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Stone Cold Steve Austin’s unexpected WWE in-ring return has not yet been officially confirmed, according to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. However, he has heard that a dream match between the Hall of Famer and Kevin Owens is likely to happen.
Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp earlier reported that WWE approached Austin about coming out of retirement at WrestleMania 38 in his home state of Texas. On this week's RAW, Owens made derogatory remarks about Texas during a backstage promo.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer provided details about the behind-the-scenes conversations that took place before RAW:
“They have a lot of tickets left to sell and the impression I have is the match is on. That’s why he [Owens] started doing the promos. I know that backstage at WWE all day, that’s all I kept hearing about. I heard it early in the day and I kept checking around and more people were saying they heard the same thing.” [H/T WrestlingNews.co]
Meltzer clarified that he is unsure if Austin’s return is a “done deal” at this stage, but “people were talking like it was.” He added that Owens’ promo about Texas, in which he said he “despises” the state, was a “dead giveaway” about WWE’s booking plans.
Stone Cold Steve Austin commented on his in-ring status in 2019
Due to knee and neck injuries, Stone Cold Steve Austin retired from in-ring competition after his defeat to The Rock at WrestleMania 19 in 2003.
The WWE icon revealed on his Steve Austin Show podcast in 2019 that he is physically capable of returning to the ring for another match.
“Physically, would I be able to have one more match? Yes, most definitely, and I could make it to that match without being injured. Although the risks are always there, just because I think all of the surgeries I had, where I had the spinal stenosis, and getting that bone spur taken off my spinal cord,” Austin said. [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
WrestleMania 38 will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 2-3. WWE set an attendance record of 101,763 fans when WrestleMania was last held at the stadium in 2016.
