Stone Cold Steve Austin on Possibly Having Another WWE Match: 'Never Say Never'

Nearly two years after ending his retirement to compete at WrestleMania 38, WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin isn't ruling out the possibility of having another match.

In an interview with ESPN's Marc Raimondi, Austin refused to close the door on returning to the ring one more time, saying:

"I said I'd never get in a ring again unless all the stars aligned. And for some reason, somehow, they all did. And at the age of 57, I headlined the first night of WrestleMania. I never thought I'd do that. If you'd have told me that when I retired in [2003], I'd have said, 'You're crazy.' So I'm not gonna sit here and say no to anything, because you never say never in this crazy business of sports entertainment."

Austin had his original retirement match against The Rock at WrestleMania 19 in 2003. Multiple injuries, including a neck ailment, led to him stepping away from pro wrestling, and it looked for a long time like he would never wrestle again.

However, during the build toward WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Kevin Owens began to criticize the state of Texas, and it led to Austin stepping up and agreeing to have a confrontation with KO.

While their segment was billed as an edition of The KO Show, Owens admitted that he actually wanted to fight, and Austin obliged. The Texas Rattlesnake and Owens had a No Holds Barred in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 38, and it far exceeded expectations with Austin winning.

Austin told Raimondi that he recently went back to watch his WrestleMania 38 match for an undisclosed project, and he suggested that he could turn in a better performance if he were to wrestle again, saying: "I dissected what I did, and I know that I can improve on what I did."

Stone Cold is a six-time WWE champion and one of the most popular stars in the history of the company. Even at 59 years of age, fans still clamor to see him in the ring again.

Austin admitted that competing at WrestleMania 38 may have awakened something inside of him that laid dormant for nearly two decades:

"I love the sports entertainment business more than anything I've ever done in my life. And you get a dose of it, and you want more. And so here I am talking to you a couple years later about doing it again. And that's how addicting it is to me, just to talk about it. And I get excited, and I'll start talking too fast. But it's not gonna happen. But it could."

If Austin were to have another match, CM Punk stands out as the ideal opponent for several reasons.

For starters, they are two of the greatest mic workers in pro wrestling history, but they are also polar opposites since a big part of Austin's character is drinking beer, whereas Punk is straight edge.

Also, before Punk left WWE in early 2014, he and Austin teased having a match on a couple of occasions. It never came to fruition, but fans considered it one of the biggest possible dream matches in wrestling.

Austin acknowledged to Raimondi that Punk would be a good opponent for him, noting: "I like Punk, and I think Punk likes me—so, as long as he can take a [Stone Cold] Stunner. I consider him a great friend, a great guy and a great wrestler who's had a great career. We'll see."

Punk returned to WWE in November, and although he is currently out with a torn triceps, a match against Austin at next year's WrestleMania 41 sounds like it could be something that both parties would at least consider.

Austin doesn't seem desperate to have another match, but the fact that he hasn't outright shot it down will undoubtedly have fans hoping for one more match until and unless he makes it happen.

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