Steve Austin came out of retirement at WWE WrestleMania 38 for a match with Kevin Owens, his first since WrestleMania 19 against The Rock in 2003. Last year, WWE wanted him to wrestle at WrestleMania 39, but due to filming commitments for his A&E show at the time, he passed on the offer.
Another match?
While speaking with ESPN for a new interview, Austin was asked about potentially stepping back into the squared circle. Austin said that he dissected the match on what he could improve on.
“I said I’d never get in a ring again unless all the stars aligned,” Austin said. “And for some reason, somehow, they all did. And at the age of 57, I headlined the first night of WrestleMania. I never thought I’d do that. If you’d have told me that when I retired in [2003], I’d have said, ‘You’re crazy.’ So I’m not gonna sit here and say no to anything because you never say never in this crazy business of sports entertainment.”
There was a report once CM Punk returned to WWE last November that there are people in WWE who are pushing for Punk to wrestle Austin, something teased a decade ago while promoting the WWE 13 video game.
CM Punk
As previously reported, WWE and Punk had discussions about the possibility, although many ideas have been floated to Punk, and the ideal situation would be to see Punk meet with Austin to go over ideas, but the two sides needed to get through a lot before a match can happen.
Austin said a potential match “would be a good one” before continuing, “I like Punk, and I think Punk likes me — so, as long as he can take a [Stone Cold] Stunner. I consider him a great friend, a great guy, and a great wrestler who’s had a great career. We’ll see.”
Austin noted that he loves wrestling more than anything he’s done in his life and how it can be addicting. “I get excited, and I’ll start talking too fast. But it’s not gonna happen. But it could.”
Austin noted he does have an idea for a final opponent but doesn’t want to reveal it and doesn’t want to add pressure on WWE to make it happen.
