From the WWE Rumor Mill: WWE asked Stone Cold Steve Austin to participate in Greatest Royal Rumble

What's the story?

Well, it looks like WWE are pulling out all the stops to make sure the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest shows in wrestling history.

As per Bodyslam.net's Brad Shepard, WWE have reached out to several legends about appearing in the first ever 50-man match - but Shepard has reported that Stone Cold has declined the invitation.

In case you didn't know...

The Greatest Royal Rumble is already shaping to be a WrestleMania-calibre event - with a plethora of Championship matches accompanying the 50-man Royal Rumble Match in Saudi Arabia.

As well as Roman Reigns challenging Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship in a Cage Match, The Undertaker will face Rusev in a Casket Match a Triple H and John Cena will go one on one, too.

The heart of the matter

Bodyslam.net's managing editor Brad Shepard, who has broken several stories recently including the location of WrestleMania 35, exclusively revealed that WWE reached out to Stone Cold Steve Austin ahead of the spectacle in Jeddah, making the Texas Rattlesnake an offer to appear at the Greatest Royal Rumble event.

Stone Cold appeared at Raw 25, but has always claimed that he is well and truly retired, so it may not come as a complete surprise that Austin declined.

Brad Shephard said of the offer:

A source in WWE told me that the Saudi show is a big, big deal to Vince and there is no short-selling that. He isn’t flying every upper level talent he can find to Saudi Arabia without good reason (that 10-year deal being quite a good reason). They are throwing everything including the kitchen sink at it. They wanted Austin to show up too, but he declined.

What's next?

The Greatest Royal Rumble will be shown live globally on WWE Network from the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, April 27.

Author's take

Well, given the abundance of talent WWE is churning out for this event, it really isn't surprising that they'd test the waters and try get Austin to appear - but it doesn't seem like Stone Cold is a money-driven man these days and he's firmly claimed to be retired for a while now.

We do see Austin from time to time, but it's no big surprise he turned this one down. Interesting to know the calibre of talent WWE is chasing to appear though!