WWE: Here's How Close Steve Austin Came to Wrestling at WrestleMania 39

By Connor Casey

 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin shockingly came out of retirement at WrestleMania 38 last year in Dallas, taking on Kevin Owens in an impromptu No Holds Barred Match. Austin's return to action was incredibly well-received, to the point where fans started wondering if he'd be back in action at WrestleMania 39 earlier this month in Los Angeles. Reports of WWE approaching Austin for a match started emerging in the months before the show, with stars like Roman Reigns and LA Knight apparently being pitched. However, nothing wound up materializing as Austin was absent from the show. 

"The Texas Rattlesnake" spoke with Sports Illustrated this week and confirmed he had talks with WWE about another match but couldn't commit to getting into in-ring shape again as he prepped for his new reality series, Stone Cold Takes America. The new series premieres on April 30 on A&E.

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"I met with some people from WWE. We talked about the possibility of me wrestling at WrestleMania 39," Austin explained. "The biggest thing in my mind was the presentation and what kind of match it was going to be. Going back to 38, the way the KO thing was presented--I love KO--I turned that down three, four, five times until the creative finally came to what it ended up being. I didn't want it constructed as a real match, per se. I needed something that could turn into one, and it did, but I think that's why we got away with it. The Dallas crowd was very receptive. I hadn't been around, so the timing was right.

"But to do a proper match, I'd have to be in off-the-charts shape," he continued. "I told them, and this is the exact truth, I said, 'Guys, I'm just fixin' to go into production on this show, Stone Cold Takes on America, and until we start production, I don't know what my life looks like. I can't commit.' Sure enough, there were technical issues before we finished. I was supposed to finish a month before we did. There's no way, with the schedule I was doing--driving an RV all over God's creation, doing all I was doing--that I would be ready. I had two 30-pound dumbbells, a 45-pound sandbag, and a 25-pound kettlebell. Working 15 hours a day, then getting in a 30- or 40-minute workout, that doesn't get you ready for WrestleMania. And I was really protected at WrestleMania 38. This time, that wasn't going to be the case. That was a true statement: Until this show was over, I couldn't commit."

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