Steve Austin and Kane reveal the secret to getting the ear of Vince McMahon.
On a recent episode of the Steve Austin Show, Austin interviewed long-time WWE superstar Kane. During the interview, the two men discussed their relationship with Vince McMahon. Austin is one of the biggest stars in wrestling history and his rivalry with McMahon took WWE to new heights in the late 90s. Meanwhile, Kane has been in the company since the mid-90s and has been a featured player since debuting as the character Kane in 1997.
When discussing his meetings with Vince, Kane said, "The thing about Vince is, you have to be at that level and act like you are at that level with him. He values input, but you have to be confident. With Isaac Yankem, I wasn't. I learned with Vince, the more that I'm confident when I talk with him, the more he respects my opinion. He does listen to his talent. A lot of times what happens is, you walk in and think you're going to accomplish something, and you walk out and you're doing the same thing you were doing. A lot of times, I've been able to say 'this is a good idea' or 'this isn't a good idea' and he does end up listening because he trusts you." Kane continued, "Especially the longer you've been there. He realizes I'm not in there just for me. I'm in there because I may have a different perspective, but it's still in the best interest of the company. Vince is super loyal. If you're loyal to him, he's loyal to you."
Austin chimed in, giving his thoughts on the type of person Vince likes dealing with.
"He wants everybody to get over. The more serious you take the business, the more you put into it, and the higher up you are and the longer you're there, the more you can develop the relationship," said Austin "Vince does not like pushovers. He likes a challenge. Does he want someone to buck the promotion every time? No, but he enjoys people to challenge him and he enjoys challenging people. He always says, 'I give people opportunities.' That's the truth. As many 'Yes Men' as he's had, he likes the guys who will say, 'What about this?'"
McMahon has mainly stayed behind the scenes in recent years, but did return to television last Monday on Raw, promising to kick off a new era in WWE. He has been on every subsequent episode of Raw and SmackDown and appeared at the Madison Square Garden live event on Wednesday.
