With Steve Austin reportedly receiving an offer from WWE to do another match and CM Punk in talks with AEW for the promotion to buy out his contract, there’s been plenty of speculation about a potential dream match between them at WrestleMania 39.
The closest fans got to see the feud was to promote the WWE 13 video game when they did a sitdown promo segment with Jim Ross and exchanged words in character, as seen below.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported regarding Austin’s offer to return, “there is smoke to the fire, and something is in the discussion phase. The ideas being discussed internally that are being kept secret.”
Austin could work with a younger guy as he did with Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38 to help carry the match and elevate the younger star. On the other hand, Austin could work with a bigger name, such as Brock Lesnar, John Cena, or Punk.
For Punk, he’s still under contract with AEW, and until he’s free of the promotion, it’s legally impossible for WWE to make the match. There’s been speculation that WWE could have Austin vs. Punk on one night of WrestleMania 39 and Roman Reigns vs. The Rock as the other headliner.
Meltzer added that when “asked about the potential for Punk here, and it appears from a creative team standpoint it’s not positive because most of them follow what happened in AEW.”
Sources stated that they also recognize this will be a decision made by Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan.
