Steve Austin come out of retirement at WWE WrestleMania 38 for a match against Kevin Owens, his first since WrestleMania 19 against The Rock in 2003. WWE approached him last year about wrestling at WrestleMania 39, but he declined due to filming commitments for his A&E show at the time.
While speaking with ESPN for a new interview, Austin was asked about possibly returning to the squared circle. Austin stated that he dissected the match to identify areas for improvement.
“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.”
When CM Punk returned to WWE last November, there were reports that people within the company were pushing for Punk to wrestle Austin, which had been teased a decade ago while promoting the WWE 13 video game.
As previously reported, WWE and Punk discussed the possibility, and while many ideas have been floated to Punk, the ideal scenario would be for Punk to meet with Austin to discuss ideas, but the two sides needed to work through a lot before a match could take place.
Austin stated that 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 mentioned that he enjoys wrestling more than anything else in his life and that it can be addictive. “I get excited, and I’ll start talking too fast. But it’s not gonna happen. But it could.”
Austin stated that he has an idea for a final opponent but does not want to reveal it because he does not want to put pressure on WWE to make it happen.
