Austin is joined on today’s show by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson for part 2 of their interview.

The three men talk about how something as simple as a handshake can get you heat in the business of professional wrestling. Austin points out that when he was first breaking into the business he’d shake everyone’s hand firmly, like he was taught as a child.

At some point the business changed and shaking hands firmly became a sign of being a stiff worker in the ring. If you shook someone’s hand firmly that was a guaranteed signal to them that you’re ‘green’ and hard to work with in the ring. Unfortunately, it took a long time for that information to spread throughout the wrestling community worldwide, and if an uninformed talent shook a veteran talent’s hand firmly that could have gotten them heat.

Gallows informs that he was working for WWE as an extra many years ago and when he went backstage he shook Victoria’s hand firmly and she warned him then and there to not do that. He realizes now that she probably saved him from getting some heat backstage during those years by giving him that warning.

At another point while he was working as an extra for WWE, Gallows showed up to the building and didn’t really know where to go so he went into a room labeled “Male locker room” and sat down alone. After some time Bob Holly walked in and asked him who he was. Gallows told him he was there to work as an extra and Holly told him he couldn’t sit there, so Gallows moved down the bench a ways.

Holly looked up again and said, “You can’t sit there either.” Gallows nodded, got up and walked to the other side of the locker room and sat down there. Holly looked up again and screamed, “You can’t sit in here anywhere!” and ushered him out of the locker room. Gallows laughs now when recalling how oblivious he was to the ‘code’ backstage during that time.

Anderson mentions that it’s a breeze working in WWE right now where they get 2 or 3 days off each week. When they were working full time in Japan they’d have to work 3 weeks at a time before finally being able to fly home to spend some time with their families.

While they both loved their time in Japan they admit that their opponents’ ring gear was rarely fresh. There were some terrible odours from time to time and Austin informs that he dealt with that during his career as well. While dealing with stinky opponents could be tough, Austin always loved the smell of a dirty, sweating wrestling mat.

Gallows ran his own promotion for a period of time and he absolutely loved it. He had to sell it for personal reasons just a few months ago, but he’s determined to own one again in the future. He says that he doesn’t really have pastimes and he loves wrestling, so there’s nothing better than sitting with friends and putting together a wrestling show.

Anderson mentions that he was slightly concerned when his wife told him she was pregnant with their latest child. He was happy but at the same time, more kids means more bills. Gallows laughs and says he was thrilled when he heard that Anderson’s wife was pregnant again. He knows that Anderson will have to wrestle until he’s 70 to pay for all those kids and he wants to wrestle forever because he loves it so much so it’s a perfect match.

Gallows informs that he and Anderson came up with their characters on Southpaw Regional Wrestling, and he thinks the fans loved those characters because they were delivering their own lines and not something that was scripted for them by WWE. Anderson says promos are too scripted in WWE today, and the most successful promos are often ones where talents take chances and sway off script.

In Anderson’s opinion A.J. Styles is the best wrestler in the world right now. Neither Gallows or Anderson had met Styles before he arrived for work in Japan and they teamed up in the Bullet Club, so they didn’t know what to expect from him. Luckily, he was a great guy and they bonded almost immediately.

Anderson mentions that Big Show called them the ‘last cowboys’ recently, referring to their old school approach to the business. They still like to go out for drinks after shows and have fun on the road, and their in-ring approach is quite old school as well. Gallows says he would have loved to work in the 1970s because he thinks they would have been quite successful during that era.

That sums up this week’s episode of The Steve Austin Show Unleashed. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!