What would “Stone Cold” Steve Austin have been in the WWE Universe without Mr. McMahon?

Sure, the “Rattlesnake” was part of some of the biggest matches and feuds in professional wrestling history, with his bouts against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bret Hart, Triple H, and Mick Foley the stuff of legend, but when the totality of his story is written, the chapter that will have the most weight, at least when it comes to professional wrestling, will belong to his feud with Vince McMahon, as it truly revolutionized the industry.

A bada** anti-hero through and through, Austin's ability to not just feud with another wrestler but instead the man booking the shows was something borderline unprecedented in professional wrestling history and made the Hall of Famer all the more relatable because of the us versus them mentality of any employee wanting to go up against their jerk boss.

While WWE has attempted to retell this story on multiple occasions, usually with Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon standing in for Mr. McMahon, could WWE soon attempt to run it back once more, only with Roman Reigns filling “Austin's” cowboy boots? Well, if the heir to the McMahon name, Declan McMahon, has his say, he wouldn't mind becoming the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion one bit.

“I've talked to Mr. Reigns a lot. He's such a great guy, but what he's doing right now is incredible. He's really helping out the business, not only in the United States but all over the world,” Declan McMahon said on Developmentally Speaking via Fightful. “The storyline with The Bloodline, and how it's evolved from something that happened at the beginning of 2019 and stemmed through COVID. It's been going on for so long. It's just really been incredible. They've really done a phenomenal job with him, and it shows that it doesn't always work the first time, right? Sometimes you have a lot of trial and error. Roman Reigns, when he first won the belt, people hated him. They were booing him out of the building, but now he's really ascended into one of the one of the all-time elite, and I'm very, very happy for what they've done with him. He's done a phenomenal, phenomenal job, but if the storyline had it, you know, I wouldn't really mind being the Undisputed Champion. That wouldn't be too bad.”

Is there a world where the younger McMahon could unseat Reigns? I mean, sure, anything is possible, but if Declan wants to wait until he's finished with his collegiate football career to try his hand at the family business, WWE would have to wait roughly three years for that to happen, so… actually, considering Reigns' current run, that feels like a distinct possibility.

Declan McMahon believes his father has an underrated business mind.

Elsewhere in his conversation with Developmentally Speaking, Declan McMahon was asked what it's like to grow up in the McMahon family, with his grandfather, Mr. McMahon, and his father, Shane McMahon, two of his biggest inspirations alongside WWE's current CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

“I've truly been blessed with the family that I'm in. My grandfather is one of the most renowned businessmen in American history. Taking a company that pretty much declared bankruptcy and went out of business, and buying it back, and having that vision, playing to the market has been incredible,” McMahon told Developmentally Speaking via Fightful.

“I can't think of anybody smarter than my dad. My dad originally wanted to buy the UFC when it was very low and a lot of people turned it down, my grandfather included. [They] turned it down because it was a different market and it wasn't really a big thing back then, but my dad saw the vision and my dad sees his visions all the time. My dad wanted to invest in Disney and in a bunch of other companies. He truly sees the market in a way that I've never seen anybody else do. He's so smart and I feel like people don't always give him the credit for it that he deserves because a lot of the things that he does, obviously are behind the scenes, right? You know, you don't always see the work that goes in and the time that he puts in, but fans are so quick to jump on his last match or his quad injury, whatever. Everybody instantly goes to, like, ‘Oh, you should retire' Rather than appreciating the fact that he's still doing it and the genius behind it. Being able to learn from my dad and my grandfather would be absolutely incredible, and learning from Paul [Paul Levesque aka Triple H], you know, he's just so knowledgeable about the business, about creative. It'd be really great.”

While some fans may enjoy poking fun at Shane-O-Mac for his Shane McMahon-isms, most recently for tearing his quads at WrestleMania 39, it makes sense that Declan would be proud of his father and his grandfather and everything they have accomplished, as it's allowed him boundless opportunities that most could only dream of. How Declan decides to use them, however, will define his own spot in his family's famous legacy.