When Steve Austin walked out of the ring at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington on March 30th, no one, including the man himself, believed he would wrestle again.
Years of knee and neck injuries had finally caught up with the Texas Rattlesnake and his career was over at just 38 years old.
However, it’s often said that you never say never in professional wrestling and Austin completed a remarkable comeback at WrestleMania 38. Once back in the ring, Austin defeated Kevin Owens, rolling back the years and turning in a performance that was praised across the board.
While it was initially believed that the bout would be Austin’s last, the match went so well that it was noted that the star would be open to wrestling again in the future. This sparked a whole load of new speculation and a couple of incredible pitches for new matches.
It was reported Austin had been offered matches with both Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, but he had turned both down.
A new report has given an insight into these pitches, and news that WWE is still trying to get Austin to compete at WrestleMania 39.
The report from Fightful Select claims that Austin was offered the match with Lesnar first back in the Summer or Autumn of 2022. However, it seems that financially the terms weren’t even close to being acceptable for the WWE Hall of Famer, the report noting that “the money associated was a non-starter.”
Later on, Austin was offered a “significantly higher amount” to face Roman Reigns, but he didn’t get back to WWE about the offer.
Incredibly, WWE still hasn’t given up and pitches have continued to be made, including for a match with LA Knight.
Have Brock Lesnar And Steve Austin Wrestled Before?
Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar have never wrestled despite coming close previously. Austin had been due to face Lesnar in a King of the Ring qualifying match on Raw back in May 2002, but he walked out on the company instead of going through with the match.
Two years later, Austin served as the special guest referee for Lesnar’s clash with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX. While the pair got physical, Austin remained the third wheel in the rivalry.