When AEW star almost negotiated a deal with WWE to debut at WrestleMania and confront Steve Austin

Sting is an iconic professional wrestler with fantastic runs in multiple wrestling promotions, But there's one dream match everyone speaks about - Sting Vs. Steve Austin. Fans were excited about the probability of a match like that, and the crowd went into a tizzy when Sting spoke about the probability of such a match in a book.

The Stinger revealed he was pretty close to signing with WWE in 2003. That was when the Attitude Era was at its peak, and the likes of The Rock and the Texas Rattlesnake were causing mayhem inside the ring.

Interestingly, if the Icon had made his way into the WWE ring back in 2003, there would have been plans to have him compete with one of the hottest professional wrestlers on the planet back then - and even now - Stone Cold.

“I had been negotiating with Vince [McMahon], and one of the ideas was for me to debut at the end of WrestleMania XIX and confront “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Negotiations fell apart and it never happened, but it makes you wonder, ‘What if?’ That was one of the times I was talking with Vince, and it would’ve been an incredible night that would’ve translated into some major, major rivalries and match-ups for years to come,” he said.

The Vigilante did go on to have his WWE debut way later in 2014. Fans were finally able to see him in the Stamford-based promotion, where he went on to feud with Triple H and, later on, Seth Rollins. Stone Cold and Sting have rarely had a match, apart from the one when Austin was wrestling under the moniker ''Stunning" Steve Austin.

Where is Steve Austin now?

Austin runs the Broken Skull Sessions podcast now, where wrestling personalities talk about what they love the most - wrestling. He owns a ranch by the name of Broken Skull 2.0 in Nevada, where he lives. He has appeared in several movies and makes sporadic appearances in WWE too, but other than that, he lives a private life.

Stone Cold is not just one of the most popular professional wrestlers, he is one of the most popular icons coming out of the nineties and the early 2000s. It is people like him who made wrestling mainstream and more believable than it already was.

What do you think? Will Stone Cold ever return to the ring full-time? Tell us in the comments section.