Steve Austin On What WWE Wanted Him To Do At Wrestlemania 39

In an interview with Bleacher Report, Steve Austin gave more details on what the WWE’s plans were for him at Wrestlemania 39, which he turned down. As previously noted, Austin was busy shooting his new series for A&E at the time and didn’t think he’d have time to train. Here are highlights:

On plans for him at Wrestlemania 39: “The concrete idea was a match. It was a match with one of the top guys in the business, period. I’ll let everybody speculate about that, but yeah, it was a match and I just didn’t think I could get ready for it in time because I didn’t know my schedule, which is what I told them. ‘I don’t know what my life looks like until I finish this show.'”

On if he will wrestle again: “Could it still happen? Yeah, it could still happen. Am I lobbying for it? Am I trying to get anybody talking about it? No. If you ever ask me a question, I’m going to give you an honest answer.”

On LA Knight: “I got a text message from him a while back, and I’m so bad about returning calls. My wife gets on me about it all the time, I’ve got a lot of heat. But I did talk to him before that one text and I told him, ‘Hey man, just make sure your cardio is supreme and go do you.’ That guy can talk a blue streak, he’s a great worker, he’s got a good look, he’s got a great energy. I think he’s doing great. He can ascend to a higher level, and I think he will.”

On how wrestlers can combat the ‘What’ chant: “It’s about the nature of a promo and whether people are drawn in or not. If people are listening to what you’re trying to say and they’re truly digging you, they’re not going to say the ‘What?’ chant. Sometimes they do it just to mess with you, so it’s a way to read the crowd.”