Steve Austin says WWE WrestleMania 40 appearance was ‘close,’ hopes to be at 41

An appearance by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin almost happened at WWE WrestleMania 40.

The WrestleMania 40 night two main event between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes included cameos by both John Cena and The Undertaker. The two WWE legends fended off interference by The Rock and the rest of The Bloodline, helping Rhodes win the Undisputed WWE Championship. Dave Meltzer reported that Austin was originally earmarked for Undertaker’s spot, but an agreement couldn’t be reached between him and WWE.

Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez spoke with Austin for a new interview that was published on Friday. During the conversation, Austin confirmed that he was “close” to appearing at WrestleMania 40. It didn’t happen, but Austin hopes to be at WrestleMania 41.

“Oh, it was close. And they certainly reached out to me and we had conversations, but my wife and I had some things going on that I didn’t need to go to Philly at that time. But I have said — I missed that Mania. And god dang, Philly was a good town for me back in the day and I appreciate those fans. Couldn’t make it down on that one, but WrestleMania this year is in Vegas. And I was doing an interview a while back and I said, ‘Hey man’ — and that’s 400 miles. That’s like right here, where we’re sitting. Right down the road,” Austin said. “But anyway, it’ll be in Vegas, so I hope to be there this year.”

Austin has a ranch located in Nevada. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is hosting WrestleMania 41 on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20, 2025.

If Austin is part of WrestleMania 41, it will be his first time appearing at the event since WrestleMania 38, where he came out of retirement to defeat Kevin Owens. It was Austin’s first match in 19 years.

Adrian Hernandez asked Austin if he still gets the itch to come back and wrestle. Austin admitted that he thinks about it every now and then, but he understands reality and believes that wrestling is a young man’s game.

The full interview can be watched below: