Steve Austin Left Former WWE Champion Swollen After Major Match
A WrestleMania opponent of Steve Austin has described what he felt after their match.
The main event of WrestleMania 38 Saturday in Los Angeles was one of the most surprising main event matches in WrestleMania history because Kevin Owens and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
It was a surprising main event match because people within WWE legitimately had no idea if Austin was going to wrestle since his last match was at WrestleMania 19 in 2003, which was 19 years earlier. The segment was advertised as Owens hosting his KO Show with Austin as the guest.
Most WWE superstars know who their PLE opponent is going to be and can prepare for the match with that person, but Owens didn’t have that luxury with Austin.
Kevin Owens explained to Insight’s Chris Van Vliet that he legitimately didn’t know if he would be wrestling Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38.
“I think Vince (McMahon) wanted him to be on WrestleMania in Dallas, and he wasn’t sure in what capacity. I’m not sure how. I think they talked. He said no at first, from what I understand. Then they went back to him, and he’s like, Okay, who would it be with? I think that’s when they said me, which I think he was good with.
Then somehow, was it going to be a talking segment? Was it going to be a match? Was it going to be a Stunner? Literally, up until the day of the show, we had no idea. Me and Steve had talked, I would talk to Steve, ask him, ‘What are we going to do?’ He goes, ‘I don’t know, depends on Vince.’
So I talked to Vince, and Vince goes, ‘Depends on Steve. ‘ I’m like, ‘Can’t you guys talk to each other for f**k sake?’
But yeah, up until that day, we really didn’t know for sure what it was going to be. It turned out to be what it was, and it was pretty great. I’m very lucky to have been a part of it. To this day, it’s the craziest thing that I’ll ever have done in my career, and I don’t think anything will top it.”
How Did Kevin Owens Feel After Wrestling Steve Austin At WrestleMania 38?
In the interview with Van Vliet, Kevin Owens described how he felt after the match with Steve Austin, who got the win with the Stone Cold Stunner.
“Actually the night of the match, when I go back to my hotel, my earlobe was swollen like this big from his punches. I went [squeezes] and it just splattered against the mirror. He kept saying, ‘You didn’t give me any receipts.’ What am I gonna do? But honestly, in that moment too, I felt the punches but they weren’t any worse than anything I felt before.
But to him, that shows how much of a pro he is. Bret has always prided himself on how he’s never hurt anyone. You could barely feel him in the ring and stuff, and that’s amazing. I think Steve was the same way, so he prided himself on not killing people and that night he knew he was killing me. But to me it was not any worse than other guys.”
Steve Austin will make his WWE return at the 2025 Hall of Fame ceremony when his legendary WrestleMania 13 match with Bret Hart will be honored as an Immortal Moment. It’s not yet known if Austin will be at WrestleMania 41 itself, but Austin will be in town, so he could always appear and hand out a few Stunners.