Steve Austin WrestleMania 38 Update

Steve Austin has been tied to WrestleMania 38 for several weeks now, as it was reported back on Feb. 14 that WWE was pushing for the Hall of Famer to come out of retirement and have a match for the first time in 19 years at the upcoming two-night event. Austin never officially commented on the reports, though the theory was that he'd be back for a match for Kevin Owens after the Canadian star began ranting about how much he hates Texas. But the show is now less than a month away and WWE still hasn't made any sort of announcement, which doesn't aid their mission in trying to sell more than 200,000 tickets to fill AT&T Stadium on back-to-back nights.

The latest reports from this week seem to indicate WWE has pulled back on having Austin work a full match. Dave Meltzer noted on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio that the Austin vs. Owens booking has been downgraded to a "confrontation," as Austin has yet to agree on working the match. Plans could change if "The Texas Rattlesnake" changes his mind.

Austin appeared on the Talk is Jericho podcast last April and talked about WWE's numerous attempts to get him back for another match after his retirement at WrestleMania XIX. He chose to step away at the time due to a series of severe neck injuries.

"I think Vince [McMahon] tried talking me to coming back a couple times, but you know Chris, I love the business so much," Austin said. "I love it more than anybody else. I can only speak for myself, but I love the damn business, and it hurt me so much to leave it. And to me, going back for one match, man, why? What am I proving? What are they going to remember? It ain't about the money. It took me a long time, damn near three years to get over the fact that I left the business.

"If you're really going to make a comeback, let's say it was gonna be high-profile match at WrestleMania," he continued. "Taker, when I talked to him, he trained all year or recovered from having surgery, and then write trained for a three or four month camp to get ready for one match. I would really have to undergo a three or four month camp. I'm one of those guys where I don't have an addictive personality, but I'm addicted to the wrestling business. All of a sudden, I'm putting in all the hard work and get back to being around the ring, being around the business, that is my number one passions in my life."

Austin concluded — "To get hooked on it again just for one match and to me, it would have been so anti-climactic. Go out there and do it, and then whatever the finish was. And then the people go home, but what does it all mean in the big picture? Stone Cold had a comeback, and the match was a three and a half Meltzer five star rating. 'It ain't great enough,' and even if I crushed it, what would it mean? I just had to say, man, stay away, and I've stayed away."