Ex-WWE employee sheds light on why Stone Cold Steve Austin did not show up at WrestleMania XL
Former WWE writer Vince Russo recently discussed Stone Cold Steve Austin's absence from WrestleMania XL.
It was the biggest WrestleMania of all time as legends such as John Cena, The Rock, and The Undertaker all got involved in the main event. However, Rock's long-time rival Stone Cold was notably missing from this gathering of legends. This led to many fans speculating if Taker's spot during the show was actually earmarked for The Texas Rattlesnake.
In a recent clip for Vince Russo's The Brand, the former writer felt Austin was penciled in for a spot at the Show of Shows.
"Bro, the Undertaker spot was clearly Steve Austin's spot. Make no bones about it."
Russo suggested that Stone Cold Steve Austin probably did not want to be part of an array of legends showing up in the main event. The former writer believed that Stone Cold was all about protecting his character and did not want to be a part of the chaos during the main event.
"There's a reason why Steve wasn't there. We talk about it all the time. Protecting your character compared to how many lives does Undertaker have? How many times is he gonna come back? Protecting Steve's character to him, even at this point in his career, supersedes everything, supersedes the paycheck, supersedes everything. Austin was not there guys. Let me make one thing clear because the way I know Steve, I don't care what you offered him in pay, he was not gonna be one of many. Okay, it's The Rock, then it's Cena, then it's Taker, then it's me. No bro, that's either Austin's spot and nobody else's or he ain't doing it." [From 1:10 - 2:35]
Stone Cold Steve Austin last wrestled at WrestleMania 38 against Kevin Owens
As WWE rolled into the AT&T Stadium in Texas, Stone Cold Steve Austin showed the fans that he still had one more main event match left in him.
In the lead-up to WrestleMania 38, Kevin Owens started insulting the people of Texas. Austin took offense to this and decided to take matters into his own hands. He showed up during a special episode of The Kevin Owens Show during Night One of WrestleMania. This appearance soon turned into an impromptu No Holds Barred matchup where Stone Cold Steve Austin got the better of KO.
The Texas Rattlesnake also showed up on Night Two to hit Stunners on Austin Theory and Vince McMahon. He also planted Pat McAfee with a Stunner before celebrating in the ring with a few beers.
If you use the quotes from this article, please credit Russo's Brand and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.