The most significant story from Wrestlemania 38 in Dallas Texas this weekend was the long-awaited return of Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Austin was originally scheduled to appear on Kevin Owen’s The KO Show, but it turned out to be an official match between them after Owens challenged Austin. After Owens challenged Austin, “The Texas Rattlesnake”, won the match and was crowned the winner. It was Austin’s debut match in 19 years.
However, Austin was not done with the WWE Champion. On Night Two of Wrestlemania, Austin took part in the Pat McAfee and Austin Theory matchup. McMahon beat McAfee in an unplanned match as retaliation for beating Theory. Austin then went into the ring to confront The Chairman Of The Board. Austin stunned McAfee and engaged in his celebratory beer bash.
Eric Bischoff, former president of WCW, was one man who watched the entire thing. Bischoff described the whole experience in his podcast “83 Weeks” as simple and awesome. He said:
I know I’m older, but to see Steve in there doing what Steve is so great at doing – even beyond that, forget about the fact that Steve and I are friends and spent a lot of time in the same industry together and were peers in that era.
Forget about all of that. The crowd reaction was just awesome. It was just awesome. I just got back home and picked up in the Pat McAfee/Vince McMahon stuff and I can’t say enough good things about it. It was so much fun.
The McMahon-Austin segment was a particular highlight. Eric Bischoff admitted that McMahon’s surprise on Austin was “horrible” but the former Monday Night RAW General manager says the segment did its job and was enjoyable for all.
I know people will be laughing about Stunners or whatever else, but man, it’s fun. It was one word: fun. Entertainment costs money and entertainment is part of that. The whole segment was pure fun.
Yeah, that Stunner looked terrible and I imagine Vince is angry with himself [laughs]. He should give himself a break, he entertained me and many others. Vince and his entire team deserve a big hat. It was an amazing event. It was, in many ways, one of my favorite Wrestlemanias for a long while.
