WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s last match in WWE took place at WrestleMania XIX, in which he lost to his arch-rival The Rock. Following that he was booked to face Brock Lesnar but The Rattlesnake did not want to have a match with Lesnar at that time and chose to retire from WWE instead.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed that there had been instances in the past where Austin has hinted about his in-ring return but didn’t happen. One of such episode happened when he cut a promo on The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar without Vince McMahon’s permission. WWE Boss was furious with that promo for teasing a match that they couldn’t deliver.
”He had flirted with the idea of wrestling for Hustle in Japan but no deal was ever finalized and Austin basically felt that if he was going to wrestle again, it should be with WWE. There was talk in the past of Austin wrestling against C.M. Punk, but it never happened. Austin did a great promo once for a match with Brock Lesnar, who he also never wrestled, but Vince McMahon was furious at him for doing so and teasing and making people want a match that the company couldn’t deliver,” said Meltzer
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