RVD Addresses Steve Austin Claiming He Doesn’t Believe in CTE

The much-awaited Mr. McMahon documentary has finally been released on Netflix and it ended up creating a lot of controversy, but all of it wasn’t just from Vince McMahon as Steve Austin received criticism for his thoughts on CTE. In light of these remarks, Steve Austin has now shared his own thoughts on the matter.

During the new Mr. McMahon docuseries on Netflix, episode six discusses CTE in wrestling, particularly in relation to the Chris Benoit murder-suicide case. Austin talked about an injury he got during his match with Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1997, saying he had a concussion. He mentioned that he doesn’t remember having many concussions in his wrestling career.

Austin is not convinced about CTE, suggesting that if someone has a lot of concussions while wrestling, they might be “doing something wrong.” He made it clear that he does not believe in CTE.

“I worked for a long time, I got dropped on my head one time, I got concussed there. But other than that I can’t remember having too many concussions in the business of pro wrestling. My take on that has always been if you’re just wrestling and you got a bunch of concussions you’re probably doing something wrong. I’m not a CTE guy, I just don’t believe in it.”

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While speaking on his 1 of a Kind podcast, RVD shares his thoughts on Steve Austin’s claim that he doesn’t believe in chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the Vince McMahon documentary. He finds this surprising and wonders if the footage might be old. RVD recalls how the idea of CTE faced a lot of resistance at first.

RVD mentions a key moment when Chris Nowinski had to convince Chris Benoit’s father to let them study Benoit’s brain in Boston, calling it a big deal. RVD criticizes how WWE viewed the situation, suggesting that Benoit’s father was just looking for something to blame to help him cope with the tragedy.

RVD also believes that Vince McMahon’s and Austin’s opinions today might be different from what they used to think, especially with all the new information about CTE that has come out in recent years. He points out that people used to deny the problems related to head injuries in wrestling. RVD compares this to older generations saying they were fine without safety measures like seatbelts, emphasizing that while they might think they’re okay, many may not realize the hidden health issues they have from their past experiences.

“I remember I was surprised, and it made me wonder if that footage was outdated because, at first, the whole idea did get nothing but pushback. You know, we even hear Vince saying that after they described it, Chris Nowinski went to Chris Benoit’s dad and had to talk him into giving Chris Benoit’s brain to Chris Nowinski so they could study it up there in Boston. That alone was a really big deal. For the perception from WWE to be that they were talking about this bullshit—I get it; the dad has to point the finger at something to feel better about what happened, but come on.

The way they told that story even made it seem as if, when Vince reached out to Chris Nowinski, he was like, ‘You know, if you’re going to do something, let’s at least do it right and not just put this bullshit out there.’ That’s how it came across. I think that might have been a little bit of what you were asking about with the editing and stuff.

I just find it hard to believe that, with everything we’ve learned over the last several years, Vince’s thoughts would still be the same. I also find it hard to believe that Steve Austin’s thoughts would still be the same now as they were back then. Back then, the mentality was to just deny it. That’s the change; it always gets pushed back. Everyone always wants to say it was better in the good old days. You hear parents say, ‘Oh, we never wore seatbelts in the car when we were younger,’ and ‘Our parents used to smoke cigarettes with the windows up.’

Yeah, I went through all that too, but look at us; we’re fine. That’s where we differ. You’re not fine, you know what I mean? You’ve got to consider what’s making you unhealthy, and you might not even know. Maybe it could have been this.”

CTE is a very serious condition and the world of professional wrestling takes it more seriously now than ever before, so we will have to wait and see whether Steve Austin will clarify his comments somewhere down the line.

What’s your opinion on what RVD had to say regarding Steve Austin’s controversial remarks? Do you believe he makes sense? Let us know in the comments section below!

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