Stone Cold Confirms Fan Suspicions About His Omission From WrestleMania 40

Steve Austin sat down with Chris Van Vliet this week to talk all things pro wrestling. During the interview, Austin was asked if he was approached by WWE to be a part of WrestleMania 40. Turns out he was. "I remember when they pitched that to me, I said I had some things going on and that I didn't see myself being there. And that was way in advance. And so, I wasn't," Austin confirmed.

"I like to do as much as I can with WWE. When it works for them. When it works for me and when it's going to be fun. In saying that, not everything lines up on a timeline basis." Austin didn't go as far as to confirm what exactly WWE pitched, but there's a running theory regarding what WWE would have liked to have happened that night, which is now more or less confirmed.

Was Stone Cold Supposed To Make A Run-In During WrestleMania 40's Main Event?

The chaotic ending to WrestleMania 40 involved John Cena, The Rock, Seth Rollins, and The Undertaker all coming to the ring in a match that ended with Cody Rhodes finally beating Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship. All of the connective tissue - Cena clashing with The Rock one more time, Rollins using his Shield music to distract Reigns - made sense, but the clash between Rock and Undertaker didn't, not really.

It was a great moment, and The Deadman's gong hitting got the huge crowd reaction WWE would have wanted. However, once the dust had settled, and fans started to connect the historical dots between each clash that happened in the frantic final few minutes of the match, they concluded that Stone Cold should have been the one who interrupted The Rock and stopped him from stopping Rhodes from becoming champion.

The Undertaker himself previously fueled that theory when he revealed WWE didn't ask him to be a part of that match until a few days before the show. That got fans thinking the spot was intended for Stone Cold. Even though Austin has said he was asked well in advance, I'm assuming WWE held out hope that he might change his mind, right up until a few days before, when it became clear he definitely wasn't coming and they tagged in The Undertaker instead.