Stone Cold Steve Austin Addresses Why Kevin Owens Was Chosen For WWE Return Match

WWE

Stone Cold Steve Austin has addressed why Kevin Owens was chosen to be his opponent in his return match at WWE WrestleMania 38.

After a 19-year absence from in-ring competition, Stone Cold Steve Austin made his return to action in the main event of WrestleMania 38 Night One in April 2022.

In what was only billed as Austin appearing on The Kevin Owens Show ahead of the event, the segment evolved into an actual match, with Owens and Austin brawling all over the Dallas’ AT&T Stadium.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Austin was asked why Kevin Owens was the right opponent for him in his last match, with the WWE Hall of Famer explaining both WWE and his own thought process about the decision.

Austin recalled:

“It was in Dallas, Texas. Vince flew down here, and we had a conversation, and I thought about it for a minute. I love Kevin Owens, and I think, from a safety standpoint, they picked Kevin. And when they threw out just a couple of names, Kevin was the guy.”

Austin then denied that Owens was chosen because he was using the Stunner as his finishing move, heaping praise on the Canadian star’s talents:

“No, they just hand-picked Kevin because they know how good he is, and he cuts a good promo. I remember meeting Kevin 100 years ago in the airport, him and Sami Zayn, it’s a well-known story. But anyway, I gave him some advice about learning how to promo and talk instead of taking all those bumps. And you know, he’s turned it up.

“Kevin Owens will end up in the Hall of Fame. So, I mean, why not pick Kevin Owens for Stone Cold Steve Austin’s opponent?”

While Austin feels Owens was the right opponent, he admitted that there were some aspects of his performance that he wishes could have been better:

“Well, it was interesting, because there were different people that were making comments about that. Triple H says, ‘You never know what you got until you get in there.’ He was right. Hulk Hogan, God rest his soul, says, ‘You’re not calloused up because you haven’t been on the road, you haven’t been taking bumps in the ring.’ He was right. Undertaker says, ‘There’s no way that you can have timing because you haven’t been in the ring over and over every single night.’ And he was right.

“So on that night, walking to the ring, I remember I couldn’t hear the crowd like I wanted to, just because of the acoustics of that building. And, man, I’m just real in tune with how the crowd responds to anything particularly as anybody would, your entrance, we blew the roof off the place.

“So anyway, we go into the match, and it was fine. I blew up because I hadn’t had any reps in the ring. But when I look back at that, I rushed through so many things, I wish I would have slowed down more and savored a little bit more and just entertained the crowd a little bit more.

“It was what it was, we got away with it because it was anticipated. It was billed as my last match, because Dallas is where I started and Dallas is where I would finish. So for all the right reasons, it was there to have that match, and we pulled it off. But God dang, I could have been better prepared, and I would have loved to have been better that night for Kevin Owens.”

Austin would win his final WWE match, and despite being constantly linked to another in-ring return, has yet to lace up his boots again.

During the same interview however, Austin did address whether he feels he “could still go” inside the ring – click here for full details.

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• wwe
• KEVIN OWENS
• stone cold steve austin

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