Stone Cold Steve Austin may have been away from the WWE ring for more than two decades but it seems that the WWE Hall Of Famer isn’t ready to bid goodbye to the ring. WrestleMania 39 concluded on a good note in terms of all the matches. Steve Austin also had the desire to make his way to the SoFi Stadium for in-ring action. However, the plan was crushed by the management.
Stone Cold heightened the intensity of last year’s WrestleMania where he came in for a face-off against Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match. “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,” said the WWE legend to Sports Illustrated.
if he comes back every year although fans may want it then it is just going to leave everyone wanting it less and less
— Random Peeps 2 (@Random_Peep2) January 31, 2023
Adding onto the reason for not having a slot in WrestleMania 39’s card, he said, “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…And I was really protected at WrestleMania 38. This time, that wasn’t going to be the case.” The former WWE star was so impressed with the match that he didn’t want his WrestleMania 39 to feel bleak.
He had a perfect ending to his career last year. Main event in Texas & then stuns his greatest rival in Vince night 2 while drinking tons of beer. Should never ever step in the ring for a match again because that was as good as it gets at his age after nearly 20 yrs on the shelf!
— VΞRDICT4489 (@Verdict4489) January 31, 2023
While he might feel the need for a proper storyline for his appearances, fans feel that his last WrestleMania match was a perfect finish and he shouldn’t return to the ring again. The 58-year-old has been away from the ring for a long time and it won’t be feasible for him to main event another WrestleMania considering his physical abilities.
What were the rumored plans for Stone Cold and how did things eventually turn out?
Before WrestleMania booked their card, Steve Austin was a name in many mouths. Being one of the greatest stars in the history of WWE, many wanted him to show up against Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns. However, as the fans wanted, both the stars got their much-hyped opponents.

While Roman Reigns defended his titles against Cody Rhodes, Brock faced off against Omos. Lesnar left the WrestleMania audience screaming at the top of their voices as he faced the 7 ft 3-inch giant. While Omos dominated the first half of the match, Lesnar was strong enough to put him through three German Suplexes. Ultimately, Omos had to give up the match for Lesnar after tasting an F5.