It was often said that being a perfectionist, Steve Austin would only return to a WWE ring if he was certain he could do himself justice.
While that might be true in theory, Austin has revealed that in practice, he left things much more to chance.
During an appearance on the Out of Character podcast, Austin reflected on his match with Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. Although the match was his first in almost two decades, Austin was praised almost universally for his performance.
The WWE Hall of Famer explained that he was brought back by the lure of wrestling in Dallas one more time, but his preparation was a little more unorthodox. Austin noted that he did “zero” in-ring work, instead focusing on Sheamus’ Celtic Warrior Workouts YouTube series. Here he followed workout plans from the likes of Edge and Bryan Danielson, before adapting a routine used on the show by Becky Lynch.
“Zero in-ring training. I was doing cardio. Here’s an inside tip for you. I love Sheamus. He’s got a great YouTube channel, the Celtic Warrior workout or whatever he calls it. I got on there. I watched Edge’s routine. I watch Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson or whatever his name is. I watched his training routine. But the one that really got me was Becky Lynch’s comeback routine. So I did Becky Lynch’s routine over and over and over again and then I invented my own out of that. So I was training hard at my house, but I didn’t have a ring.”
Austin added that he worked with Drew Gulak a couple of days before the show in order to try and get as prepared as possible.
Once I got to Dallas, I got there three or four days early because I always do, I ran the ropes a lot with Drew Gulak, who’s absolutely wonderful. He’s a great talent, super guy, and very intuitive in the ring. We did a lot of crisscross stuff, locked up, grabbed a headlock, did a couple of spots, and just a little bit of that and I was gassing.
When I tell you I’m in good shape, I was. But doing cardio at the house, as hard as I was working out, it’s not the in-ring activity. It’s very specific, cardio is. So like when K.O. comes in or Drew, they’re Road Warriors. They’ve been on the road. It was short notice, but as hard as I worked out, I still wasn’t in shape because they were doing a specific task.”
Steve Austin Hints Career Might Not Be Over
Although many believed Austin would never wrestle again after being defeated by The Rock at WrestleMania 19 in 2003, his showing in 2022 proved there’s still some gas left in the tank.
When asked whether his match with Owens would be his last, Austin admitted that he can “never say never” on getting back in the ring.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co