Stone Cold Steve Austin Says Bret Hart Is ‘Determined to Fight’ Cancer – RollingStone.com

Over the path of his WWE career, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin possessed no shortage of memorable feuds – though if he hadn’t stepped in the ring along with Bret Hart, there’s a opportunity he never ever would’ve come to be the icon he is today.

Sidebar

Daniel Bryan Retires: The End of WWE’s Everyman Champ »

For it was Austin’s yearlong war along with the Hitman, which reached its apex along with their memorable submission fulfill at WrestleMania 13 in 1997, that gained him or her a star. The image of a bloodied Austin screaming in pain while Hart locked in his Sharpshooter submission is promptly identifiable to a generation of wrestling fans, and his refusal to tap out – or get any type of suggestions making his means spine up the ramp complying with the fulfill – just included to the burgeoning “Stone Cold” legend, and sent him or her rocketing up the WWE roster.

Hart would certainly leave WWE later that year, paving the means for Austin to come to be among the faces of the company’s so-called “Attitude Era,” though in several ways, both wrestlers have actually remained linked ever since. Austin also inducted Hart in to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006. So earlier this month, as quickly as Hart revealed he was fighting prostate cancer, Austin was among the very first individuals to reach out to the Hitman and supply his support.

“I already know he’s a pretty strong guy, and he’s enthusiastic to fight this to the pretty end, and he’s going in for surgery,” Austin says. “I threw a call down to him, I got his voicemail and I left him or her a message. He returned my call and left me a message. We’re playing phone tag ideal now, however I adore Bret Hart, I respect Bret Hart and I prefer him or her all of the very best as he goes in to his surgery.”

Austin includes that he knows the fight ahead will certainly be a challenging one, however if there’s any person capable of conquering cancer, it’s the Hitman.

“Cancer has actually afflicted my family; my mother and father have actually battled cancer, I already know exactly how strong it is,” he says. “I respect Bret; love I said, I adore him, and I prefer him or her all of the best.”