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There were rumors that another WWE legend, besides The Undertaker, was supposed to take out The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 40 Night Two. Ex-WWE writer Jon Rineman has explained why he is happy that the reported plan didn't play out.
The WrestleMania 40 Night Two main event saw the conclusion of the record-breaking title run of Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns. Some of the names involved in the finish were The Usos, Solo Sikoa, Seth Rollins, John Cena, The Rock, and The Undertaker. It was reported that the spot for The Phenom was originally going to go to 59-year-old Hall of Famer 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin due to his storied history with The Great One.
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In a chat with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Kevin Kellam, Jon Rineman reminded everyone that the company was operating while being involved with the US Department of Justice due to the Vince McMahon allegations.
"I think the truth is that their product has improved. The reality is they have to operate in the shadows of what's going on legally and mentally, especially with what's going on with the Department of Justice. I'll just say that product-wise, the wrestlers who are out there, Cody [Rhodes], etc. I loved the WrestleMania [40] finish. I thought it was so fun. Undertaker's my guy, so as a fan, yeah."
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Rineman added that, besides just being an Undertaker fan, he was happy that Stone Cold Steve Austin didn't come out, as he felt it would have affected his aura following his last match at WrestleMania 38.
"I liked that Stone Cold kept his last match as his last appearance. I understand [that Austin's appearance wouldn't taint his last match], but what if you miss that Stunner and you have a GIF that goes viral? I thought that The Undertaker thing was perfect. I thought, hey, hats off to The Rock for selling it." (14:29 - 15:28)
You can watch the full video below.
Former WWE writer thinks that Stone Cold Steve Austin didn't want to be "one of many" at WrestleMania 40
While a report suggested that Steve Austin couldn't come to a financial agreement with WWE, former head writer Vince Russo had another theory.
On an episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW, Vince Russo theorized that WWE legend Stone Cold was unlikely to make an appearance if he was going to be "one of many" names involved in the angle.
"There was a reason why the glass didn’t break last night. There was a reason why Austin wasn’t on that show. I knew Steve pretty well and I’m gonna tell you why Austin was not on that show. You know why? He didn’t wanna be one of several. Austin is probably the one guy who is more protective of his character than anybody. There’s no doubt that they called Austin for this. Bro, the story was [The] Rock and Austin, not [The] Rock and 'Taker. But Austin is not gonna be one of several. If it’s just him, you got a shot at him doing it." [1:13:33 onwards]
It should be noted that as of this writing, nothing has been confirmed about why Austin didn't appear at The Show of Shows.
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