Steve Austin has praised both Chelsea Green and Kevin Owens, calling Owens a Hall of Fame talent and revealing he reached out to check on his recovery from neck surgery. Speaking with The Takedown on Sports Illustrated in celebration of 3:16 Day on March 16, Austin praised Green for her willingness to take creative risks.
“I think that Chelsea Green does that a lot of the time,” Austin said. “She is pretty fearless out there. On a creative note, she will go for it, and it has done well for her.”
Austin framed Green’s approach within the broader context of what it takes to succeed in professional wrestling. “You are an idiot when you first join the business,” Austin said. “You just are, unless you are Shawn Michaels and you kind of get it from day one. When you are starving and you are making $15 and $20 a night, you realize that you better get good pretty quick and learn how to reach people on an emotional level so you can start making some money.”
On Owens, Austin revealed he reached out a couple of months ago to check on his recovery from the neck surgery he underwent last year. “I called Kevin a couple of months ago,” Austin said. “I think he has got a great doctor, according to him, and I threw out a name that I had heard good things about. I care about the guy. Love the guy. He is a Hall of Fame talent. I do not know how he banged his neck up, but he took a lot of bumps. He did a lot of stuff.”
Austin reflected on the nature of wrestling injuries and how even routine bumps can have serious consequences. “It is a rough business, right,” Austin said. “No matter what style you work, you are going to take a bump. And even the most simple bump can be the devastating bump. Although it looks normal, that sets off some chain reaction, or is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and there is that injury. So, hey, injuries happen. I stay in touch with him a little bit and I wish him nothing but the best.”
Owens was Austin’s opponent at WrestleMania 38 in 2022 in Arlington, Texas, when Austin came out of retirement for the first time in nearly two decades. With another in-ring return considered unlikely, Owens holds the honor of being the last person to face Austin in a wrestling match. The two competed in a No Holds Barred match that night, with Austin picking up the win.
While a return date has not been announced, Owens is set to appear as one of the coaches on the next season of WWE: LFG, which premieres on A&E on April 26. There is hope within WWE that he will appear on tonight’s Raw.
