Fightful Select had reported in January of 2022 that WWE was planning to bring Stone Cold Steve Austin out of retirement. Austin himself had been hesitant since his initial 2003 retirement, and was very particular about how the right situation would present itself. Not only that, Fightful has learned that Vince McMahon was also very particular in making sure that Austin was ready for his "impromptu" WrestleMania match that would main event the show.
We're told that Vince McMahon and Drew Gulak flew to Stone Cold Steve Austin's ranch in Texas. Drew Gulak was running drills with Austin, and Austin started calling out spots to Gulak, almost in full character. Gulak went with it and the two effectively had a long match at the ranch.
Gulak also ended up working with Vince McMahon. One WWE higher up said "the funniest thing about all of this wasn't that Vince flew all the way out there, took Drew Gulak with him and made sure that Austin could still go. It's that while he did all that to make sure that Austin was good to go, he knew he was planning to wrestle himself, knew he sucked, still did it and ended up having one of the worst matches and Stunner sells of all-time after."
This article first appeared on our premium service, Fightful Select and was republished here on Fightful. If you complain about it being "old news," you have to buy Denise nachos. Subscribe to get exclusive news every day, and a half-dozen weekly podcasts.
To directly support us and our continuing breaking news, interviews, and the like, subscribe to FightfulSelect.com. You'll get exclusive news sent to you directly before anyone else, and dozens of podcasts monthly including Alex Pawlowski's Sour Graps, Sean Ross Sapp's Q&A, Retro Reviews and more
