Steve Austin Responds to Rumored WWE WrestleMania 39 Match

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin made a long-awaited return to the ring last year. The Texas Rattlesnake competed at WWE WrestleMania 38 against Kevin Owens, defeating the Prizefighter in a 13-minute bout that received high praise from fans. Austin's in-ring work raised speculation on his wrestling future, as many believed he was in good enough shape to wrestle more matches. This led to rumblings that WWE was making pitches to the WWE Hall of Famer for a match at April's WWE WrestleMania 39, with names like Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and John Cena being floated as rumored opponents.

Speaking of Cena specifically, Austin told Ryan Satin on Out of Character that working with Big Match John would have been "special," but it will always be nothing more than a hypothetical.

"Working with him would have been a real highlight, and I've had a bunch of highlights. It would have been a real special thing," Austin said. "There is something about John. People are so invested in his matches. He's a very special talent. It would have been great to have a match with him. Will it ever happen? No. I think very highly of John and I love him."

When asked if he ever truly considered coming out of retirement to face Cena, Austin replied, "Not really."

"Names have always been tossed around in conversation and stuff like that," Austin continued. "I said I was never going to really wrestle again, unless, because you never say never, unless the stars aligned properly."

Despite his intentions, Austin ended up returning to the ring last year, but he emphasized that the expectations were not that of a five-star classic.

"They did to work with KO [Kevin Owens] in Dallas, so we did that. It wasn't really put out that it's going to be a highly competitive match," Austin said. "You weren't expecting us to go 30 minutes. I think we exceeded the expectations and it worked for that time and place. I'm good."

Even though he has shut down these rumors himself, there are still whispers about Austin getting involved with WWE WrestleMania 39. Some speculation has put Austin in a promo segment with WWE SmackDown star LA Knight, as many have clamored for a "What?!" vs. "Yeah!" battle between the two captivating talkers.

WWE WrestleMania 39 goes down this April 1st and April 2nd.