Can you hear that noise? Is that… glass shattering?
WWE is reportedly in talks with legendary star ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin about making his in-ring return at this year’s WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas.
Fightful Select first reported the company had “made an overture” to bring Austin, one of the biggest stars in company history who led them through the late-90s Attitude Era peak, back into the squared circle.
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Austin has not wrestled since March 30, 2003 when he lost to The Rock at WrestleMania XIX to end their trilogy.
The Texas Rattlesnake battled a series of neck injuries following a botched piledriver from Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1997, making appearances on WWE programming to promote events and his podcast, including at some recent WrestleManias.
But an in-ring return has always seemed unlikely for the 57-year-old.
That’s until now, with the company battling popularity issues and needing big matches for their yearly extravagnza of WrestleMania – especially after Shane McMahon (who was expected to wrestle Seth Rollins) left the company after backstage complaints over his work producing a poorly-received Men’s Royal Rumble match.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reports a match between Steve Austin and Kevin Owens is being discussed for WrestleMania 38, which will take place over two nights on April 3 and 4 (AEDT) at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.
On Monday Night Raw, Owens is currently in a storyline which involves him hating the state of Texas, for which a logical conclusion is Austin emerging to fight him.
The company is hoping to proclaim a crowd bigger than WrestleMania 32’s 101,763 – which was actually 97,769, per Meltzer. As of February 4, according to WrestleTix, the first night had sold 47,182 tickets.
An in-ring return for Austin is perhaps the biggest match WWE could promote, given its love of bringing back established stars.
That includes The Rock, who is still expected to headline next year’s WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles against Roman Reigns.
Reigns is set to headline WrestleMania 38 against Brock Lesnar, marking the sixth time in eight years he has main evented the show.