Stone Cold Steve Austin blew the roof off of AT&T stadium when he had an unexpected match against Kevin Owens at WWE's WrestleMania 38. So when wrestling fans saw videos of him looking absolutely shredded in the gym recently, they got excited about the prospect of him returning to the ring once more. Many specifically wondered if The Texas Rattlesnake was preparing for yet another Mania showdown. Well, Austin took to the Internet to address the speculation and possibly set the record straight regarding what’s going on.
After teasing fans with workout videos for a bit, Stone Cold Steve Austin finally revealed via his Instagram why he's been getting fit. Based on this comment, it sounds like this was mainly about getting himself good shape for his own well being and less about getting ready for an upcoming WWE event:
People have been speculating, 'Hey Steve, what are you doing? What are you training for? Are you training for an event?' Speculate what you want for. I just simply looked in the mirror and realized I look like shit, so I called my diet coach up… I still drink beer on Friday nights. Get three Broken Skull IPAs, and that's pretty much it. I'm probably, as far as body weight goes, sub-232, the leanest I've been in forever. Anyway, that's the bottom line, I'm out. I just got tired of looking like -- when I looked in the mirror, I looked like shit. I got tired of looking like shit, so I'm taking action to do something about it.
I give all credit to Stone Cold Steve Austin for doing what he can to get in great shape, but will wrestling fans believe he’s only doing it solely for his health? On the one hand, Austin has always been known as a wrestler who's stayed relatively fit, despite him pounding beers in the wrestling ring. There’s a good chance this is all about getting healthy and, if it was any other former wrestler, we might not question it.
At the same time, the star didn’t explicitly deny he’s not preparing for a return to the WWE. The words "speculate what you want” indicates that he's more like he’s content keeping wrestling enthusiasts guessing, which also isn’t out of character for him. During a podcast appearance with Paul Heyman back in 2015, the wrestler notably cut a promo about taking on Brock Lesnar, but such a match never happened (via CagesideSeats). So it's possible that he's keeping things vague regardless of whether he’s working on a match with the WWE or not, meaning we’ll be left to speculate.
At this point, the only thing that would've been suspicious is if Stone Cold Steve Austin said nothing about the workout videos and just continued to look like a wrecking machine in the gym. He certainly looks capable of having another match, but whether or not he’d want to usurp his showdown with Kevin Owens as his potential final match in WWE is a different story. Kevins’ use of The Stunner and the fact that WrestleMania 38 took place in Texas helped set up the perfect return for Austin. Is there any more enticing storyline that could bring him back for WrestleMania 39?
One possibility is a match with CM Punk, whose status with AEW remains up in the air. Austin and Punk came up in different times in the WWE, but their characters just so naturally oppose each other. Many fans think that a feud between the two would result in a dream match for wrestling fans everywhere but, at the moment, it seems like more of a pipe dream. If there two are in some way appearing at WrestleMania 39 though, surely we’ll get some more definitive signs of that in the coming months.
In the meantime, pick up a Peacock subscription to see some of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s greatest matches in the WWE and, trust me, there are quite a few.
