Scheduled for April 1 and 2 from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, WrestleMania 39 is rumoured to be one of the biggest ‘Manias ever, with regular names such as Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and Ronda Rousey being joined by legends like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, and John Cena.
For Lesnar, it appears that he may be in line for a first-time-ever clash at the event. Per Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, one of the possible options to collide with ‘The Texas Rattlesnake’, should he indeed compete once again, is Brock Lesnar:
“Austin vs. Lesnar would be gigantic business wise but I’d be more trepidatious on that one, but it’s not like the two of them don’t have great respect for each other.”
Dave Meltzer added that there is “smoke to the fire” to the rumours that Steve Austin will be returning to the ring for WrestleMania 39, though a definitive opponent hasn’t yet been named:
“There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks that Steve Austin would be willing to do another match at WrestleMania this year. All we know for sure is that there is smoke to the fire and something is in the discussion phase. The ideas being discussed internally that are being kept secret.
One of the obvious ideas would be the idea of using one of the younger guys to work with Austin, like [Kevin] Owens last year, to carry the match with the idea the person would be elevated by being in with Austin, something like a [Baron] Corbin or [Austin] Theory type heel. It’s an easy brawl, Austin goes over, but it’ll also be weaker than last year since they’ve already done something like it last year.
The other and better idea for this year is the dream match scenario. The three obvious options here are [John] Cena, Lesnar and [CM] Punk.”
Brock Lesnar And Steve Austin Were Due To Collide In 2002
In a match now so infamous in WWE lore, Brock Lesnar and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin were originally set to do battle in the company back in 2002. This would have reportedly seen Austin lose to ‘The Beast Incarnate’ in a King of the Ring qualifying match, a tournament that Lesnar ultimately won before unseating The Rock as Undisputed WWE Champion.
Despite refusing to lose to Lesnar at the time, a move that coincided with ‘The Bionic Redneck’ walking out of WWE, Steve Austin has admitted to holding great respect for Brock and would allegedly happily lose to him any other day.