Big Show Reveals Details On New WWE Contract, Hip Surgery, Delayed WWE Return

WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin recently welcomed longtime WWE veteran Big Show to his Steve Austin Show podcast. Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On his recent hip surgery: “I had a surgery done called a ‘resurfacing’, which I kept 98% of my bone. Man, if I showed you the pictures of what my femur bone looked like, what the ball socket looked like… I mean, it had holes. It looked like a bowling ball. I showed it to The Undertaker. He sent back [a text] – he said, ‘it looked like a jack-o’-lantern’. There were holes from where I wore the bone down so bad.”

On complications from the surgery delaying his WWE return and not listening to doctors advice: “I had a little complication after the surgery, which happens sometimes when you put metal in the body and it was a real trying time. It [postponed] my return. It added about another five months to my return longer than it should’ve been. I got a surgical infection from it. I had to go in [and] be opened up again. They did a real good job of really cleaning the joint as best they can. I was on an IV drip all through Christmas for seven weeks. I had this thing called a PICC [Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter] line, which was an IV line that went into my arm and went to my heart because the medicine was so strong it’d burn your veins out. I didn’t want to ask them what the hell it did to my heart if it’d burn my veins out, but I went through all of that for about seven weeks.

“[Doctors] told me not to work out, but [Austin] know[s] how important my fitness was. I’d made so many changes, and I was like, ‘s–t, they don’t know. I can go work out. I’ll do right-handed dumbbell curls.’ Do you know what I mean? I could do something. Like a dummy, I’m in there a couple of days after having this PICC line put in, I’ve got a 20-lbs. dumbbell in my right hand. I’m doing these one-armed dumbbell curls, and, all-of-a-sudden, I’m like, ‘whoa, my heart rate’s really kicking’. I look down and my Apple Watch is hopping up and down on my wrist, throwing a fit because my heart rate’s up to 200. Apparently, when you increase your blood pressure, there’s a line in the vein and that line, I guess, can elevate your heart rate. So when they say don’t work out, they mean it. It’s a shoot.”

On his return originally being scheduled for the Royal Rumble: “I missed the Royal Rumble. I was supposed to return at Royal Rumble. That didn’t come to fruition. Then, my contract expired. I was unemployed for a while, just a couple of days. [Austin] know[s] how that stuff goes. It was a negotiation and both sides were trying to get the best deal that they can.”

On signing a new three-year contract with WWE in January: “I spent some time with the big man himself. We talked. Hunter and I talked because we were concerned about my hip. We were concerned about a lot of things. And they put together a nice three-year deal for me, so I’m there another three years. I can do a lot more work with things that I’m passionate about, Special Olympics and being a Global Ambassador for the Special Olympics. I get a chance to have a bit more free time now. I’m not in the trenches for five days a week like I was for 20 years at every house show and TV. I was probably on TV too much as a giant when I should have been an attraction. Instead, I was in there working all the time. Now, I’m in a bit more of a limited role and we’re finding the right creative for me. And there’s not a lot of pressure on me to be there every week, and get people over, or carry two or three segments, or whatever we’re doing. I can kind of show up, help the younger guys here and there, and pursue outside projects that are important to me. All in all, after going through that hell with my hip surgery and Vince and [Triple H] gave me a hell of a deal, Steve. [Austin] know[s] how this business is and after 20 years in this business, I didn’t expect to get the respect they gave me by giving me this deal. It’s one of those kinds of things that’s humbling because both of them really appreciated the work that gave the company and put me in a position to where, I mean, in all sincerity, they gave me this deal in January and I haven’t done a damn thing yet.”

Check out the complete episode of the Steve Austin Show podcast featuring the Big Show interview at PodcastOne.com.

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