WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out of the company in 2003 and seems content to leave pro wrestling behind him. He'd later return to WWE 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, especially after undergoing total knee replacement surgery. Despite that, the hope is that he might do something at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas this weekend.
Austin is in town for the Show of Shows and was asked by Pat McAfee whether he's given any thought to having one more match.
"No, you don’t. I don’t think about anything like that. I’ve kind of moved on down the road. And don’t get me wrong, the competitive side of me, which kind of transfers into the racing that I’m doing now that you spoke of, you know, I want to be the best at everything that I do. And you know, you still go back and you watch these guys on and the gals on in the ring, in the WWE, and you think, 'Hey, man, I could have gave Kevin Owens a little bit more than what I had.'"
"And sometimes you think about it, but hey, man, I think the time right now for the people in the ring is for the younger generation. That’s for the young men and women that are out there on the road. I’ll leave it to them, and they’ve taken to a great place. The business has grown to something that I never would have imagined."
"So, you know, my days of don’t get wrong, I can still whip some ass, but I’m not looking to get back in the ring at any time in the future because these young cats need something to shoot for. Stone Cold, don’t need to beat nobody’s ass anymore. And that’s the bottom line, because I said so."
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.
If that was it for Austin, though, he went out on a high and we're not going to discount the possibility of him delivering a Stone Cold Stunner to someone on the Grandest Stage of Them All in Sin City.
You can see a clip from Austin's appearance at last night's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in the X post below.