Stone Cold Steve Austin Confirms Reports He Came Close To Signing Deal For WRESTLEMANIA 40 Appearance

At this year's WrestleMania XL, Cody Rhodes finally finished his story by defeating Roman Reigns to become the Undisputed WWE Champion.

However, he also got a helping hand from The Undertaker when The Rock and the rest of The Bloodline interfered. 

It's been widely reported that Stone Cold Steve Austin was earmarked for the Deadman's spot and, in a new interview, the WWE Hall of Famer confirmed he came "close" to signing a one-night deal with WWE.

"Oh, it was close. And they certainly reached out to me and we had conversations, but my wife and I had some things going on that I didn’t need to go to Philly at that time," he revealed. "But I have said - I missed that Mania. And God dang, Philly was a good town for me back in the day and I appreciate those fans."

"Couldn’t make it down on that one, but WrestleMania this year is in Vegas. And I was doing an interview a while back and I said, ‘Hey man’ — and that’s 400 miles. That’s like right here, where we’re sitting. Right down the road," Austin teased. "But anyway, it’ll be in Vegas, so I hope to be there this year."

The Texas Rattlesnake has a ranch located in Nevada, meaning it should be pretty easy for Austin to make the trip. He stepped back into the squared circle for a match at WrestleMania 38 when he squared off with Kevin Owens for his first match in 19 years.

Whether he'd compete in one final retirement match remains to be seen. 

You can watch the full interview with Austin below. We also have a viral Instagram post from the Texas Rattlesnake confirming that he's very much in WrestleMania shape if a deal closes for him to appear at the Show of Shows in 2025.