STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN

I got pile drived in '96 or '97 and was a quadriplegic for about a minute and a half. I couldn't move anything. It was in the Meadowlands at a pay per view with a million or two people watching, and I couldn't move. That cost me a surgery, but I healed pretty quickly, so that was probably my worst day at the office.

Don't look forward to me putting on the trunks and knee braces to get back in the ring and stomp a mudhole in somebody and walking it dry.

I made a good living being a tough guy on TV, but I'd rather laugh and joke all day long than try to be a tough guy.

When I went out and did what I did in the world of professional wrestling as Stone Cold Steve Austin, pretty much anything and everything thing I said was ad lib, on the spot, just let it fly and go for it.

I don't know if a pro wrestling career prepares you for Hollywood. When you get out there, and you're in an arena for 20,000 people or 90,000 people, it's a lot different than being on a quiet set with 100 people, so I think you get used to dealing with cameras.

My exit strategy from pro wrestling wasn't carved in stone. I retired because of a few neck issues, some neurological issues.

It goes - for me - WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Summerslam. The big three.

A great gimmick is a great gimmick, but on a dud, it just doesn't work. It comes down to talent.

I'm for same-sex marriage.

Probably the greatest match in my career, and really put me on the match as a main event guy and paved the way for what I was to become, was Wrestlemania 13, with the one and only, Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.

I had a lot more creative freedom back in the day.

A lot of people say, 'What set the Attitude Era up?' or, 'What started the Attitude Era?' To me - and I was allegedly the leader of it - sports entertainment, pro wrestling, whatever you want to call it has always had an attitude. So, why that particular generation got labeled, I don't know.

Any time you go live with Vince McMahon it's going to be a very interesting experience.

Paul Heyman works with Brock. The magic works between Brock and Paul because of their dynamic and their chemistry.

I respect Hulk Hogan because his career lasted some 30 odd years. I think I lasted about 15, but during my peak years, I took the business to a height it never seen before.

I'm glad about 'The Curtain Call' now, but I remember being very confused watching it all go down because I was right there behind the curtain watching it all, and I couldn't believe these guys were breaking kayfabe.

You're in there, you're having a match, and you're feeding off that crowd. That's the gasoline that fuels the match, and that's how you make your decisions. If you're not listening to that crowd when you're working, you're missing the biggest part of what working is all about.

I'm really proud of 'Broken Skull Challenge.'

I got out of the business when I got out. The hunger was out of my system.

With the Monday Night Wars, it was almost a pay-per-view every single Monday between the two factions because they were trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink to win the ratings war.

I was a Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes guy. Ric Flair continues to be my favorite wrestler of all time. I loved Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel and all of those guys, but I'm a big Flair guy.

I love the business of pro wrestling, and it is something I know better than anything else I know about.

The thing about the 'Broken Skull Challenge' is that there's really nothing else like it on television.

I've got a chance to host a show called 'Redneck Island' on CMT. I love doing that show.

Driving a forklift is kind of like riding a bicycle. You've either got forklift skills or you don't, and I can remove somebody's molars with a forklift.