finding such massive success in WWE, Austin wrestled in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling, the same promotion in which Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks wrestled and found success prior to creating AEW. In an interview with "Sportskeeda Wrestling," Austin revealed what he loves about Japanese Wrestling.
"I just love the, you know, the technical aspect with which they work," Austin said. "They're all very proficient. They're very protective of the business and I enjoy that style very much."
While in Japan, Austin wrestled 20 total matches, with the first four occurring in 1992. Austin won his first match in NJPW against fellow WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson. In 1995, Austin wrestled 16 more matches for the promotion, teaming with and facing off against talents such as Anderson, Ron Simmons, Keiji Muto, and Yuji Nagata mostly on the Fighting Spirit Legend Tour from May 25 until June 14.
Austin has not wrestled in Japan since and recently wrestled for the first time in 19 years, taking on Kevin Owens in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 38 in a No Holds Barred match. Austin walked away with the victory in his first match since WrestleMania 19, when he was defeated by The Rock.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Sportskeeda Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.