Steve Austin has given the clearest indication yet that his in-ring career might not be over.
The WWE Hall of Famer ended a 19-year retirement at WrestleMania 38 when he defeated Kevin Owens. During the match, Austin rolled back the years and defied a litany of serious knee and neck injuries to turn in a performance far beyond what he was believed to be capable of.
This was reportedly not lost on the man himself, who was so impressed with how things went that he was open to doing it again. Since then it has been claimed that WWE has made repeated attempts to get him to compete at WrestleMania 39, including offering him matches with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. However, he has turned both of these matches down.
Appearing on the Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin, Austin said that it was the lure of performing in Dallas that brought him back, revealing he turned WWE down multiple times previously. He later joked that he’s surprised Owens didn’t give him a “receipt” as he kept accidentally hitting him for real.
“Well, part of the pitch was you know, I did start my career in Dallas, and for you know, all these years to pass by, to go back to Dallas, Texas, where it all started in Jerry’s house, AKA AT&T Stadium, that’s a huge building and it would be an honor to play there, to work there, and so that was a big draw to start and finish in Dallas.
I turned them down several times until they kept coming back with different creative. K.O. was always in the conversation. I was down with that because I love that guy. He’s awesome. On the inside, I was knocking his head off so many times because I didn’t throw a punch in 19 years. I told him when we got finished, I said, ‘Dude, I cannot believe you didn’t give me a receipt out there.’ That’s the good-natured heart of K.O. He was thrilled to be out there and I was thrilled to be with him.”
When asked whether he thought his match with Owens was his last, Austin refused to fully close the door on one more comeback.
“Well, never say never. If the stars align again, hell, I mean, it could happen again, right?”
Steve Austin Rules Out Match With John Cena
Despite wrestling some of the biggest names in wrestling history, Austin never shared the ring with John Cena. Although their careers very briefly crossed, the timing was never right for a match to be put together.
During his appearance on Out of Character, Austin ruled out the match ever taking place, despite his admiration for the WWE legend.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co