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“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is about to fight in a WWE ring again and maybe this was the best way for it to happen.
The “Texas Rattle Snake” cut an inspired, angry promo on Tuesday to accept Kevin Owens’ invitation to appear on The KO Show on April 2 at the two-day WrestleMania 38 in Dallas. But he did so in a way that teases more than just an interview session and your typical Stunner then beer-chugging celebration.
In a video released on social media, the 57-year-old Austin talked about having to live with losing his last match to The Rock at WrestleMania 19, “knowing my time was up,” and how he started his career in Dallas. He also delivered an important line to Owens – who has been insulting the state of Texas for weeks.
“Whether you want to call this a KO Show, a match, a fight, a brawl, whatever,” Austin said …. “Stone Cold Steve Austin is going to open up one last can of whoop-ass on you, Kevin Owens.”
Austin is coming for a fight and that’s what fans truly want to see from him. This could become a “match” like The Rock vs. Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32 and John Cena vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34. Austin could pin Owens for a 1-2-3, get a huge pop, and get his hands raised or he could just beat him up and pour beer on KO.
Whatever happens, WWE and Austin made the right call of booking it this way instead of an official return match – reports said in February that WWE was pushing for that. People know Austin will be there and he’s going to kick some ass – sold. WWE probably hopes it helps sell some tickets, too, as it has to try to fill massive AT&T Stadium for two nights. As of March, WWE had more than 5,000 of the 55,000-plus tickets for each night left to sell.
If WWE had gone the official match route, it would have only brought the naysayers talking about Austin’s age and time away from the ring. (Which really means nothing because we just witnessed 62-year-old Sting jump off a balcony through tables at AEW Revolution last weekend.) It also lowers the expectations for what we are going to see and the element of surprise gives Owens and Austin a chance to exceed what’s expected now. A match would have set the bar much higher and WWE has enough matches with part-timers and celebrities on the card. Maybe fellow Texas heroes Booker T and JBL get a few shots in on Owens also.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross revealed on his Grilling JR podcast that he had a conversation with the former WWE champion prior to the announcement on Tuesday. Ross said Austin “didn’t sound overwhelmingly enthusiastic” about what he and WWE had been talking about.
“People got to understand Steve is a perfectionist,” Ross said. “Even though he stays in great shape and looks wonderful, especially for a guy his age, he looks great. That’s just the athlete in him and the fact that he likes to train and eat right.”
It only hammers home the point that it would have likely taken an ideal situation for Austin to go against his better judgment and truly come back for one more match.
Owens, however, is the right person for this. He is great on the mic and will bump like crazy for Austin, who he is close with and has idolized. Owens had asked Austin, who granted his request, if he could use the Stunner as a finisher a few years back. In 2005, in a random meeting at a Texas airport, Austin gave him career advice. He told Owens to never stop running your mouth and that’s what got him into this storyline tiff.
Austin has said for 19 years he was done, but Owens’ verbal attacks on Texas are being used to explain why he’s back. And by not announcing a true match, he isn’t breaking his word that he was retired after WrestleMania 19.
“Kevin Owens I want to thank you,” Austin said. “I want to thank you for waking something deep inside me that I’ve kept buried for 19 years.”
All the connections are there for a good, logical story to bring Austin’s career full circle in Dallas. The glass will break, a can of whoop-ass will be delivered, a pin may happen and beer will be chugged. That’s what fans truly want anyway. WWE has gone about this the right way so far. Let’s hope it stays that way.
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