WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has revealed that he doesn’t want to see “Stone Cold” Steve Austin wrestle again – amid rumours of a return once again this year Wrestlemania.
The former WWE Champion is a long time friend and rival of the Texas Rattlesnake. Mick Foley and Steve Austin teamed together and feuded multiple times during the Attitude Era in the WWF, with Foley donning three of his famous gimmicks during that time – Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack.
At WrestleMania 38, Steve Austin was advertised to be a guest on The Kevin Owens Show to close the first night of the event. He had been retired for 17 years and rumours of him stepping back into the ring had been going round for months. Owens had been running down his hometown of Texas (where Wrestlemania took place that year) for weeks prior to the event and there was always a small sliver of hope that we’d see Stone Cold wrestle one more time.
Luckily, Austin accepted the challenge of Owens and wrestled in the main event of Wrestlemania. The match was a no holds barred match, meaning anything went and the referee could do nothing about it. Chairs were used, beer was consumed and Austin even took a suplex onto the concrete, as the pair fought through the crowd in one of the most fun matches of the year.
The match was so good and seemed to put an end the long speculation of Austin coming out of retirement. He had one final match and could ride off into the sunset, something which he had some regrets about doing in 2003.
However, with reports of Steve Austin’s Wrestlemania 39 return, Mick Foley has commented on how he does not want to see the WWE Hall of Famer wrestle anymore – because he match last year was too good and couldn’t be topped.
Speaking on his Foley Is Pod show on AdFreeShows, Mick Foley said about Steve Austin’s Wrestlemania 39 return when asked if he’d like to see Stone Cold wrestle again;
“No. He had the swan song and it was a tremendous swan song. It was my favorite match of the night just because Steve went and did so much more than anybody thought he would. Then Kevin Owens deserves some type of award. I don’t know if the Nobel Peace Prize went to Kevin Owens last year. I could argue he should have won it just for single-handedly carrying that angle.”
“Steve wasn’t even on TV. I think he did one promo by remote. Owens calling the Texas landscape flat and uninspired is just a thing of beauty. Then the next night trying to create an excuse for his loss by saying not only was he lifting weights, he was lifting a lot of weights. Man, there’s a lot you can learn from watching how that program was done, but the main ingredient is that your guy coming back has to be able to deliver on a level or exceed the level that is expected.”
“Steve did such a fantastic job. Of course, people would love to see him and The Rock, but not as much as they’d love to see Rock and Roman, in my opinion.”
Mick Foley’s last match was at the 2012 Royal Rumble, although he defeated Chris Jericho in an impromptu bout – refereed by CM Punk – during his Hall of Fame induction speech in 2013. While I’m sure he would love to come out of retirement, his injuries from his destructive style in his career have limited his mobility and put an end to his run as a professional wrestler.