WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out of the company in 2003 and left pro wrestling behind him. He'd later return to the company in a variety of roles but didn't compete again until facing Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38 in 2022.
Fans have hoped to see him back in the ring ever since, though it's never seemed an overly likely prospect. The Texas Rattlesnake also appears to have limited interest in putting his body on the line at 60. Despite that, rumours continue to swirl about him showing up at WrestleMania 41 next month.
Talking to Sports Illustrated, Austin reflected on his memorable main event match with KO and admitted that there are some elements of the bout he believes fell short.
"I was happy in a moment, but, you know, they didn’t send me a ring down. I didn’t have any timing. I think they interviewed Triple H, The Undertaker, and Hogan. Each one of them said something that was so true. Paul said, you can come back, but you don’t know what you have, because you haven’t been out there. Undertaker said, you’re not going to have any timing. He was right. I didn’t have any timing. Hell, I hadn’t hit a set of ropes in 19 years. Hadn’t thrown a punch in 19 years."
"Hogan says you’re just not calloused up. Your body is not as hard as it used to be. He was right, because when you when you take off, people talk about ring rust, that’s timing. So, I had no timing. Hogan was talking about being calloused up … those ropes hurt. Those bumps hurt. If you make a long comeback, it takes you two or three months to get those callouses back, so that your body doesn’t hurt after every single match. You build up an immunity to it, so they each made valid points. Like Paul said, you don’t know what you got until you get out there, because you can think you got it, but you don’t."
"When I went out there, I think I couldn’t hear the crowd as much as I wanted to. When I watched it back, the crowd was into it. It was very, very loud, yes, but I wish I would have taken more time, savored more moments, and worked the people a little bit more than I did. I think I was in a space of not knowing what I had and trying to be a little too frantic. I could have slowed down drastically and made that better. I wish that I would have. I haven’t told too many people that, but I told you."
The WrestleMania 40 main event saw Cody Rhodes finally triumph over Roman Reigns to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The closing moments of the match saw John Cena, Seth Rollins, and The Undertaker fend off The Bloodline, but Stone Cold Steve Austin was conspicuous by his absence.
Asked recently if he'll be at WrestleMania 41 to lend the American Nightmare a helping hand against the heel John Cena, Austin said, "Hey, I haven’t been in contact with anybody, so I guess anything could happen. But I’m here to run the Mint 400 and that’s what my sights are set on. I’m not looking to Mania."
The Texas Rattlesnake is arguably being a little too harsh on himself when it comes to that match with Owens, but he's a perfectionist and likely wouldn't want to step back into the ring if he can't top what we saw three years ago.