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The WWE WrestleMania 30 opening segment could have looked different had Vince McMahon agreed to Steve Austin's pitch on the day of the show.
In 2014, WWE's biggest event of the year began with Austin sharing the ring with Hulk Hogan and The Rock in a memorable promo segment. Earlier that day, The Texas Rattlesnake asked McMahon if he could appear on-screen singing the Hank Williams song Jambalaya.
In an interview with Ring Rust Radio in 2014, Austin revealed that the WWE Executive Chairman immediately dismissed the idea:
"I actually pitched to Vince in the back that I wanted to sing Jambalaya – it's an old Hank Williams song – and he shot that down. He didn't think it would get over and I think there are some copyright issues or whatever, but could you imagine 70-80 thousand people singing Jambalaya? It would've been bada**." (H/T Cageside Seats)
Austin wanted to sing the song to McMahon in a dressing room at the start of the show. The segment would also have featured Triple H pacing up and down ahead of his match against Daniel Bryan.
The WWE Hall of Famer thought his idea was "pretty damn funny," but McMahon disagreed.
Steve Austin's thoughts on his WrestleMania 30 appearance
The WrestleMania 30 promo is best remembered for Hulk Hogan incorrectly referring to the Superdome in New Orleans as the "Silverdome." The Rock and Steve Austin both made jokes about the error when they joined The Hulkster in the ring.
Although Austin would rather have sung to Vince McMahon, he enjoyed sharing the spotlight with two of WWE's all-time greats:
"I had a hell of a lot more stuff that I wanted to say in regards to a promo, but they presented that on the day and I went with it because if you get to perform at WrestleMania, the time should go to the guys and the gals who are going to be working the matches in the ring, so that they can all tell their stories. So I went along for the ride."
Later that night, Brock Lesnar beat The Undertaker to conquer the WWE icon's 21-match WrestleMania undefeated streak. The show also featured Daniel Bryan's WWE World Heavyweight Championship win over Batista and Randy Orton.
Did you enjoy the WrestleMania 30 opening segment? Let us know in the comments section below.
