David Arquette is a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Being a World Champion normally means you’re a big star. Vince Russo was a former World Champion. The Great Khali is a former World Heavyweight Champion. Just so we understand each other, these guys, in my opinion, are not among the biggest stars in the history of pro wrestling.

Do we understand the formula?

Today, we are going to look at five legends of the ring who were without a doubt top stars in their prime. At one point or another, each person on this list could be considered “the guy” in the business. All were top stars who reached Championship-level success at one time or another, however they all shared one key factor in common — they pretty much sucked in the ring.

A lot of people have different ideas of what a “good worker” really is. Generally speaking, if you’re in the business, a good worker is someone who can take the live crowd on an emotional journey. Most of the people on this list were able to do that, however if you’re a die-hard fan of the sport, you have a different opinion of what a “good worker” is. To those people, a good worker is someone who took the time to perfect the craft, the art and skill of what goes on inside the squared circle. Guys who have matches that are considered “match of the year” candidates. Guys who could have what die-hard fans call “five-star matches.”

That is who we are looking at today. Guys who by die-hard fan standards would be considered god-awful workers. Guys who couldn’t have a classic, five-star match to save their life, even if they’re able — usually due to star power and enthusiasm — to pop a crowd during a match.

With all of thr explanation out of the way, let’s take a look at who made the list of the top five biggest stars who weren’t good workers.

#5. Hulk Hogan

The guy knows how to have a classic match. His WrestleMania VI clash with Ultimate Warrior, who we’ll be talking about later, surprised many. Still, if you examine the match with your “worker” glasses on you’ll notice that it wasn’t exactly a catch-as-catch-can classic by any means.

It was a great match though in the sense that the crowd was totally invested. A lot of that had to do with the promotional build-up to the match and the characters involved. The same can be said for Hogan vs. The Rock at WrestleMania X8.

A Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat classic it was not.

But the response from the fans was about as passionate as things get. Hogan can have great matches when everything falls into place, but you can’t put just anybody in the ring with him and expect a great match. As far as his star-power is concerned, Hogan is one of — if not the biggest — stars in the history of the sport.

Hulk Hogan comes in at number five.

#4. Andre the Giant

Andre The Giant is one of the biggest and most recognizable stars in professional wrestling history. In his prime as a young wrestler he would come off of the top-rope, he could throw a pretty impressive dropkick and was a lot more agile than he became later in his career.

Most will remember the run Andre The Giant had in WWE in the 1980s, but prior to that he was actually a pretty solid in-ring worker. His most famous years, however, saw a number of rest-holds killing the majority of the time in his matches. It was almost a sure thing that there would be a few bear-hugs, nerve-grip holds and the ever-popular butt-smash in the corner spot.

So again, Andre wasn’t the best in-ring technician, but he was a huge star — literally — and could elicit a great reaction from the crowd from bell-to-bell when matched with the right guy.

Regardless, Andre comes in at number four.

#3. Kevin Nash

Outside of a few matches with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, better known to WWE-exclusive fans as “Diesel,” rarely had a match above a two-star rating. He was one of the first workers to be labeled as a guy with “five moves of doom,” long before that torch was passed to John Cena.

However, Nash was a big ingredient in the pro wrestling explosion of the late 1990s. His move to WCW, which led to the formation of the nWo, was arguably the jumping-off point of the Monday Night Wars, which ultimately led to WWE’s “Attitude Era.” WWE was forced to switch gears and change the way they do business, and Nash, along with Scott Hall, were two key players at the root of all of these changes.

Despite his importance level in the business, his work level earns him the bronze medal as one of the biggest stars who wasn’t a “good worker.”

Continued on page two …

The following are highlights of a new Big Lead interview with Jim Ross:

On what it was like on the road with Ric Flair: “Being on the road with Flair was like a never-ending party. He had two great passions: in-ring wrestling and his social life. He was always the life of the party, so if you traveled with him on the road you kind of agreed to those terms. If you’re gonna ride in a limo and fly first class, like he’d facilitate in one way or another, you were essentially signing up for very late hours and ample alcohol consumption. He would tell you himself that he was known to forget on occasion that he was a married man. That’s not a secret, he’s written and spoken about it. That’s just Ric, and the thing about him is that even in his mid-60’s he still loves to be … social. Sometimes you wanted to avoid the ride with him because you needed to sleep. He could operate on a higher level with less sleep than just about anybody I’ve seen — other than Vince McMahon. He’d get up early in the morning, go to the gym, and do over an hour of cardio. He and Ricky Steamboat used to have contests with each other on the Stairmaster machines that bordered on suicidal.”

On CM Punk’s problems with the WWE medical staff and his staph infection being misdiagnosed: “I was very surprised to hear that because I know from experience that WWE has invested untold sums of money on their medical staff. Full-time doctors, full-time certified trainers, CTE testing and things that are actually being followed by some of the other leagues. I know that the health of their performers is a high priority, and that anytime I ever had an issue that was job-related or in-the-ring, I always got excellent care and I communicated with the medical staff on a regular basis. They’d call me when I was home. I was obviously not a trained in-ring performer. I did a lot of bits, that I equate to being a cow on ice, and I was a little clumsy and untrained. But I was cast in that role for that show, so I did my job — because I certainly could cash the checks. So I was surprised to hear that. I’m not disputing his claim because I wasn’t there and haven’t seen the medical records, but the issue is that it seems like it comes back down to communication. If I was in Punk’s place — and maybe he did this, I don’t know — and I was displeased by the doctor’s feedback, I would have gone to Vince after that, and said I believed the diagnosis to be incorrect. I don’t know if that ever happened.”

On if Punk leaving WWE and Vince McMahon to go to work for Dana White and the UFC is a case of the “devil you don’t know”: “No, I don’t think so. This whole thing has been a very dramatic matter, made even more so by those of us who write about and speculate on it. I look at both Dana and Vince as smart businessmen. Are they alpha males? You’re damn right. Have I always agreed with everything McMahon wanted me to do or all of his basic philosophies? Not every one of them, no. He’s a very strong alpha male, and I broke into the business with one that is even stronger in his presence than Vince ever was — Bill Watts — so that’s how I thought the business was just always gonna be. I think Dana’s a smart businessman, and the Punk signing was money from the get-go. As we speak, Punk is going through the ESPN car wash. That’s a nice get for UFC. The reason he’s on there is the same reason everyone is gonna buy his first PPV — he has global name identity. Where did he earn that? WWE. Where did he earn the money to live the lifestyle and be able to establish himself for independent ventures? Same as me — WWE.

“He had these issues with McMahon. I’ve heard one side of the story. I’ve read about it a lot, but I have not heard the podcast. I’ve always said that wrestlers leave companies because of the two c’s — cash and creative. Apparently Punk had issues with those. Nothing new. Not a revolutionary statement. It’s just the way it is. I’m thinking the WWE opened a lot of doors for him, it’s unfortunate they got into a pissing contest at the end, but as I’ve said before I think this all came from a basic lack of communication. The problem festered and it was allowed to get out of hand where it got past the point of no return, for now.”

Check out the complete interview at TheBigLead.com.

The following are highlights of a new U.K. Mirror interview with WWE Diva and Total Divas star Natalya:

Total Divas season three kicks off on January 4. There’s some marital issues this season…

I never really thought I had marriage problems, I thought I had a perfect relationship with TJ, then I started doing Total Divas and I realised, wait a minute, my relationship’s not perfect at all. I watched the show back and it’s been very therapeutic for me. My mum watched it, and TJ’s mum watched it and she was like, ‘I don’t like this, I don’t like the D-word.’ Nobody, including us, knew how bad our relationship was until we did the show, filmed it and watched it back. It’s been very therapeutic for me to do it and address it.

How real is this, though? Is it just scripted?

I’m glad you asked that question. There was some speculation from people, and I took it as a compliment because people didn’t really want to think TJ and I had problems because they liked us as a couple. Some people were saying, ‘Oh, it’s all fake, Nattie and TJ aren’t fighting.’ I thought it was touching. I wish that was the case, you don’t realise how real things are until you go through it.

I realised doing the show we’re really disconnected. I’ve known him for 17 years. Our relationship started going up in flames and it was hard to watch it and experience it in front of the entire world, and have people go, ‘Oh, it’s not real’ and have my mum say, ‘I know you’re crying over something, those are tears are real, I know my daughter.’ I’m still working through it with TJ.

Some fans were critical of Charlotte losing to you in such a short amount of time on Raw recently…

We don’t control a lot of things in WWE, it’s live TV, you can’t control how long you’re going to get. Sometimes you’re going to get 20 minutes and sometimes you’re going to get 20 seconds, you just have to maximise those minutes and do the best you can.

I’m happy we got a couple of minutes to showcase something – it’s better than nothing. Would I loved to have had the same kind of match we had at Takeover on Raw? Yes. But I don’t control that. It was a way for Takeover to be promoted a little bit. They’d done that with the pay per view prior to this.

In a perfect world, I’d take 25 minutes with Charlotte, but it turned out to be two and guess what? Because I beat Charlotte in two minutes, it’s only meaningful we’d have a rematch – and we better have a rematch because I plan on evening out the odds and beating her and taking her championship from her!

Hit up Page 2 for Naty’s reaction to Vince McMahon’s “Brass Ring” comments and her thoughts on NXT Divas getting more ring time than the women on the main roster.

– Vince McMahon, Big Show, R-Truth, Summer Rae and Alicia Fox went overseas to visit the U.S. troops this weekend. You can check out an assortment of photos from the trip at WWE.com.

– WWE will be taping next Friday’s edition of SmackDown tonight in Sioux City, Iowa. Hulk Hogan is advertised to make a special appearance. Other talent advertised for the show includes Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kane, Bray Wyatt, and Big Show. The dark match main event for the show will be Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt.

– It’s said that there were no directives made by anyone, including Kevin Dunn or other high-end WWE executives, during the live taping of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast special interview with Vince McMahon. It’s said that Austin was not told to stay away from any specific topics and was free to ask whatever he wanted.

– Sales for the new WWE 2K15 video game are believed to be ahead of what the sales were at this point last year for the WWE 2K14 video game.

• PHOTOS: Check Out Finn Balor’s Many Incredible Body Paint Designs Over The Years

(Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with Bray Wyatt

On the image projected from the lantern during the Hell in a Cell finish: “One thing and I want to get this out there so no one’s misconstrued, that was not Abigail… I don’t think anyone has looked closely enough. I think everyone skipped over that part and chocked it up to being some fancy illusion or something. I don’t ever do something just to be doing it. There’s always a point behind everything.”

On the Wyatt Family: “There is no breakup. That’s another thing I’d like to get out there. There’s friction between [Harper & Rowan] and that’s kinda part of the issue, is relinquishing some of that. When the Wyatt family is needed, the Wyatt Family will always be, and that’s the way I designed it, and that’s the way it will go on for ten, fifteen, who knows how long. The Wyatt Family is far from over, I can assure you of that. “I’m very proud of [Rowan], sometimes. He’s done some things since we split that I haven’t necessarily agreed with. I’m not so sure he’s a genius with a big IQ, I’m actually a hundred percent sure of that. [Laughs] But Harper is the Intercontinental Champion and that’s exactly where he belongs and why he needed to go out on his own. Because Harper is one of the greatest, most malicious entities in the entire WWE. He should be free to go after things like that.”

On Dean Ambrose: “This feud with me and Dean, if you look back at the Shield and all that, me and Dean Ambrose years ago would just be killing each other with bull ropes in armories all over Florida in front of ten people. I think it will go on forever. As long as we both can walk and survive after TLC.”

On Dream Matches: “I couldn’t help but notice that me and Steve had this natural chemistry together. I wish he’d lace the boots up. I’d really like to steal a couple shows with him… I still have my set matches that I think that I can possibly accomplish, but there’s four names that always keep reoccurring that would be big enough to be my dream matches: Jake Roberts, Steve Austin, Undertaker, & Sting. I want to get all four of those in my career and I’d like to. I’m not saying it’s not a possibility, I think I could get all four of those.”

On the Brass Ring comment: “I heard about the brass ring and all that, as far as I’m concerned my fingertips are already grasping that sucker right now. And if I don’t, if I never grab that sucker, I’m at least gonna yank it down and everyone’s coming down with me.”

Check out the complete interview at ChadDukesWrestlingShow.com.

WWE originally planned a singles match between NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte and WWE Diva Natalya for Monday’s “Slammy Awards” edition of RAW. The idea was then changed to a tag-team match, but was changed back again to a singles match. Due to the awards, time was running low so the decision was made for them to have a quick singles match.

Apparently Vince McMahon made the call for Charlotte to lose. It’s been said that if Triple H had his way, Charlotte wouldn’t of lost on Monday.

When the idea was for the two to compete in a tag-team match, it was Charlotte who was scheduled to score the pin for her team. When it was changed to a singles match, Natalya reportedly asked to lose the match, feeling it was the right thing to do.

McMahon ultimately decided for Natalya to win and it’s said that Triple H defended the idea in a sense, bringing up the timing issues and noting that in six months when they bring Charlotte back to the main roster, no one will remember that any of this happened.

– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will be taking questions regarding his recent live podcast interview with Vince McMahon on his new “Steve Austin Show” episode this Thursday. Fans can send questions to questions@steveaustinshow.com.

– While Zeb Colter was taken off of WWE television with a backstage injury storyline, he did actually undergo surgery. The only thing being said about his current status is that he has not been moving around very well as of late.

Vince McMahon has moved 8.5 million shares of his personal stock to his trust account, which at last check, was worth approximately $96 million. In total, McMahon owns 39,272,641 shares of the company, which is worth upwards of $440 million.

As of earlier this week, WWE stock was at $11.42 per share, with the company’s market-worth at $861,950,000.

While no one wants to admit it publicly, privately there’s said to be many WWE talents who considered Vince McMahon’s “brass ring” comments to be a joke.

It’s no secret that McMahon is the one who ultimately controls the way WWE talents are used and the feeling is that with the way things are set up, there’s only so much talents can do to get a push for themselves.

There’s said to be a feeling that McMahon won’t blame himself for the issues in WWE, but they also know that they can’t make more money anywhere else, so they are pretty much stuck making the best of the situation.

– A new “Monday Night War” focusing on “deep rosters” premieres today at 4pm EST. on the WWE Network. Immediately after that, a new episode of “WWE Rivalries” airs, focusing on the Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper feud.

– The latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which features the full, unedited interview with Vince McMahon from last Monday night, is now available at PodcastOne.com.

– Below is a new video from the official WWE YouTube channel that shows a 60-second highlight version of the “NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way” special to get you ready for this week’s “NXT Takeover: R Evolution” show.

Jey Uso of The Usos tag-team in WWE recently responded to Vince McMahon’s speech on the live “Steve Austin Show” podcast about the current generation in WWE during a recent interview with Turnbuckle Weekly.

Below is an excerpt from the interview.

“I know he wouldn’t say something without any meaning behind it. I feel like he was just trying to light a fire under the locker room. He wants guys to go out there and grab that brass ring, step out on a limb, and go out there and get it. I feel like some of the guys, including myself… when me and my brother first came it is kind of like walking on egg shells. We don’t want to mess up because we’re new guys. We’re young we don’t know what to do.

“As far as ambition, I feel like we do have a good crew. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take some years to get used to this thing. But as soon as we got our feet deep in the ground and our claws deep in the dirt, we’re going to be ok. I love my group of guys. I love my locker room. If you look at it we have some great talent in there. It is going to take time. It’s going to take time. That’s all I can say about it.”

TNA President Dixie Carter spoke with the Huffington Post’s Royal Ramblings Blog about TNA moving to Destination America next month. Here are some highlights of what she said about:

What We Can Expect From The New Impact Wrestling on Destination America:

“I needed to find somebody who wanted not just to license a two hour show from us but to be a true partner on every level. Anyone who wants to, can get Destination America and add it to their cable line up – they’re part of theDiscovery Communications Group which is massive and the number one pay TV programmer in the world and this deal is also a global deal. So I’m just excited about all the different unique opportunities that we’re going to have to help grow our brand. We’re looking at it as a completelyfresh start and the timing is perfect. I just can’t wait for everybody to feel what I’m feeling.”

Rumors That TNA Talent Was In The Dark During TV Negotiations:

“I don’t think it’s true. The talent were the first to hear everything that I could possibly say and they knew that. I had very blunt discussions with them during the process. I told them that I needed them to trust me and that there was more I wanted to share but for the sake of our livelihoods, that it wouldn’t be good business or prudent to do so. I told them I was going to work very hard and that we had interest from several places. However, as I said earlier, I was looking for somebody that wanted to make not just a financial but a time and effort investment into us and into our talent. I wasn’t going to stop until I found that. So the talent were part of the process the entire way, I told them as much as I possibly could and they were the first to hear the news when I could tell them.”

Vince McMahon Saying TNA Is Not Competition:

“Well, I think it’s ridiculous to say that we’re not competition. If we weren’t competition they wouldn’t try to stop our growth at every turn. We’re both wrestling companies and so competing for the same networks internationally and the same ticket sales globally and therefore you are competitors but all we can do is focus on what we do best. My big focus for 2015 is to further distinguish our product from anybody else’s out there. What can we do better and what have we been doing great that we can take to another level. We’re going to be announcing in the coming weeks some realty exciting changes to our show and that’s a big part – trying to make our brand much more distinctive than not just WWE but other wrestling companies around the world.”

The Best Rib That’s Been Played On Her:

“I don’t think the talent have really ever done anything to me. I had somebody call me once and leave a message to call back Shane McMahon. So I returned his call but he had never called me. We had a conversation and he’s a lovely guy. But don’t give the roster any ideas! “

As we reported recently, CM Punk’s appearance on Colt Cabana’s “Art of Wrestling” podcast had a lot of people within WWE upset, particularly executives such as Triple H and Vince McMahon. It’s said that while most everyone kept quiet about it in public, outside of guys like Ryback and Brian “BG” James, that most, if not all WWE talents loved a lot of the stuff that Punk had to say about WWE.

On the flip-side of the coin, however, a lot of people in the company were said to be unhappy with Punk complaining about the way he was booked, due to their feeling that he was booked better than almost everyone outside of a very select few talents over the past several years.

The feeling among some is that while Punk complained about having to put over part-time guys like The Rock, Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, they would have loved to of been in that position.

One particular WWE Superstar, who is said to be a top guy, felt that much of the Punk interview came off as “sour grapes.”

Others in the company apparently felt that Punk came off bad complaining about being booked to work against Triple H at WrestleMania XXX, with their feeling being that it would be positioned as one of the very top matches on the show, with plenty of television time to promote it during the build-up to the show.

While some agreed with the “two sides to every story” cliche’, there was also said to be a general consensus that what Punk said about his experiences in WWE is the same way many others would describe theirs as well, outside of the fact that Punk made more money than most, but that they admired the guts it took to say all that he did in a public forum.

Regardless of whether or not talents agreed with all that Punk had to say during the already infamous interview, almost everyone was said to be aware of the fact that agreeing with him publicly would be nothing short of career suicide unless it was done by one of the very few “untouchable guys.”

As seen in many recent years, WWE generally likes inducting a local legend from the WrestleMania host area each year into the WWE Hall Of Fame. This year, one of the leading candidates for the WWE Hall Of Fame in terms of local legends, since WrestleMania 31 in Santa Clara, California, is “The Crippler” Ray Stevens, considered by many to be the best in-ring worker of his generation.

Another choice for a potential local legend induction is former pro wrestler and football player Leo Nomellini, however because WWE owns no video footage on him, his chances are said to be less than great.

As noted last week, the leading candidates in terms of “main event” inductions for 2015 are Sting and “Macho Man” Randy Savage, although Vince McMahon said during the live “Steve Austin Show” podcast on Monday that Savage may not be going in this coming year.

– John Cena tweeted the following on Wednesday in reaction to Steve Austin’s podcast interview with Vince McMahon from Monday night on the WWE Network:

The #StoneColdPodcast w/ @VinceMcMahon was legit. Agree with @steveaustinBSR that it's time 2 step up, WWE. #WWENetwork

— John Cena (@JohnCena) December 3, 2014

– The cast for the new James Bond film will be officially announced this Thursday. As previously reported, former WWE Superstar Dave Bautista has been in discussions for a major role in the film.

– Challenger Comics in Chicago announced that former WWE champion CM Punk will be signing at their store on 2/28/15. Punk will be there to promote his comic book writing debut for Marvel Comics, Thor Annual #1.

Jack Swagger was interviewed by Mike Jones of DC101 on Monday and commented on a number of topics, including Vince McMahon telling Steve Austin that the Attitude Era roster was more ambitious than today’s Superstars. Here are the highlights:

Vince Saying The Locker Room Is Not As Ambitious As The Attitude Era:

“This is an environment where literally hundreds of thousands of people want to be on this roster, and there’s what, 75 of us on top? To get here you have to be very ambitious but to stay here you need even more. It takes a lot of drive and a lot of hard work. I can only speak for myself that I have gotten hungrier. As far as the rest of the locker room, you know, it’s tough but you gotta see the finish line and sometimes that’s hard to do.”

The Wrestlers Training At NXT:

“I know they’re training hard, otherwise they wouldn’t be there. They have a sign on the wall that says ‘When one comes in, one has to go out.’ It’s very cutthroat down there and I know that they wouldn’t be there unless they wanted it.”

His Feud With Rusev:

“We had a very memorable matchup back in the summer, finishing up at Summerslam. And then last week he tried to go after Slaughter, now week he got Zeb. It’s time to stop all the jokes, stop all the talking and get down to who is tougher, and I got a feeling America will come out on top.”

$9.99 a month.

We’ve heard it to death, but what do we actually get for that ten bucks?

Thus far, we’ve had a couple of cool shows — The Monday Night War and WWE Rivalries series, a couple of decent shows — WWE Countdown and WrestleMania Rewind, the pay-per-view events and NXT programming, as well as access to a bunch of old crap we’ve seen — and for the most part, can still see — 1,000 times on YouTube.

It sounds like a decent amount of programming when you list it out like that, but let’s be honest, the WWE Network isn’t what it could be.

Perfect example, last night’s live broadcast of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast with special guest, WWE Chairman — Vince McMahon.

Now THAT is how you get WWE Network subscriptions.

That was one of the first true examples of “must-see” programming on the WWE Network. Going in, you couldn’t know that ahead of time, although many expected it to be compelling programming, and luckily in this case, that’s exactly what it turned out to be.

Personally speaking, I think WWE should take notice of the feedback to the show, which has been universally positive and enthusiastic in nature, and offer similar content on as a consistent basis as possible.

We hear a lot about production costs and things of that nature making it hard to churn out content on the WWE Network, but for shows like last night’s Austin-McMahon special and the recent “ECW Exposed” specials, all you need is a room, two human beings, a microphone, a camera and some lights.

That can’t be that expensive.

I’m of the opinion that WWE should make the Austin-McMahon live podcast a regular staple on the WWE Network. Once every quarter, the WWE boss man checks in with “The Texas Rattlesnake” for somewhat of a “WWE State of the Union Address” type of deal, but produced and aired in similar fashion to last night’s special.

It’s inexpensive, basic and simple, but most importantly — effective.

If you offer that up every few months when there will no doubt be a plethora of items within the “WWE Universe” world to speak of, I believe fans will come in droves to tune in and make sure they’re watching it live, especially those who watched live — or even after the fact — last night.

Anyone who saw the Austin-McMahon live podcast had to of enjoyed at least some, if not all of it. I’m in the latter category, as I was glued to my monitor for the entire 70 minutes.

I was so into the program, in fact, that I’m not ashamed to admit I literally popped — out-loud — when Austin was telling McMahon that they were being wrapped up off-camera, only for McMahon to inform him that he owns this Network, and it’s going to continue for another ten or 15 minutes.

Anyone who is familiar with Austin’s weekly “Steve Austin Show” podcast at PodcastOne.com is aware of the fact that ole’ “Stone Cold” has some pretty superior skills in the interviewing department.

With that being said, I think it’s safe to assume that Austin doing a similar show to that in which we witnessed with McMahon last night, with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, would be just as intriguing and entertaining.

It’s cheap, it’s simple, it’s effective.

Key word — effective.

You can cut as many “for only $9.99 a month” promos you want. You can offer as many free months as you want. You can give us access to as much old crap you have laying around that you want, but stuff like last night is what is going to up your subscription count.

To date, I’d put last night’s Austin-McMahon show right up there with the Ultimate Warrior documentary as the single most compelling program to air on the WWE Network thus far. Unlike the Warrior documentary, there’s no reason why WWE can’t do something like last night on a consistent basis.

It’s times like last night that makes “the norm” so frustrating. Every once in a while, WWE will prove that “they still got it” (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap) only to turn around the next week and go back to the “same old sh*t” (same old sh*t! same old sh*t! same old sh*t!) and make me as a fan want to chant in their face “you f*cked up! you f*cked up! you f*cked up!”

It’s not rocket science, folks. Last night proved it. You want subscribers? You want the WWE Network to be a success? Start offering content that the people dig instead of lame, B-level “junk” that you have laying around.

“If you build it, they will come.”

Last night, WWE built a foundation and laid out a blueprint on how to make use out of this “over-the-top” digital service. And the fans came (I’ll spare the attempt at spinning that last line into a sexual-related, lame-ass joke).

Ryback wants to be “fed more,” and so do the WWE fans. Give them more stuff like last night’s show, and our collective appetites will be full.

THAT, for $9.99 a month? That’s a steal, my friends. I’ll gladly open up the billfold every 30 days for that type of programming.

Unfortunately, and I hate to be a glass-is-half-empty kind of guy on this one, but I’m afraid we’ll probably go back to our “regularly scheduled (lame) program” from here on out, and have to wait quite a while before we see something as cool as the live broadcast of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast on the WWE Network again.

But hey, that’s just one man’s opinion. What do you think? We’d like to know, and you can let us know by posting your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also follow me on social media for more news and views at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR, and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.

– Vince McMahon tweeted the following after last night’s live “Steve Austin Show” podcast interview on the WWE Network:

Enjoyed talking about Then Now & Forever pic.twitter.com/BxGcpJSVNC

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) December 2, 2014

– Steve Austin tweeted these out after the taping:

Just got back to the #brokenskullranch from Tulsa. Thanks @VinceMcMahon, @WWE, and @WWENetwork.
Safe travels to the next one. @PodcastOne

— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) December 2, 2014

#OneMoreRound #steveaustinshow w @VinceMcMahon will drop soon on @PodcastOne Details soon. #AudioWhoopAss pic.twitter.com/Pjrnzv9fIG

— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) December 2, 2014

The following are highlights of the latest blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:

On Vince McMahon addressing CM Punk during Steve Austin Show: “Was happy that VKM addressed the hot topic of the CM Punk matter and was surprised about the apology he made to Punk about getting his legal paperwork on Punk and AJ’s wedding day. Seems as if the door is open to resume talks some day if both parties are of that mindset. Punk’s overwhelming desire to close the show at a WrestleMania is admirable and if any one in the locker room doesn’t have that same goal every day of their professional life then they need to find another line of work.”

On dead crowd for RAW in Tulsa: “Thought Tulsa crowd could have helped out a little more. Perhaps they did and it merely didn’t come across well on TV.”

On the team of Cesaro and Tyson Kidd: “Something drew my eye to the team of Cesaro and Tyson Kidd as I think that both men are ‘this close’ to being in a spot to where they can better help WWE. Agreed with VKM that Cesaro needs to enhance his personality a bit but his physical skills are special. Being on Total Divas has helped Kidd gain confidence in utilizing his personality.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.

– Former WWE & TNA star Bully Ray tweeted the following on Monday night, calling out WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar:

I'm the 1 who can defeat the 1 who put the 1 in 21-1. @HeymanHustle @WWE #RawTulsa

— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) December 2, 2014

Paul Heyman, the 1 behind the 1 who put the 1 in 21-1, responded:

Easy, @REALBully5150. The idea is to work WITH fellow #PaulHeymanGuy s … dissension amongst the ranks defeats the purpose!

— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) December 2, 2014

. @REALBully5150 Of course, though, we can discuss over 2am sushi. Meet me at da joint. You know the one. As in the 1 in 21-1. Ahem.

— Paul Heyman (@HeymanHustle) December 2, 2014

– Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins tweeted the following late Monday night, perhaps in response to Vince McMahon talking about today’s WWE locker room not being as ambitious as the Superstars of the Attitude Era:

No better way to grab the brass ring then to take out the so-called last guy to do just that. #WWETLC #TablesMatch How's that for ambition?

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) December 2, 2014

The following is a detailed recap of Vince McMahon on Steve Austin’s podcast from Monday night, courtesy of PWInsider.com:

Austin welcomed Vince to the podcast,which is on the Network. Austin asked him how the Network was doing and Vince said it was doing great both from a subscription and a content standpoint. Austin asked him about the UK and Vince said it’s been a stop/start thing and they hope to have it wrapped up by the first of the year, but noted that wasn’t a promise.’

Austin asked him how in tune Vince was with the wrestling fans right now. Vince said that they don’t do wrestling but sports-entertainment. Vince said that not every match is going to “hit” and no one else does the content weekly that they do and then broadcast it worldwide. Austin said he’d like to see more in-ring over the course of the show and asked Vince if he’s wrong in wanting too much wrestling. Austin said that sometimes the early segments take too long. Vince acknowledged that and said that you do have to give the audience a hook or they won’t care about the matches.

Austin said that there are no other big leagues for other talents to go to and there are talents who are walking on eggshells afraid to do anything. Vince said, “Well don’t piss anyone off.” Vince said that there isn’t as much camaraderie and silliness backstage as there was in Austin’s era. Vince said the last guy to really try and reach for the brass ring was John Cena. He sees potential in Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns but they aren’t there yet. He said the talents don’t do what Austin did. Austin challenged the roster to take chances and try to get over. Vince said the roster is thin and he wants to see guys do it as well.

Vince was asked what he was looking for in Superstars. Vince said he’s looking for someone who’s hungry and wants to learn and keep learning every day. Austin told a story about a wrestler getting a bigger than usual pop at MSG and Austin pointed it out to Vince and Vince said that he hoped that person got over. That told Austin it wasn’t just Vince with a magic wand but Vince hoping guys took the reigns.

Austin asked why Cesaro hasn’t clicked yet. Vince said that perhaps it’s because he’s Swiss but he hasn’t shown the charisma but Vince hopes he does/ Austin pointed out that the momentum was lost for him via the booking and Vince said he doesn’t have all the answers and Cesaro isn’t being given up on.

Austin talked about the Creative Team and how different it was from the days of Vince working from his pool. Austin asked why creative got so complicated. Vince said that the company grew in leaps and bounds and went public and it’s not going to be a one man show. Vince said he can’t do it all and joked that he used to work Pat Patterson to the bone. He talked about how when people would come by his house, they’d end up in the pool because Vince loves ribs and described it being one of the funniest things in the world. Vince said you have to have fun to make fun. Austin told a story about Shane tossing Vince in the pool.

Austin asked where Shane McMahon is. Vince said he’s a happy camper and has his hands in a lot of pots. He said Shane’s departure was something of a mutual thing. He said being a family in business is difficult. Vince said he tried to do what was right for business. Vince said his dad didn’t want him in the business and he wanted his kids to do what they wanted to do.

Vince told the story of an announcer holding his father up for money and his father refusing, then deciding Vince would be the announcer with no experience, “and you’re going to do a good job.” Vince gave him a partner and it was Arnold Skaaland.

Skaaland was a man of few words so Vince asked him father for someone else to help him. There were a number of individuals who helped him.

Austin asked him if he wanted to talk about CM Punk. Vince said he wanted to personally apologize for him getting his termination papers on his wedding day. He said that in a company their side, the different areas of the company didn’t know what was going on. He said that he didn’t want to go through dirty laundry. Vince said there have been others who were disgruntled and they said things they later regretted and he hoped they would one day work together again. Vince said he didn’t listen to the Colt Cabana interview but heard Punk used a lot of expletives and things were said that were his side of things. He said that he had issues with Austin and Hulk Hogan but they eventually came back. Vince said he was willing to work with Punk again and admits that he has a big ego, but is willing to put it aside and work with him down the line. Vince later said Punk worked really hard for the company.

Austin talked about working with Vince and being in a similar situation. Vince said Austin was difficult to work with at times. They talked about Austin walking out when he was asked to put over Brock Lesnar, Austin said he was hard-headed and never returned Vince’s calls. Finally, Jim Ross sent him a card in the mail and offered to talk with Steve anytime Ross put them back in touch. Austin asked if there was someone who could bridge the gap between Vince and Punk. Vince said that unfortunately there is not and Punk is pretty much a loner and has a lack of communication. Vince said that when attorneys get involved it’s going to “hell in a handbasket.”

Austin told a story about Vince fining him $650,000 when he returned. Vince then told him what he thought was fair. He settled on $250,000. Vince said when you walk out, not on the company but the fans you have to do something or else the next time you don’t like the creative, you walk out again.

Vince said that Austin had the communications, perhaps not with Vince but with others and Punk was a loner. Vince admitted he himself can be introverted and shy and he understands it and talked about feeling uncomfortable when he was at political events for his wife and would often find himself talking to the bartender, who was more his kind of people.

Austin talked about watching The Undertaker losing at Wrestlemania. He asked about the background of ending the streak. Vince said that no one wants to give back to the business more than Mark Calaway. He said that it was time and when you look down the line on who he could work with, who else was it going to be. There was no one else it could be. He said that Brock was the one person that Mark felt was the guy. Austin challenged him and Vince admitted he made the decision to end the Streak.

Austin asked Vince why Brock Lesnar isn’t around more. Vince said you don’t want him around more, because he’s a special attraction.

Vince said Randy Savage would absolutely be in the WWE Hall of Fame. He said it would be soon but not perhaps this year. Austin cornered him and made Vince say yes.

On Sting, Vince McMahon said he made a great impression but he’s the type of character you don’t need to see every week but “I think you’ll see him at Wrestlemania.” Austin said that when he was hot, he was on every show and Vince said the business has changed and some of it is contracts.

They talk about the Monday Night War. Vince said he always felt WWE was more passionate and WCW having talent in charge of their own creative created chaos. Austin said they don’t have any real competition and Vince said that they compete with everything on TV. He said they and WCW were burning so hot and it was a question of who was going to burn out first. Vince always kept ideas in huis pocket. He said all the WCW issues eventually wore them down.

Continue reading on Page 2 Below: Vince talks about expanding the WWF in the 80’s, Jim Ross, the Austin-McMahon feud & more –

For those who have asked whether or not CM Punk was watching the “Steve Austin Show” interview with Vince McMahon — which included McMahon publicly apologizing to Punk for firing him on the day of his wedding — while it was happening live on Monday night, the former WWE Superstar made it clear in an indirect fashion that he was not.

While the interview was airing live on the WWE Network, Punk posted the following tweet, indicating that he was watching an NHL game as the Austin-McMahon show was airing.

This Habs/Avs game is bonkers. St. Patrick!!!!

— player/coach (@CMPunk) December 2, 2014

Whether or not Punk has watched the show since remains to be seen, however we will likely find out soon enough, as he is scheduled to return to Colt Cabana’s “Art of Wrestling” podcast for a Q&A with fans as part of a follow-up to his initial interview on the show, where he explained — in great detail — his departure from WWE.

– Below is the latest edition of WWE “Canvas 2 Canvas,” which features Hulk Hogan.

– WWE Chairman Vince McMahon tweeted the following regarding his live interview with WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on the WWE Network tonight following RAW.

.@SteveAustinBSR and I have a love-hate relationship: I love him, he hates me!! #AUSTINMcMahonPodcast #WWENetwork pic.twitter.com/6Bpl9u4kVm

— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) December 1, 2014

• PHOTOS: BRAND NEW Bikini Pics Of Sexy UFC Contender MIESHA TATE!

Reddit user MetsFan4Ever has provided some backstage news from the the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, site of tonight’s WWE RAW:

– As you can expect, the mood backstage today is very tense. Everyone is doing their best to stay away from both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. There was said to be a long “closed door” meeting earlier today with Vince McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie.

Steve Austin Says He’ll Ask McMahon About CM Punk Tonight

– WWE has been working on the first promo video for The Ascension. The vignette is tentatively scheduled to air tonight, but could be held off until after next week’s NXT Takeover special on the WWE Network.. WWE’s production team has been working on it throughout the day, with Kevin Dunn making several tweaks.

The Ascension will reported to have a look similar to popular WWF tag teams of the the 1980s.