Stone Cold Steve Austin Explains Why He Didn't Have a Match at WWE WrestleMania 39

After Stone Cold Steve Austin's amazing comeback performance at WrestleMania 38 last year, WWE fans were hoping to see him once again at WrestleMania 39 earlier this month.

Unfortunately, the Hall of Famer kept his boots on the shelf this time around. Austin explained to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News) that while he was in talks to return to WWE's marquee event this year, the timing simply didn't work out.

"I haven't spoken to this, but I'll give you the story, I met with some people from WWE. We talked about the possibility of me wrestling at WrestleMania 39. The biggest thing in my mind was the presentation and what kind of match it was going to be.

"Going back to 38, the way the [Kevin Owens] thing was presented—I love KO—I turned that down three, four, five times until the creative finally came to what it ended up being. I didn't want it constructed as a real match, per se. I needed something that could turn into one, and it did, but I think that's why we got away with it. The Dallas crowd was very receptive. I hadn't been around, so the timing was right."

Austin went on to add that while he was somewhat open to the idea of appearing at WrestleMania 39, he didn't have enough time to prepare himself to be back in the ring.

"But to do a proper match, I'd have to be in off-the-charts shape. I told them, and this is the exact truth, I said, 'Guys, I'm just fixin' to go into production on this show, Stone Cold Takes on America, and until we start production, I don't know what my life looks like. I can't commit,'" he said.

Earlier this year, Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp reported that WWE offered Austin a significant amount of money to face undisputed Universal champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. It would've been a tough ask for a 58-year-old to hang in the ring with the top star in the wrestling business, so Austin made the right decision to turn down the offer and continue enjoying retirement.

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