With WrestleMania 39 officially single digits away, fans have been evaluating the WWE landscape to figure out which matches could fill out the card and which performers could still lock up a “WrestleMania moment” before the show officially goes underway with a Day 1 opening match between John Cena and Austin Theory. Is Bray Wyatt actually going to show up to “The Showcase of Immortals?” If not, who is Bobby Lashley going to wrestle, if he wrestles anyone at all? And what about legends like, oh I don't know, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who has been rumored to wrestle a match for months now in one form or another?
Fortunately, fans are least have a definitive answer to one of those questions, as in an interview with the NBC Los Angeles, Austin let it be known that while he will show up in WWE from time to time, his time as an active wrestler is officially over.
“Coming back to do something from time to time is fine, because I love my relationship with WWE, but my days in the ring are done. Although, I did do the main event at WrestleMania last year in Dallas but that was kind of a fluke and we pulled it off,” Austin said. “It’s good to be back and see some of the faces, but I’ve been gone for a long time and I do not miss it.”
Wow, while that shouldn't come as too much if a surprise – he hadn't wrestled a match in some 20 years before 2022, after all – it's still sad to know that Austin won't be in the ring again any time soon unless another fluke perfectly sets things up for another dream match down the line. While Austin will certainly miss the spotlight and thrill of competition, if there one thing “The Rattlesnake” will miss most, it's being around the boys in the back.
“Well yeah, I miss the boys. That's what I miss,” Austin said. “You miss going up and down the road telling stories, laughing, and doing things to entertain each other when you're doing the grind on the road…just living life. It's a different breed of animals, or guys, or human beings, that get into this business, and birds of a feather flock together and the sports entertainment industry draws some very unique characters.”
Despite being out of the loop with WWE's year round touring machine, Austin still has plenty of opportunities to spend time with wrestlers young and old as he's still got the Broken Skull Sessions and could realistically work with just about any wrestler he likes should he reach out to them. Even if he never wrestles another match again, it's safe to say Austin's influence in multiple generations of wrestlers and wrestling fans is set.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin has nothing but praise for this WWE Legend.
Sitting down for another interview, this time with Casual Conversations with The Classic, Austin asked about his extensive history with Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “The Rattlesnake” let it be known just how much his WrestleMania 13 opponent means to him.
“Bret Hart means the world to me,” Austin said via Fightful. “Bret and I are very close. He saw me coming up when I was in WCW. He knew that I was a guy that he could work with, make money together, and tell great stories, and he was correct. When he came back from the get his knee cleaned up in 1996, he picked me to work with at Madison Square Garden. We had an old-school classic match [at WWE Survivor Series 1996], and it was off the charts. Then we went into [WWE WrestleMania] 13, we went to a room, and we knew what we needed to do. We went out to the ring, and Bret said, ‘Hey,' and he gave me the idea for something that happened in that match. So I owe a huge part of my career to Bret ‘The Hitman' Hart.”
In a sport where suspending disbelief is a borderline requirement, Hart's in-ring realism helped to legitimize Austin to the WWF crowd and made him into one of the most prolific performer in WWF history.
“When you think of realism in the business of professional wrestling and sports entertainment, they don't get any better than Bret ‘The Hitman' Hart. I like a lot of the guys and a lot of different styles, but if you want realism, determination, grit, and an athletic presentation, it doesn't get any better than him. I love the guy. I respect him. We've wrestled all over the world, and we have a mutual respect for each other. Bret Hart helped make Stone Cold. In the largest degree possible, I owe a lot of my career to WWE who put me in the position, I made the most of an opportunity. Bret ‘The Hitman' Hart, putting me on the map, big time.”
Is there a world where Austin gets over without Hart? Potentially so, but “The Hitman” certainly played a bit part I'm “The Rattlesnake's” run, and Austin is right to appreciate that.
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