Stone Cold's 'personal best friend in wrestling' thinks he is done with his in-ring career, more on his WWE return status – Reports
Recently, many rumors have pointed to Stone Cold Steve Austin's in-ring return at WrestleMania 38. However, Austin's close friend Jim Ross believes that the WWE Hall of Famer is done performing inside the squared circle.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said WWE is keen on bringing Austin back for a match against Kevin Owens at this year's WrestleMania. He said the company has tickets to sell, so Stone Cold is needed as a marquee attraction.
Meltzer added that Austin's probable best friend in wrestling, Jim Ross, said that he doesn't talk about wrestling with Austin. While JR wants Austin to return, he believes the former WWE Champion doesn't want to reignite his wrestling career. However, he stated that while a confrontation between Owens and Austin is a lock, there's no certainty over the match:
"As of right now, this is not certain to be a match although there will be a confrontation. Austin has been very careful for years not to put himself in a position to be disappointing to fans and has not agreed to do it as a match as best we know. It is unknown the final form but the belief is it will be more than just Austin giving Owens a stunner, although that will be the final payoff most likely. But WWE wants a match."
Will Stone Cold return for one more match?
Steve Austin is 57-years old and hasn't wrestled in 19 years. WWE is looking for a significant headline match for WrestleMania Saturday, and a Stone Cold return will give them that.
However, as noted above, Austin hasn't shown any interest in returning to in-ring action since retiring. His best friend Jim Ross also said he doesn't know if Steve Austin's up for an in-ring return or not.