Never say never in the world of professional wrestling.
That's a lesson that fans learned back in 2022 when Stone Cold Steve Austin returned to the ring to take on Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. It was Austin's first match in almost twenty years and it exceeded most fans' expectations.
Both Austin and Owens have spoken about how proud they are of that match and, if it serves as Austin's last match ever, he is happy with it. That's what Austin recently told Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show, when asked if he was at peace with the WrestleMania 38 match.
"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 WrestleMania 38, Austin's last match was against The Rock at WrestleMania 19, in a losing effort. Austin won his match against Owens.
Elsewhere in the interview, Austin spoke about his recent knee replacement and how it left him able to only do so much. Fans can read those comments here.
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