WWE has a way of making some huge fantasy matchups across eras become a reality. The Rock faced Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8. John Cena battled The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII, then again the next year (even though the prior meeting was billed as “Once in a Lifetime.”
More recently, Stone Cold Steve Austin made his return after 19 years away and fought Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 38. It was a terrific, “turn back the clock” type performance for Austin, and the fans ate it up.
But you know what would have been even more amazing? Austin vs. Cena.
Stone Cold himself weighed in on that hypothetical meeting between two of WWE’s all-time greats as the guest on Out of Character with Ryan Satin (h/t Fightful). While expressing his admiration for all that Cena has done and acknowledging how huge a match between them would have been, he also shot down the idea of it ever happening.
“Working with him would have been a real highlight, and I’ve had a bunch of highlights,” Austin said. “It would have been a real special thing. There is something about John. People are so invested in his matches. He’s a very special talent. It would have been great to have a match with him. Will it ever happen? No.”
Why is he so certain? Austin explained that at this point in his career, everything has to fall just right for matches to happen. Cena’s busy Hollywood schedule is likely the sticking point — the same way The Rock’s acting and business dealings prevented a much rumored match between him and Roman Reigns from ever coming together.
Multiple outlets have reported that WWE pitched Austin several ideas for matches over the past year, but he recently claimed the company never specifically talked WrestleMania 39. He seemed to admit as much to Satin but denied that Cena was ever among the list of possible opponents.
“No, not really,” Austin said. “Names have always been tossed around in conversation and stuff like that. I said I was never going to really wrestle again, unless, because you never say never, unless the stars aligned properly. They did to work with KO [Kevin Owens] in Dallas, so we did that.”
Cena has a match against Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39. Austin almost certainly won’t, but it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to appear in some capacity. Maybe they’ll cross paths in L.A.
But for now, anyway, a match between them will have to remain a dream.
