While fans watched Netflix's Mr. McMahon intentionally to learn the inner workings of one of the most controversial men in professional wrestling history, they were also treated to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin's unusual comments regarding CTE, which he personally doesn't believe in.
But how? How can, after decades of science, a football fan like Austin not believe in CTE? Well, it's not too hard to imagine, actually, as his fellow Attitude Era stalwart, Rikishi, actually came to Austin's defense on his Off The Top podcast.
“I mean, ain’t the part of the game? Be it in football or any full-contact sports? We get hurt, man. But when you come from the old-school… I don’t even know or remember if I ever got a concussion, and if I did, back in the day, I’d just shake it off and keep going because out of sight, out of mind means no paycheck on the weekly. You’re already mentally prepared to put your body through it. If it takes me I guess getting a concussion and keep going to get that paycheck to feed my family and put food on the table, we’re talking 25 something years ago, I’m talking about 30 dollars a payday, a match.
“So I might have got a concussion before I got to WWE and didn’t know it. But I feel great. I’m sure if I did have a concussion, I would d**n sure notice by now. We come from that old school, so I kind of relate to what Steve was talking about. Now, I can’t say I don’t believe in it because I do believe injuries. If it’s a concussion, you’re gonna feel it, and we’ve seen a lot of NFL football players get hurt from these, and whoever’s doing the study for this, I think it’s a good thing for the boys, to be able to know that something’s wrong with your brain, or this is the reason why I’ve possibly been getting bad headaches, or I just feel kind of tired on a normal day, when I feel like I shouldn’t be tired.”
Pretty shocking stuff, right? Well wait, it gets even more interesting, as Rikishi wasn't done just yet.
Rikishi, like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, was willing to risk it for WWE
Discussing the situation further, Rikishi admitted that while he may have felt bad at times during his career, he didn't admit it, as he, like Austin, wanted to stay prominently booked by WWE.
“But with people that want to examine a lot of the wrestlers, I don’t see anything wrong with it. I’m not saying that I’m not a believer. Until I know a lot about it, then I’ll be that person to be able to make my own choice. So I kind of understand where Steve’s coming from,” Rikishi noted. “When you get a chance at WWE, you got one shot and one shot only, and that one shot better count. My uncles used to always tell us, ‘When you’re hurt, don’t let the company know it.’ Never understood why. Then years, days, months go by, I start to understand because if you let them know, they gonna just take you out in the back, get rid of you, bring the next person in like that can run. So it was bigger than us, man. We were the sacrifice to make…to put food on the table.”
In the NFL, there's an old adage that says a player can't lose their spot due to injury. Unfortunately, that rarely holds true, and when one QB, PG, or even babyface wrestler is gone for an extended period of time; they might not have the same opportunities when they return down the line. If WWE made Superstars so afraid that they wouldn't disclose potentially life-changing concussions, well, that might just be another major ding on McMahhon's regime.