Why Did Steve Austin Miss WrestleMania 40?

WWE did have plans to use Steve Austin at WrestleMania 40.

Ahead of WrestleMania 40, it was reported that WWE was expecting Steve Austin, John Cena, and The Undertaker to appear on the show.

While Cena and The Deadman played a brief role in the wild main event on night two between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, Austin was notably absent. During the match, The Rock confronted Cena and laid him out with a Rock Bottom, at that, the lights went out and The Undertaker’s gong hit. When the lights back on, ‘Taker was behind Rock and hit him with a Chokeslam.

Reporting in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that The Undertaker’s spot was originally planned for Austin. However, he missed the show after failing to reach a “financial agreement” with the company.

Undertaker’s gong hit and he choke slammed and took out Rock. Austin was the person originally earmarked for that spot, but in the end they couldn’t reach a financial agreement and Undertaker was put in his place.

Steve Austin Open To One More Match

During an interview in February, Steve Austin refused to rule out getting back in the ring for one more match. While the WWE legend decided against naming who he would like to face should he return, later in the same interview he discussed a potential match with CM Punk.

Austin’s most recent match came at WrestleMania 38 when he came out of retirement to face Kevin Owens.