Biggest Takeaways from 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's Podcast with Paige

In sitting down with Paige on the WWE Network following Monday's Raw, Steve Austin held a magnifying glass over the former Divas champion's grit and iron will. The podcast interview educated fans on her journey from timid member of a British wrestling family to WWE star.

Even fans who thought they knew Paige's story heard new chapters. She chatted with Austin about taking a rowdy bar patron to the floor, leaving Summer Rae in tears and cussing out Dusty Rhodes.

The first editions of Austin's podcast allowed the audience peeks behind the curtain at the business as a whole. Triple H and Vince McMahon revealed why they pulled certain strings, what some of WWE's inner workings looked like. With Paige, this was a more personal introspection. 

We got to see a young, rising star share her thoughts with a man she grew up idolizing. 

Paige spoke at breakneck speed, tugged at her hair incessantly and clearly wanted to throw some choice four-letter words in there. In the process of doing all that, she essentially offered an oral history of how Saraya Bevis from Norwich, England, became one of the key cogs of the surging WWE women's division. 

A Look at Her Origins

True Paige-heads have likely already seen the documentaries about her and her family, The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family and Britain's Worst Nightmare. They surely already heard the story of Paige's mother working matches while seven months pregnant, which in a way made Paige's in-ring debut come about before her first birthday.

Still, there was insight about Paige's background from this interview to soak up.

She said that despite being born into the business, she was "completely petrified of wrestling" in the beginning. After seeing her mother go blind for six months following a dropkick to the eye, one can't blame her.

Paige talked about being hooked on wrestling once she first tasted it, though. Despite blacking out during her first match, she knew that she'd found her calling.

The side of her pre-main-roster story that had yet to be told was the behind-the-scenes happenings during her time at WWE Developmental. Paige revealed that the other women at NXT didn't like her.

She says that Shaul Guerrero eventually apologized for their not getting along at first. Guerrero admitted to her that she was intimidated by Paige.

That seems to have been a common thing with the NXT women. Paige was young yet experienced, hard-nosed and no-nonsense, not to mention she decked out in studded, black leather.

Paige says that the other female prospects were mean to her and thought she was out to get them. She told Austin a story of accidentally nailing Summer Rae with a tackle too high. The blow knocked the Diva in her teeth, leaving her in tears on the canvas.

"She's trying to sabotage you!" some of the girls shouted.

Stories like these speak to how much Paige was blazing a trail. She was such a departure from the norm that she rocked the boat with her presence alone. 

She's Even Tougher Than We Thought

After hearing her talk about her teenage years and gutting it out through injuries, it's even clearer that Paige is not the type of woman you want to pick a fight with.

Austin asked her about the work she did before she began traveling as a pro wrestler. Paige talked about tending bar as a young teenager and being a bouncer as well.

She shared anecdotes about holding two girls in headlocks and pinning a guy against a wall.

Paige clearly was no ordinary teenager. Signs that she was tough enough to handle the grind of the pro wrestling business emerged early on. 

And fans won't have to worry about Paige missing time due to minor dings. She talked about getting hit by a car, skidding on the floor and getting up bloodied, only to be assembling and disassembling wrestling rings soon after. She's worked with a broken wrist. She grew up in an environment where she battled her own mother in the ring and had to suffer stinging slaps from her if she rushed the action.

Offhandedly, Paige also mentioned that she suffers from scoliosis.

She didn't discover this until she started working in WWE developmental's system, but her spine, in her words, is curved "like a question mark." She didn't seem overly concerned with this, but it's unsettling news. Wrestling is hard enough on a healthy back.

Influences and Advice

The Paige persona comes from a melange of influences, a sprinkling of Lita, a healthy dose of Bull Nakano and a ton of the "Stone Cold" character. Paige said that she tries to emulate Austin as someone who does things her own way.

There's definitely a parallel ass-kicking element to both wrestlers. 

Austin tried to brush off her complements and her implication that she had a crush on him when she was younger. He instead focused on dishing out some wisdom. He told her, "Realize what you're doing and how powerful your presence is."

During the course of the interview, Paige revealed a number of other mantras WWE stars have handed her.

The Rock said to "stay humble and hungry." Goldust preached working "stiff but safe." And Dusty Rhodes said, "You be you" and advised her to save her money.

Rhodes kept her sane during her stay at NXT and was hard on her in order to draw the best out of her.

Paige said that she often goes to Dean Malenko for advice and that when Sara Del Rey began training at NXT, she didn't teach a Diva's way to wrestle but showed Paige and her peers "a man's way" to work. That speaks to the shifting philosophy in how WWE approaches women's wrestling.

Triple H is a big part of that. Paige confirmed that by saying that he really started this current "Divas Revolution." He gave them new opportunities. He gave them time to tell a story. 

And he will likely convince McMahon to change the Divas title to the WWE Women's Championship, a switch Paige muttered she'd like to see happen.

Her Approach to Being a Tough Enough Judge

Some fans may not like it, but Paige's mindset about the Tough Enough series is to be as hard on the contestants as her mentors were on her.

She talked about wanting to help Sara, with whom she was harsh on several occasions. In the way that Rhodes would push her to her breaking point and her mother would hold nothing back in trying to mold her as a wrestler, Paige looks to have an effect on these potential wrestlers by way of tough love.

It's the name of the game she says. The show is called Tough Enough for a reason. "It's not called Let's Cuddle After," as she puts it.

Seeing her passion for the industry, for sharing what she's learned thus far, it's clear that when she's done performing that a future in coaching awaits.

Wrestling has long been in her blood. It's an integral part of her life story, which likely won't change. She's been in love with the business for a long time, and the romance doesn't seem to be fading at all.

Imagining her in a Rhodes-like role at NXT someday is easy. One day, she'll be in some young performer's ear telling them, "You be you."