WWEHall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin may make a return to the ring at this year’s WrestleMania. Austin last appeared in the company in March 2020 on an episode of Monday Night Raw.
Austin was inducted into theWWEHall of Fame in 2009 alongside Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, “Cowboy” Bill Watts, Howard Finkel, Koko B. Ware, The Funks, and The Von Erichs. The Texas Rattlesnake has not competed in a match in nearly 20 years, but new reports suggest that Austin may wrestle again soon.
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Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful has reported thatWWE has reached out to Austinfor a potential appearance at WrestleMania 38 in April. Austin’s last match was in 2003 where he wrestled Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WrestleMania 19. Injuries to Austin’s knees and neck were cited as reasons for his decision to step away from the ring. Should Austin make a triumphant return at this year’s WrestleMania, rumors suggest that if he does come back to wrestle, Austin will square off against Kevin Owens.
Over the last few months,Owens' on-screen personahas been called into question by his fellow WWE superstars. In rarely sticking to his word, Owens has been labeled a liar. For the past few weeks, Owens has poked fun at the state of Texas, which will host WrestleMania 38. After praising the state and listing off what the location means to him, Owens revoked his words and trashed the state, insisting that his home country of Canada is the exact opposite of what Texas is. With Austin being a proud Texan, these are likely plants to build their feud prior to their potential match at WrestleMania.
Since his retirement from in-ring competition, Austin has taken up several projects outside of his sporadicappearances for WWE. In 2019, Austin began hostingSteve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessionswhere he talks with wrestlers, both past and present, about their careers. He has also hosted a number of reality competition shows includingRedneck Island,Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge,as well as USA’s television seriesStraight Up Steve Austin.
With the effort Owens has begun to put in this Texas storyline, it seems that WWE and Austin might be on the end of reaching an agreement. Even if WWE and Austin fail to agree to terms for a match at WrestleMania, the Texas storyline with Owens doesn’t have to be entirely over.The Undertakerand Shawn Michaels are also massive WWE superstars from Texas who are currently retired but might consider returning for a match in Austin’s absence.
