Stone Cold hints at wrestling again...sort of.
In 2022, the Rattlesnake shocked the wrestling world by lacing up his boots for one more match. After nearly two decades away from in-ring action, Austin stepped back between the ropes to face Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38—and delivered far more than anyone expected.
The match turned out to be a memorable one, not just for fans but for Austin himself. If it ends up being his last ride, and he’s more than okay with it. That’s what he told Ariel Helwani during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show when asked how he felt about that night.
"Totally. There is always that part in te back of your mind -- there was a match, I think they billed it as an exhibition match between Nick Bockwinkel and Billy Robinson in Japan. Those two guys put on a really nice clinic. It was about 11 to 15 minutes and the Japanese people really appreciated that match. Those guys were badass and could really work. To do something like that would be fun. It’s an exhibition, you’re not trying to go out there and steal the show, just go out there to do it one more time in front of the fans because you love the business as much as you do and it would be very interesting. You always think in the back of your mind about something like that. Exhibition-style, so you don’t have all that pressure of trying to be who you were in your athletic prime. When you’re out of prime, there is a night and day difference of how you can perform. That’s the way it is for any athlete in any sport. If that was my last endeavor in the ring, I’m totally at peace with it. I ran hard, I had fun. We achieved a lot. It was what it was and I have no regrets. I gave it everything I had," Austin said.
Before that night in Dallas, Austin’s last official match had been all the way back at WrestleMania 19, where he lost to The Rock. But at WrestleMania 38, the roles were reversed—Austin picked up the win over Owens.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)
