Did Stone Cold Steve Austin think of quitting?

As mentioned in my earlier Stone Cold Steve Austin post, the former WWE Champion went above and beyond the call of duty when it came to giving me what I needed to write the WWE Championship book. Because of this, I was left with so many quotes that not all of them could fit in book. But have no fear, that’s what the Internet’s for. Here’s a few words from the Hall of Famer; I’ll post more at a later date:

It took you eight long years to win the WWE Championship, compete with firings and injuries. Did you ever think of quitting prior to your run as WWE Champion?
I never thought of giving up. But I never dwelled on being the world champion either. I when I first broke in in World Class Championship Wrestling–which later turned into the USWA–I was greener than hell. I was just worried about trying to string a match together to go six to eight minutes, then 10 to 12, then 15 … I was just trying to put my time in and learn how to tell a story. I was so caught up in the mechanical end of the business, I was just trying to become a good wrestler. Of course, I watched what the world champions were doing too.

When I came to WWE, I had been out of work … I had a busted arm … I was working for ECW. When I finally got hot and turned into Stone Cold Steve Austin, I still didn’t think about being world champion until I got the championship put on me at XIV.

I never thought about giving up, but I never dwelled on being world champion either, I was just worried about making a paycheck.

You were white hot at the time of your championship win at WrestleMania XIV. At that time, did you realize how much success you were about to experience?
I didn’t think my success hinged on the fact that I was world champion a couple of times. It was more or less because I sold tickets and it was good to put the title on this guy a little bit. But I was probably better at chasing a belt than I was maintaining a belt.

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