Reason why Stone Cold backed out of match planned for his in-ring return – Reports

Stone Cold Steve Austin has been retired since his match against The Rock at WrestleMania 19. Though Austin was supposed to face Brock Lesnar following that match, he chose to leave WWE and retire from in-ring action. WWE did try to bring him back for another match in 2005 against Jonathan Coachman, which he backed out from at the last minute.

Rumors are swirling that the company has approached Austin to come onboard for a match against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. However, The Rattlesnake has a history of refusing an in-ring return or backing out at the last moment.

As per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Austin was set to make an in-ring return in 2005 against Coach in a gimmick match. But because Austin was set to lose the match, he backed out citing a back injury. He was replaced by Batista:

"Over the years, he had considered and talked of wrestling again. In those years he said it would take him a good six months to prepare to do so. In 2005, he was called for the Taboo Tuesday show to do a gimmick match with Jonathan Coachman with the stipulation that if he won, Jim Ross would get his Raw lead announcing job back, but if he lost, Ross would lose his job. Austin was going to be booked to lose the match, and before the match claimed a back injury and didn’t appear."

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Will Stone Cold return for WrestleMania 38?

As per reports, the current plan is for The Rattlesnake to be involved in a big role at WrestleMania 38. The company is trying to get Austin to agree to an in-ring return for a match against Kevin Owens.

According to reports, Stone Cold is being offered a big-money deal for the match, which may eventually be the deciding factor.