Stone Cold Steve Austin discusses whether AEW being around is a good thing for WWE

Steve Austin loves having AEW around as competition for WWE.

It's been a long time since WWE truly had any competition in professional wrestling. AEW's arrival in 2019 changed the landscape of sports entertainment forever, and wrestling fans are reaping the rewards. But if you believe what Steve Austin has to say, so does WWE.

Steve Austin recently sat down with Nick Hausman of Wrestling Inc. to discuss a variety of subjects. When the subject of AEW came up, The Texas Rattlesnake couldn't help but put over what AEW means to the wrestling industry right now.

"Man, I love it. I think it's competition by proxy, just because you know they're wrestling. WWE is wrestling, but I don't think they're directly trying to compete, but in essence, they are. So, I love it because it gives more people within the industry jobs, it gives more people a chance to work, and it makes WWE, you know, it forces them to push the envelope rather than just sit back and just push out content. So now you know your competition makes everybody better I'll bottom line and like that, without going into minutiae and details."

Steve Austin believes AEW is a good thing for everyone

Steve Austin went on to say that WWE will eventually be forced to put on a better product due to AEW's success, which is a good thing for wrestling fans everywhere.

"Then the product is better because you're forced, 'Hey man, what are these cats doing over here? They're doing some pretty good stuff. Well, what are we doing? We need to up it a little bit.' So yeah, it's checks and balances. I remember when we put WCW out of business. I remember going to Vince one time I said, man, was it our mission to put them out of business? They kicked our ass for two years, you know, but I didn't know that was the mission we just wanted to win the ratings war, and of course, he ends up buying them for pennies on the dollar, whatever the deal was, but you know that's a genius of Vince McMahon but to answer your question, AEW is a good thing, it's a good thing for everybody, including WWE."

Do you agree with Steve Austin that AEW is good for everyone, WWE included? Are you looking forward to watching The Broken Skull Sessions with Chris Jericho next weekend?

Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

If you use any quotes from the above article, please credit Wrestling Inc. with a link back to this article for the transcription of the interview.