WWE Hall of Hall of Famer Steve Austin was reportedly contacted regarding WrestleMania 38 appearance in December, or perhaps the beginning of January.
WWE has made an essential overture to Austin to wrestle in WrestleMania 38. It’s not clear if Austin is looking forward to wrestling for his first time in nearly 20 years. However, WWE hopes that he’ll return to the ring for The Grandest Stage of Them All in his state of residence. The report also pointed out that the word within WWE is that, at the very minimum, people think Austin to have some physical role during WrestleMania. However, some believe that he’ll wrestle in at some point. In the past few months, there was a report that WWE had a desire for Austin to be a part of any role during WrestleMania in Texas However, now they are urging Austin to step out of retirement.
In a recent update, PWInsider reports that WWE first called Austin at the end of December or in January to determine if he would be interested in a possible collaboration at WrestleMania 38.
WWE reported that they had pitched the idea of having Austin be back in the ring one evening only and then take on the state of Texas to mark his final day in front of a large crowd. The idea was that Austin’s presence would increase WrestleMania ticket revenue.
In the days that followed, WWE has reached out to Austin. However, there’s been no confirmation that Austin is willing to wrestle physically at The Grandest Stage of Them All. We previously mentioned that WWE has discussed Austin having a part in WrestleMania 38 dating back several months ago, and PWInsider affirms this. WWE was always planning to have Stone Cold be a part of the event somehow, even if he does not wrestle.
The idea of Austin being able to do something physical at WrestleMania was first heard from a few sources as early as January, as per PWInsider. However, it was said by one source to be a “Hail Mary plan,” and it wasn’t confident whether anything would happen beyond the notion of being floated at Austin. At the beginning of January, a different source was hoping that the possibility of an Austin returning storyline could be announced during the Royal Rumble in late January; however, it was clear that this was not the case.
It was also mentioned that Austin still has not been formally committed to wrestling as of this moment.
The current Kevin Owens vs Texas storyline has prompted more speculation and rumors of Austin being able to work in conjunction with Owens in the upcoming WrestleMania 38, specifically given the fact that Owens makes use of to use the Stone Cold Stunner as a finisher in recent times. The storyline was pushed forward during tonight’s RAW, which is evident in the clip below, but there’s no indication of what direction they’re taking in the future.
Austin hasn’t wrestled in any actual match since losing against The Rock at WrestleMania 19 in 2003. However, Austin has appeared in a few games since then, including ones in which he presented the Stunner to an unlucky Superstar. Austin was the Texas Rattlesnake who was forced to quit wrestling because of a severe neck injury and multiple knee injuries.
