WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin is arguably the greatest WWE Superstar of all time. As one of the greats of the wrestling industry, he’s launched a name and brand that has continued to bring him huge success outside of WWE. However, being as beloved as Stone Cold is by the WWE Universe allows him to drop by on WWE programming unannounced whenever he wants, but Austin hasn’t abused his privilege.
In fact, his appearances on WWE programming have become much more sporadic over the past several years. Aside from a few one-off appearances on WWE television and hosting exclusive “Stone Cold Podcast” episodes with current WWE Superstars, Stone Cold hasn’t featured in a WWE storyline for a long time now.
The last time we saw the Texas Rattlesnake was at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas earlier this year. Alongside fellow WWE Hall of Famers Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels, the trio of legends confronted The League of Nations, interacted with The New Day, and provided the WWE fans with another WrestleMania moment to add to WWE history. Unfortunately, Stone Cold didn’t walk away from that night problem free.
It was reported that Austin had torn his rotator cuff prior to his appearance at WrestleMania 32 , so it’s not surprising that his injury got worse. According to him, it happened rather early in the segment, and it took everything he had to deliver the “Stunners” and drink beer to entertain the crowd. That just goes to show that Stone Cold hasn’t lost the will to entertain the WWE Universe, which he may be doing again very soon.
There were rumors that Stone Cold may never make another appearance on WWE programming again after this year’s WrestleMania . Between the injury, performing in Dallas, and it being the biggest WrestleMania of all time; it’s understandable why he would claim that was the bitter end of his WWE career. However, there is a new rumor going around that Stone Cold Steve Austin may be back for next year’s WWE Royal Rumble .
WWE recently announced that for the first time in 20 years, the WWE Royal Rumble PPV will be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas . Because of that, WWE Royal Rumble 2017 is already rumored to break a lot of attendance records , which is only adding to the great year WWE is having after WrestleMania in Dallas. However, an appearance from Stone Cold Steve Austin could put it over the top.
The Alamodome is able to seat at least 65,000 fans, so obviously WWE is looking to make the event something special to kick off “The Road to WrestleMania 33 ” with a big bang. Because the PPV will be held in Shawn Michaels’ backyard, he’s expected to be involved in some capacity, but now the rumor mill is expected Stone Cold to get involved with the event as well given his ties with the state of Texas.
It’s extremely unlikely that Stone Cold would be willing to do anything as physical as the brawl he had at WrestleMania 32 earlier this year, but his involvement is a strong possibility. Another name who is already being rumored for the event is The Undertaker , but his status with WWE is also very much up in the air.
WWE could be preparing for the return of the Texas Rattlesnake to WWE programming. We’re likely to see at least one more edition of the” Stone Cold Podcast” before WrestleMania 33 , but the WWE fans will always welcome Austin back to WWE, especially if he wants to get more involved than he has in recent years.
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