It seems that while fans were happy with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s return match at WrestleMania 38, he was not happy with certain elements of it.
After an incomparable run as the face of WWE for six years, Steve Austin brought his career to a definitive close in 2003. In his final match, “The Texas Rattlesnake” did the honors and was defeated by The Rock in one of the featured bouts at WrestleMania 18.
In the years following, fans hoped Austin would eventually return. Yet, as the years went by it seemed more and more unlikely that would ever happen. However, that all changed three years ago when “Stone Cold” made his triumphant return to the ring in a brawl with Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. In his home state of Texas.
Most fans were satisfied with the moment. Not much was to be expected from a 57-year-old performer who had not competed in almost 20 years. However, Steve Austin wanted more from himself and explained recently why he was not as happy as he would have liked with the match.
Related: Steve Austin Was Suppose To Be Onscreen Mentor To Failed Prospect In 2004?
Steve Austin regrets how bad his timing was in his WrestleMania 38 return match
“I was happy in a moment. But, you know, [WWE] didn’t send me a ring down,” Austin told Sports Illustrated. “I didn’t have any timing. I think they interviewed Triple H, The Undertaker, and Hogan. Each one of them said something that was so true. Paul [Levesque] said, you can come back, but you don’t know what you have, because you haven’t been out there.
“Undertaker said, you’re not going to have any timing. He was right. I didn’t have any timing. Hell, I hadn’t hit a set of ropes in 19 years,” he added. “Hadn’t thrown a punch in 19 years. Hogan says, you know, you’re just not calloused up. Your body is not as hard as it used to be. And he was right, because when you take off, people talk about ring rust, that’s timing. So, I had no timing.”
Steve Austin claimed it could take as much as three months to get calloused up from ring work so moves don’t hurt as much. He also revealed another regret he had about that special night.
“When I went out there, I think I couldn’t hear the crowd as much as I wanted to. When I watched it back, the crowd was into it. It was very, very loud, yes, but I wish I would have taken more time, savored more moments, and worked the people a little bit more than I did,” he said.
“I think I was in a space of not knowing what I had and trying to be a little too frantic. I could have slowed down drastically and made that better. And I wish that I had. I haven’t told too many people that, but I told you.”
Related: Steve Austin Reveals Why He Was Not At Historic WWE Raw On Netflix Debut
