The Patriot Talks With Steve Austin
On his signing with WWE
“I had a knee that was blown out, I had a tricep that was blown out, and I got a doctor to gimmick up the physical for me.” Wilkes said, “Hackett gimmick-ed up my physical. I just took the form that was sent to me by the [WWE] about the physical process and I don’t remember the exact line of questioning that was on it, but I gave it to Hackett. Hackett filled it out, signed off on it, [and] gave me a clean bill of health. And I knew I was damaged goods. I had no grand illusions that I would ever be able to fulfill the three years that I signed on that deal with Vince.”
On his departure from WWE
“I met with my doctor and he said, ‘listen man, you just can’t continue to go on.’ He said, ‘you’ve got to get this tricep fixed [and] you’ve got to get this knee fixed.’ And so we had a conference call with Vince and J.R. and it was determined by all parties involved that my body could not take it anymore.” Wilkes continued, “and Vince told me, he said, ‘hey, get healthy. Get well.’ Now, Vince wasn’t aware of the addiction I was dealing with. He was only aware, at this point in time, of the tricep and of the knee problem. He said, ‘get yourself healthy. I don’t care if it takes a year and if you want to come back and work, come back and work. And if you want to work on a limited schedule, I’ll work with you there as well.’ So he left the door open for me to come back, but once I had the surgeries, I was still dealing with that addiction, so I was in no shape to go back. And in all honesty, when it ended, I hated to see it end, but in a way, I was also relieved too.”
On wearing a mask
“In my meeting with Vince when I eventually ended up signing the three-year deal, he wasn’t that convinced, no pun intended, that a masked character could get over at that particular time [and] in that particular climate in the pro wrestling business. Wilkes added, “I did have some allies on my side in Jim Ross and Jim Cornette and Bruce Prichard. But, of course, Vince is the lead dog up there, but I think that he saw the response that the fans had when I made my appearance, initial appearance in the [WWE]. Once I think he saw that, he realized that the fans were still there, still behind the character, and he dropped me in that program with Bret [Hart].”
