WWE Rumors on Stone Cold Steve Austin, Roman Reigns and Trick Williams Before WrestleMania 42
WrestleMania 42 weekend is underway, and with the arrival of WWE's biggest event comes a rumor mill running rampant with reports featuring professional wrestling's biggest stars.
From rarely-seen Hall of Famers to the No. 1 contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, the latest from the industry's most trusted sources does not disappoint.
Dive deep into them with this preview of the annual extravaganza and what fans might expect from the 2026 Show of Shows.
A Stone Cold WrestleMania 42?
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Bodyslam+ on Patreon reported that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is expected backstage at WrestleMania 42, but there is no clear indication of whether he will appear on this weekend's two-night broadcast.
Austin appeared at last year's event, overzealously driving his four-wheeler to the ring to announce the attendance totals. He also received his third induction into the WWE Hall of Fame when his iconic WrestleMania 13 match with Bret "Hitman" Hart was recognized as the first Immortal Moment.
Austin is in town, participating in autographs and photo ops as part of WWE World, so making an appearance at WrestleMania would certainly be possible. From a storyline perspective, Austin making his presence felt would be in line with the idea of corporate meddling with WWE creative.
Pat McAfee's involvement has repeatedly been chalked up to interference from TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, and both Randy Orton and Roman Reigns have talked about taking the industry back to when it was great.
Austin has a rich history of battling corporate and "the man," so if that is, in fact, the direction that this is heading, Stone Cold dropping by one of this week's main events and evening the odds a bit would at least make sense from that perspective.
Still, much has been made of nothing before regarding Austin's appearances at WrestleMania, perhaps most notably at the 2024 event, when his presence would have made the most sense, only for him not to appear on the show at all.
He may be in town, he may be behind the scenes, but that does not guarantee an appearance come showtime, so fans should temper their expectations.
Current WrestleMania Favorites
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Potential WrestleMania spoilers ahead...
WrestleVotes on Fightful Select reported that, "A source with knowledge heading into WrestleMania weekend indicated to WV on FS that the current creative favorites are Roman (Reigns), Trick Williams & Penta."
Reigns, of course, challenges CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Sunday's card. That same night, Penta defends the Intercontinental Championship in a six-man Ladder Match while Trick Williams challenges Sami Zayn for the United States Championship.
Penta winning tracks, if only because none of his opponents, sans Rey Mysterio, have been built up in any meaningful way to suggest they will take the gold off of him.
Williams is as over as a Superstar outside of the main event scene can be in WWE right now, so putting the US title on him on the grand stage would certainly be a coronation of sorts for the NXT export.
As for Reigns, winning the top prize on the Raw brand would continue along this idea of top heels "taking WWE back to when it was great," which is potentially part of a larger story. While having a world champion who is around every week to appear on TV would be preferred, it could at least make sense based on the story at play.
