WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s feud with The Rock has gone down in history as one of the most iconic feuds in all of professional wrestling. Their feud ended at WrestleMania 19 in 2003, which was Steve Austin’s final match as an in-ring competitor. It was the third match at WrestleMania in their feud. Steve Austin and The Rock Smackdown return also leaked previously.
After that match, the WWE Hall Of Famer was supposed to face off against Brock Lesnar. However, he chose to leave WWE and retire from the squared circle for good. He has yet to compete in the ring since his retirement back then.
Steve Austin squared off against Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 38 Night One’s main event. In the end, Steve Austin won the match. He also made an appearance during WrestleMania 38 Night 2, where he hit the Stone Cold Stunner to Pat McAfee, Vince McMahon, and Austin Theory.
Steve Austin’s WWE return in 2007 indirectly led to The Sandman requesting his release from the company.
In an interview with WSI, The Sandman revealed that John Laurinaitis told him to stop drinking beer on television a week before SummerSlam. He disliked the former executive’s order and immediately asked to leave WWE:
“I remember when they brought him back, they took the beer away from me when they did that SummerSlam,” The Sandman said. “The week before, I go into Johnny Ace’s office. He goes, ‘We don’t want you drinking beer anymore.’ I said, ‘All right, I want my release.’ He goes, ‘No, don’t worry, you’ll be fine, you’ll still get the same pop going out there.’ I said, ‘This is because Austin’s coming in next week?’ He’s like, ‘[Shrugs] Well, yeah
