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Jim Ross thought Stone Cold Steve Austin’s career might be over after his match against Owen Hart at WWE SummerSlam 1997.
Hart hit Austin with a poorly executed piledriver during the match, forcing his opponent to land head-first on the ring canvas. Jim Ross, who commentated on the match, instantly knew his close friend had sustained a serious neck injury.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Ross said he doubted during his car ride home whether Austin would ever wrestle again:
“If you’d have asked me on my drive home from The Meadowlands back over to Connecticut, I would have said, ‘He’s done.’ Nobody asked me that, and I probably wouldn’t have had the balls to say that, but in my own mind thinking driving solo from East Rutherford, New Jersey, back over to Norwalk, Connecticut... ‘He done.’” [1:49:53-1:50:17]
Austin suffered a bruised spinal column and temporary paralysis due to the botched piledriver. He returned to the ring two months later and eventually underwent surgery to repair his neck issues in January 2000.
The WWE icon retired in March 2003 following his match against The Rock at WrestleMania 19. Now, 19 years later, he is set to return at WrestleMania 38 on April 2 to participate in a segment with Kevin Owens.
Jim Ross says Owen Hart and Steve Austin made amends
Steve Austin fell out with Owen Hart after SummerSlam 1997 because he believed his opponent did not do enough to prevent the injury. The WWE Hall of Famer initially wanted Hart to fall to his knees while delivering the move, but the two-time Intercontinental Champion disagreed.
Jim Ross clarified that the two men were back on speaking terms before Hart tragically passed away at a WWE event in 1999:
“He [Austin] didn’t want anything to do with Owen for the longest time, and he was mad at him. I think he was disappointed in himself that he didn’t make his point more clear that you’ve gotta go to your knees and not your a**. Time heals a lot of things, Paul [Grilling JR host Paul Bromwell]. I think Steve got over it.” [1:54:24-1:54:49]
Ross also said on this week’s podcast that Austin never understood why Owen’s brother, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels struggled to settle their differences. While Hart and Michaels are now friends, they disliked each other on-screen and off-screen in the 1990s.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
