Steve Austin believes WWE made the right call by having Roman Reigns go over Cody Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at WrestleMania 39.
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Night 1 of WWE WrestleMania 38 delivered exactly what it promised. The performances were outstanding, the moments were worthy of the large crowd in attendance, and the event demonstrated that when WWE is in the zone, it can still be the largest show on the planet. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin made an unexpected in-ring return against Kevin Owens, allowing him to conclude his career on his own terms. However, The Rattle Snake was expected to make an appearance at WrestleMania 39 this year, but he was unable to do so.
Steve Austin feels WWE made the correct decision in letting Roman Reigns defeat Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at WrestleMania 39. Austin mentioned the finish in an interview with Sports Illustrated. He stated, “I loved the finish. I loved all of it. Roman is so good right now. The story was there—Cody coming back from injury, coming back into the fold after he left from AEW, and putting himself in the position he’s in now, overcoming all this adversity as part of one of the most famous wrestling families that’s ever been in the business, and trying to finish the story against Roman.”
“I watched both nights of WrestleMania 39 very intently. To me, you can’t take that belt off Roman right now. You want to get it to Cody somehow, someway, some time—but now’s not the time.”
READ MORE: Who will face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal championship?
The WWE Hall of Famer recently spoke with Sports Illustrated about his absence from a match in Hollywood. “I haven’t spoken to this, but I’ll give you the story,” Austin said. “I met with some people from WWE. We talked about the possibility of me wrestling at WrestleMania 39. The biggest thing in my mind was the presentation and what kind of match it was going to be.” Austin elaborated that he initially turned down coming out of retirement for his WrestleMania 38 match against Kevin Owens several times until he approved of the creative direction. He didn’t want it to be a “constructed” match, but rather one that came together in the moment.
While Austin did not address any of the rumored WrestleMania 39 opponents, which included Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and LA Knight, he did admit that his production schedule was the major reason he couldn’t commit to another bout.
“But to do a proper match, I’d have to be in off-the-charts shape,” Austin explained. “I told them, and this is the exact truth, I said, ‘Guys, I’m just fixin’ to go into production on this show, ‘Stone Cold Takes on America,’ and until we start production, I don’t know what my life looks like. I can’t commit.’ Sure enough, there were technical issues before we finished.”
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