It's been a decade since the glass shattered and a WrestleMania audience rose to its feet to root "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on in a match, with the last occurrence happening in what proved to be the "Texas Rattlesnake's" last match ever at WrestleMania XIX in 2003 against The Rock. Austin recently spoke about possibly having one last match at WrestleMania 30 on April 6 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
According to Philly.com, Austin was a guest on PWTorch Livecast Friday and talked about the possibility of a return at the WWE's biggest event of the year. Austin didn't mince his words when a fan called into the radio show and asked him if he'd be back at WrestleMania 30 in a wrestling capacity, giving the idea that the chances were slim to none.
"If I were to get ready for a match, let's call it WrestleMania 30, you need about a three-month prep for that," Austin said during the show. "I've been out of the ring 10 or 11 years, if not longer. I don't even remember. So to properly train for that match would be bumping in the ring every single day for a couple of hours along with all of the other things I would need to do and get on the road and get back into timing and stuff like that."
Austin continued that all that work for one match may not be worth it in the end.
"Take all this time, dedicate that window of time to accomplish this one goal and then go from that to where? It's a dead-end street," he said. "Yeah, you can cash a pretty good check at the end of the rainbow, but then the rainbow is over and I got to go back to doing whatever else I was doing... I'm very comfortable doing what I'm doing right now. I enjoy my reality television stuff, some of the acting stuff. I enjoy my podcast. I'm pretty busy. I enjoy spending time with my wife and my dogs and going back and forth from Los Angeles to Texas."
Austin also said that he wasn't sure if his vulgar, take no crap from anyone character would work in WWE's PG and family friendly environment.
"Also, you got put yourself in my shoes and go back to let's call it the 'Attitude Era,' when things were hot and heavy and I came, said and did whatever I wanted within reason - not saying the F-bombs on TV, and go back to the system which is so heavily scripted. I don't know that it's a world that 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin could exist in," Austin said on the show, per Philly.com.
Austin was asked by one of the hosts if he'd completely rule out a return to the squared circle at WrestleMania 30, to which he replied it was "a shot in the dark," saying that he wouldn't rule out an appearance but a match is probably out of the question. When he was asked if he could see himself returning in a couple of years for a possible match, Austin didn't think it would happen.
"Probably for the most part I wouldn't see it happening," Austin said. "To be quite frank and candid with you I don't see it happening. Again, anything could change, but it would really have to be for the right reason. It would have to work for everybody. I love my wrestling fans and I know the fans would love to see one more 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin match. I would have to make sure it would be a good enough 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. You never know until you go in there and have that match, but I don't want to go in there on a personal note and be 90 percent of what I was. That's just not how I want to be remembered. I want people to remember me for good or bad, but the nostalgia of it all, the 'one more time' thing is great, but I don't know. Maybe it's best to leave well enough alone."
On possible opponents, Austin said he was interested in facing CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Triple H or John Cena. The WWE was rumored to pit Austin against Punk had he been able to wrestle one more time. Austin discussed his respect of Punk on the show.
"I got a lot of respect for Punk," he said on the show. "I like his promos and I think we could light it up [on the microphone] and in the ring as well."
While an Austin match at WrestleMania 30 seems out of the realm of possibility, the wrestling world will hope that the "Texas Rattlesnake" at least makes an appearance on April 6 in New Orleans.
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