Could we be seeing “Stone Cold” Steve Austin return to the ring, One More Time? Well, yes, and no. Last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw confirmed something that’s been making the rounds of the rumor mill for ages. Yes, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin will be performing at WrestleMania 38. But not in the way we all hoped for.
The Texas Rattlesnake hasn’t had a match since 2003
Steve Austin retired from the business quietly after putting on a blockbuster of a match with The Rock at WrestleMania 19. Since then, he has become quite a successful multi-media mogul. He has hosted some of the best podcast interviews in pro-wrestling history, and continues to occasionally kick ass for the WWE whenever he’s called upon.
The last time “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was at WrestleMania was in 2016. At ‘Mania 32, Stone Cold was joined by Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley for a Hall of Fame-sized beatdown on The League of Nations. This year, it looks like the Texas Rattlesnake will ride once again at the Show of Shows.
Kevin Owens has been running down Texas for a month now
It all began with a segment on the February 8th episode of Monday Night Raw. Kevin Owens told Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville that he couldn’t wait to be a part of WrestleMania 38 which is going to be held in Dallas, Texas this year. He said as much in an interview with Sarah Schrieber.
EXCLUSIVE: Nobody loves the great state of Texas more than @FightOwensFight!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/nh7PhjXLgL
— WWE (@WWE) February 8, 2022
And then…and then. He let everyone know just how much he “loves” Texas the next week.
“Read my lips … I can’t stand Texas. I despise Texas and everything about it.”@FightOwensFight#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/y7yoPMF9jJ
— WWE (@WWE) February 15, 2022
Called Victoria, Texas, the birthplace of a certain beer-lover, “lame”.
Sounds like a really lame place. https://t.co/2aZgz4TP7M
— Kevin (@FightOwensFight) February 20, 2022
Said that beer is “gross”.
Beer is gross, man. https://t.co/pvVIROBmIn
— Kevin (@FightOwensFight) February 22, 2022
And proceeded to call cowboy hates “stupid”.
Attention, Texas:
This is the best anyone’s ever looked in a stupid cowboy hat.
You’re welcome!
Sincerely (not really),
– KO pic.twitter.com/BYdaXAIP5K
— Kevin (@FightOwensFight) February 27, 2022
He’s been called out by several WWE Hall of Famers who are native Texans as well, most notably JBL and Booker-T, both of whom had some rather harsh words for Owens.
From the Country of Texas-This is akin to mag wheels on a dump truck. As we say in the Great State ‘all hat, no cattle’. Please stay north of the Red River. Oklahoma might want you, we don’t. Sincerely. The Country of Texas https://t.co/2c1IMifli5
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) February 27, 2022
Hey @FightOwensFight I got a little message for you. #DontMessWithTexas #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/i0dh0KwdAV
— Booker T. Huffman (@BookerT5x) March 1, 2022
But last night, Owens finally decided to stop playing coy and reveal his plan for being on the WrestleMania 38 card. After losing the triple threat match for the Raw Tag Team Championships alongside his best friend Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens decided to let his hatred for Texas reach an all-time high and called out the one person who truly embodies that glorious state with everything he does; “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“I am calling you out, @steveaustinBSR!”
Did @FightOwensFight just make his #WrestleMania plans known on #WWERaw? pic.twitter.com/QiIKH1ZxFM
— WWE (@WWE) March 8, 2022
This call-out comes after weeks of speculation that Austin was going to make an in-ring return at WrestleMania 38. Though reports had cooled down by last week, with Dave Meltzer stating that it was most-likely going to be a segment instead, WWE has seemingly confirmed that. The official WrestleMania twitter handle is promoting a WrestleMania edition of the KO Show for Night 1 of the most-stupendous 2-Night ‘Mania in history.
.@FightOwensFight wants @SteveAustinBSR for #WrestleMania Saturday!!! pic.twitter.com/FYBMEsKYzL
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) March 8, 2022
Austin himself is yet to respond to the call-out, but that isn’t for lack of a response. Shortly after Raw went off-air, WWE tweeted this;
BREAKING NEWS: @steveaustinBSR will respond to the #WrestleMania invitation from @FightOwensFight at 12pm ET.
Set your alarms! ⏰ pic.twitter.com/qP4a6iQoS2
— WWE (@WWE) March 8, 2022
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin might just be making an in-ring comeback for the first time in nearly 2 decades. And while it isn’t for a proper match-up, it’d be nice to see Austin raise hell one last time, as he stomps a mudhole through Owens and shows him what a REAL Stone Cold Stunner feels like.
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