KEY POINTS

  • Vince Russo thinks "Stone Cold" Steve Austin should not  have a match at WrestleMania 38
  • Kevin Owens started an "anti-Texas" gimmick on the February 14 episode of WWE Raw
  • Austin's injury history will likely see him make an appearance at the event, but not in a match

Rumors of an in-ring return for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38 have been floating around, but former WWE producer Vince Russo thinks otherwise.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Dr. Chris Featherstone, the divisive pro wrestling personality fully believes that the WWE legend has nothing left to prove in the ring and that a match would not make sense in the first place.

“If he’s (Kevin Owens) going to run down Texas [on the mic] and then [Stone Cold Steve] Austin is going to appear on a live Kevin Owens Show at WrestleMania, that’s fine. That I have zero, no problem with. But for him to actually wrestle a match after 19 years in this spot against Kevin Owens? He’s better than that, bro,” Russo discussed.

Ringside News, citing Fightful Select, reported last week that WWE wants to have the perennially popular superstar face Kevin Owens at WrestleMania as the latter has been using his Stunner finisher in recent years.

Fightful Select added that they spoke with many superstars about Owens’ anti-Texas character that he brought out on the February 14 episode of WWE Raw and how it relates to a match with Austin, with the outlet disclosing that even the superstars were unsure.

The progenitor of the “What?” chant has not been enticed to make a legitimate in-ring return since his retirement match against The Rock in the co-main event of WrestleMania 19 but has made sporadic appearances on WWE programming through the years.

While a match with Owens would certainly be an intriguing prospect, the 57-year-old may not want to put his health on the line in order to wrestle again because of the neck injury that he suffered against Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1997 which cut his career short.

Austin also confirmed in the past that while using the Stunner certainly looked cool, it did affect him from time to time and that his only remedy for it was to rest up.

Many have tried to convince Austin to have a one-off match, but “The Texas Rattlesnake” simply said no and there is reason to believe that his potential match with Owens is a way for the company to entice fans to tune in to the product ahead of WrestleMania.

Austin is almost assured an appearance at WWE’s biggest show of its calendar as WrestleMania 38 will happen in his home state of Texas, though the likelihood of him ever wrestling again is slim to none at best.

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