Why Steve Austin Reached Out To Injured Former WWE Champion
Stone Cold Steve Austin retired from in-ring competition in 2003, but he came out of retirement for a one-off match to face Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38 in a No Holds Barred match.
Owens has been out of action for nearly a year due to a neck injury. He missed WrestleMania 41, and according to recent reports, he is likely to miss WrestleMania 42 as well.
Austin recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s TakeDown, where he was asked about the former United States Champion. He revealed that he reached out to Owens a couple of months ago to check on him.
Steve Austin Says Kevin Owens Is A Future Hall Of Famer
Austin spoke highly of Owens, even calling him a future Hall of Famer and praising his potential. He also sounded disappointed that a talent like Owens has had to miss so much in-ring time, but remained optimistic that he will return stronger and wished him nothing but the best.
“I called Kevin a couple of months ago, I think he’s got a great doctor according to him and I threw out a name that I’d heard good things about. But yeah I care about the guy, love the guy, he’s a Hall of Fame talent.
“Don’t know how he banged his neck up but he took a lot of bumps. He did a lot of stuff. I remember meeting him in the airport 20-25 years ago and I’d seen him work and that’s what I told him, I said, ‘Hey kid, you don’t need to worry about all those fancy moves, you need to learn how to talk.’ And of course he did and he’s great. I’m not saying his style hurt his neck. It’s a rough business right?
“No matter what style you work, you’re going to take a bump and even the most simple bump can be the devastating bump, although it looks normal, that sets off some chain reaction, or is the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, and there’s that injury. Injuries happen, I stay in touch with him a little bit and I wish him nothing but the best.”