Steve Austin Recalls Passing On Hi-Tec Shoe Deal Because He Was Waiting On Nike

Steve Austin would famously stomp a mudhole in opponents and walk them dry in his black boots. 

Shoe culture has been more prominent in wrestling over the past few years and though Austin’s black boots may have looked like a generic pair of wrestling boots, his popularity was so high during the late 90s that he nearly came away with a shoe deal. 

“There was one company, Hi-Tecs, the magnums that I was wearing, I was stomping mudholes in people and walking them dry. I can’t remember how I started wearing them, whether I bought them on my own or they sent them to the office. I tried them on and I was in love. I love the way the boots feel and I still wear them today, when I’m out riding or going hunting, that’s what I wear. Back in the day, they approached my agent and me and said, ‘We’d like to have Steve as a brand ambassador and do a sponsorship.’ They had an amount of money and my agent at the time, you always think of your agent as smarter than you. They said, ‘Steve, I think this is a good deal, but we oughta hold out and see if Nike comes at you instead.’ I was like, ‘this is the agent, he’s supposed to be smarter than me,’ so we didn’t do the deal with Hi-Tec, and nothing happened with Nike. I went back and was like, when was Nike ever gonna make a badass boot made for a badass wrestler who was kicking the hell out of everyone on TV? They don’t and they didn’t. My agent blew the deal and I’ll never forget that,” said Austin during an appearance on Sneaker Shopping on Complex.

Austin said you have to trust your gut in those situations and that he and Hi-Tec would have been a perfect match. 

Austin and his black boots returned to the ring at WresteMania 38 to stomp a mudhole in Kevin Owens. You can find Austin’s thoughts on the bout by clicking here. 

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