WWE Rumors on Stone Cold at WrestleMania 38, Cody Rhodes' Return, AJ Styles' Contract

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and All Elite Wrestling.

Don't Expect a Stone Cold Match at WrestleMania

We know Stone Cold Steve Austin is showing up in some capacity at WrestleMania 38. We thought we were on the precipice of seeing a comeback match on the grandest stage.

It turns out that may not be happening after all.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said Austin is now expected to have a "confrontation" with Kevin Owens rather than a full-scale one-on-one match. 

“The big thing was they wanted Vince and they wanted Austin because they’ve got a lot of tickets to sell, and Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory is not going to be selling a lot of tickets," Meltzer said, per Ringside News. "And Steve Austin and Kevin Owens is, you know, they will have a confrontation, but it is not clear if that will be a match or not anymore. It’s essentially up to Austin at this point.

"They want the match, they thought they had the match, and, you know, Steve, there’s a reason he hasn’t wrestled for 19 years. I just know that as of Friday he had not agreed to do the match even though it was on the books. Now, it’s on the books as a confrontation.”

While some fans will undoubtedly be disappointed by that news, it's worth noting that Austin is a 57-year-old man with neck problems who hasn't wrestled in a match since 2003. Austin's been out of the wrestling business as long as he was in it at this point. He's been open about older wrestlers knowing when to get out of the business.

Shawn Michaels' comeback match was one of the worst things WWE has produced in recent memory. Michaels regrets coming back. 

It's possible Austin considered the offer of a return before ultimately deciding to protect his body and his legacy. 

That said, expect Owens to eat a stunner or six at WrestleMania regardless. 

Cody Rhodes' WWE Return "Uncertain"

The saga of Cody Rhodes' future in wrestling has reached another week with no resolution.

His return to WWE seemed like a lock. All that was left was signing some squiggles to a sheet of paper. (Or, more accurately for the year 2022, typing some letters in a Docusign box.)

Whoops.

Meltzer is now reporting Rhodes has been taken off internal plans for WrestleMania and is not a lock to make his WWE return.

"They don’t know what’s going on with Cody Rhodes," Meltzer said of WWE's mindset. "They’re not sure. We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out. It’s up in the air. They don’t know. They thought they had him and now, it’s not like it’s dead, it’s not like they think they don’t have him, but they’re not sure.

"Everyone in the world thinks that Cody runs Ring of Honor or something. I suppose there’s ways to do that angle and everything like that, but I guess we’re just going to have to wait and see how this all plays out.”

Odds are Rhodes eventually finds his way back to WWE. Going through the show of announcing his departure from AEW telegraphed the move; as much fun as it would be to be actually "worked" in this modern era, all signs point to his being unhappy with his AEW trajectory and wanting to leave the company. 

This may simply be a case of Dusty's son finding out the grass isn't always greener.

WWE Was Determined to Re-Sign AJ Styles

Even if it took longer than it ever should have, AJ Styles' run in WWE has been...phenomenal. He's put on some of the best matches the company has produced over the last seven years while developing into a better promo than most thought during his time at Impact.

It was of little surprise that WWE re-signed him to a massive new contract earlier this year. The deal will reportedly pay Styles $3 million per year—aka Goldberg money—even as he's not currently in the championship picture.

Fightful Select reported WWE was aggressive in contract negotiations to avoid Styles hitting free agency. AEW and New Japan likely would have made hard plays for Styles if his contract expired, though it's hard to see either matching WWE's financial package.

Styles has spoken openly about wanting to work in WWE after his retirement, so the match here is too good for either side to divorce. 

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