Why WWE Nixed Steve Austin Match With Legendary Athlete

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin came close to facing Mike Tyson at WrestleMania 14.

‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ was already en-route to superstardom when Vince McMahon proudly presented controversial boxing icon ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson on the 19th January 1998 edition of Raw.

The famous exchange that followed, which included Austin shoving the former WBA, WBC and IBF Heavyweight Champion, made global headlines and helped catapult WWE back into pole position in the Monday Night Wars.

Ultimately Austin would go on to capture his first WWE Championship from Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 14 in Boston, Massachusetts, with Tyson serving as the Special Guest Enforcer at ringside.

Original plans, however, saw Tyson in a completely different role at ‘The Showcase Of The Immortals’.

Speaking during a recent edition of ‘Grilling JR‘, legendary commentator and former WWE Head Of Talent Relations Jim Ross revealed that initial talks took place to have Austin face Tyson were shelved with neither man ready for the challenges the bout would have provided:

“It was discussed that we’d have Austin vs. Tyson. But it just…Steve wasn’t physically up to the challenge. And Tyson wasn’t prepared yet, to be a competitor. So we did the best we could.

We gave Mike a role, and a role that made people talk, and made Austin react. It would’ve been a cool thing to have Austin vs. Tyson, but we did the next best thing we could, and made him an enforcer.

And then eventually showed that Tyson was not a heel, he turned babyface with Austin. And it worked out famously.”

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin Set For Second WWE Hall Of Fame Induction

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin is set to receive a second WWE Hall Of Fame ring in Las Vegas on 18th April.

The company has decided to introduce a new ‘Immortal Moments’ category to it’s annual inductions and has selected the classic WrestleMania 13 bout between Austin and Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart to be the first inductee at a star studded ceremony at Fontainebleu, Las Vegas.

Austin recently shared his delight at the upcoming award whilst praising the fans for keeping the match relevant.

H/T: WrestlingInc for the above transcription.