Wrestling fans now have more entertainment than they can shake a stick at on Monday nights, thanks to USA's new interviews-and-fun series Straight Up Steve Austin. The new series highlights WWE Legend Stone Cold Steve Austin hanging out with celebrities and doing cool stuff while sharing some touching and surprising stories. It's a format that could have a long lifespan, especially if it continues to have Monday Night Raw as a lead-in going forward.
Season 1 of Straight Up Steve Austin will feature superstar Becky Lynch, but when CinemaBlend recently talked to Stone Cold Steve Austin about the new show, I asked him what other world-of-wrestling personality he'd most want to have on a future episode. Without hesitation, Austin told us there's one person he'd like to have on Straight Up Steve Austin, and it's certainly someone fans of the Attitude Era and even non-wrestling fan audiences can get behind: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In Stone Cold's words:
Well I gotta pick The Rock. He's a very good friend of mine. We headlined three WrestleManias together. No one ever has done that. He's the biggest movie star in the world. He probably doesn't have time for the show, but you pick him because people would love to see myself and him sit down and do something together. Now the activity, I don't know, it can be absolutely anything. It might be trading stories or tips inside a ring. It might just be shooting the breeze, walking down a sidewalk. But me and that guy...he brought out the best of me. I brought out the best [in him] and, you know, there was that instant chemistry that drew tons of money. So a conversation with that man would be electrifying, no pun intended.
Stone Cold Steve Austin picked Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as his dream guest, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise to anyone, especially those who'd answer the same way. The two WWE legends have a friendship that stretches as long as any of their coinciding careers, and they were Vince McMahon's top guys during their merchandise-heavy heyday.
It's safe to say if Stone Cold and The Rock were stepping inside a ring to talk shop while waxing nostalgic during stories for a special episode of Straight Up Steve Austin, there'd be a small army of wrestling fans tuning in to watch. Can you smell-ll-ll-ll what that small army is cooking?
Austin seemed to think Johnson may be too busy to make it happen, which is understandable given the multitude of shows and movies he's attached to. With that being said, Rock does host The Titan Games for NBC. With USA being a sister station under the NBCUniversal umbrella, some execs could feasibly incentivize the duo to collaborate to help cross-promote both shows. As Steve Austin told us, there's some serious earning potential for the network in putting these guys on the same program, so hopefully someone is working on making it happen.
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Having earned pretty decent demo ratings for a show of its kind, Straight Up Steve Austin airs on USA on Monday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend for more information on current and upcoming fall shows, and for the latest on what's happening in the world of movies.
