Steve Austin explains why he didn’t wrestle at WWE WrestleMania 39
Steve Austin says he turned down multiple offers from WWE to perform at WrestleMania 39.
Austin told Sports Illustrated that he met with the company about wrestling on the show but said he could not commit, feeling as though he wouldn’t have enough time to get in shape.
“I haven’t spoken to this, but I’ll give you the story,” says Austin. “I met with some people from WWE. We talked about the possibility of me wrestling at WrestleMania 39. The biggest thing in my mind was the presentation and what kind of match it was going to be. Going back to 38, the way the KO thing was presented—I love KO—I turned that down three, four, five times until the creative finally came to what it ended up being. I didn’t want it constructed as a real match, per se. I needed something that could turn into one, and it did, but I think that’s why we got away with it. The Dallas crowd was very receptive. I hadn’t been around, so the timing was right.“
But to do a proper match, I’d have to be in off-the-charts shape. I told them, and this is the exact truth, I said, ‘Guys, I’m just fixin’ to go into production on this show, Stone Cold Takes on America, and until we start production, I don’t know what my life looks like. I can’t commit.’ Sure enough, there were technical issues before we finished. I was supposed to finish a month before we did. There’s no way, with the schedule I was doing—driving an RV all over God’s creation, doing all I was doing—that I would be ready. I had two 30-pound dumbbells, a 45-pound sandbag, and a 25-pound kettlebell. Working 15 hours a day, then getting in a 30- or 40-minute workout, that doesn’t get you ready for WrestleMania. And I was really protected at WrestleMania 38. This time, that wasn’t going to be the case. That was a true statement: Until this show was over, I couldn’t commit.”
Our own Dave Meltzer noted in January that Austin turned down several potential matches at the event.
Meltzer said:
“As far as Austin goes, Steve might be at the show. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. He might do something on the show, but he did in fact turn down wrestling at the show.
He was offered [Brock] Lesnar, he was offered Roman Reigns. He could have named his opponent if he wanted to do it with anybody else, but he did not choose to wrestle on the show.”
Austin also told NBC Los Angeles in the lead-up to WrestleMania 39 that he would not be wrestling on the show. He said that while he loves his relationship with WWE, his “days in the ring are done.”
A&E’s Stone Cold Takes on America premieres Sunday, April 30, 2023. The show follows Austin as he travels around the country in an RV and accepts challenges from fans.
A description of the series reads:
Austin hits the road in his RV, accepting challenges from fans that push him out of his comfort zone, and make up for lost time. Through archival footage from classic WWE moments and his own stories, the series weaves together Austin’s old and new life—both filled with incredible feats and his unique point of view—as he celebrates and learns from new experiences how only “Stone Cold” Steve Austin can.
