If you haven’t heard by now, Stone Cold Steve Austin had an eventful night at WrestleMania.
The Texas Rattlesnake appears to have long put his in-ring wrestling days behind him, fighting just once in the last 22 years.
He battled Kevin Owens in a terrific Mania main event in 2022 as he made a mockery of a two-decade absence from the ring to deliver a masterclass alongside the Canadian.
It looks more likely that the outing will serve as Austin’s last as a wrestler, but it hasn’t stopped him grabbing WrestleMania headlines this week after a wild weekend in Vegas.
The veteran was given the honour of making Sunday night’s attendance announcement in front of more than 60,000 fans but ended up causing utter chaos on his way to the ring.
Turning the wrong way on route to the ramp, he got the vehicle stuck and needed the help of six officials to get him going again in what was a panicked scene backstage.
Things didn’t exactly improve once he got out there, either. Cruising around the ring area, he careered into the crowd barrier and appeared to knock a fan from their feet.
WWE president Nick Khan was even called upon to address the situation, with further drama surfacing after the end of the show when another wrestling fan appeared to be struck by a golf buggee carrying Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio.
All told, it was mayhem. It’s the kind of scene Austin will be familiar with having raised all kinds of hell in the Attitude Era, but it’s now emerged he could have avoided the madness that came his way.
The Hall of Fame star almost ended up doing something different altogether – at least that was the ambition of Logan Paul, who was also busy on Sunday’s show, beating AJ Styles.
Any Paul match in WWE is accompanied by extracurricular silliness – influencers being thrown through tables or speared within an inch of their lives.
He had designs on arguably the ultimate absurdity for WrestleMania 41 – and was prepared to pay a hefty sum to make it happen.
Speaking on his podcast, the influencer revealed he approached Stone Cold about involving him, by getting him to wear a giant Prime bottle outfit to promote his drink brand.
Seemingly aware it was a long shot, Paul put his money where his mouth is and offered to pay $1 million to Austin to convince him.
Naturally 52-year-old Austin, hardly known for his tomfoolery, wasn’t having any of it.
Paul explained: “We offered Steve a million dollars to be in the Prime bottle. He didn’t do it, so instead he ran over a poor woman!”
Nudged by his co-host to remember the Rattlesnake was never likely to be seen in a Prime bottle, the former United States Champion eagerly added: “That’s why we offered him a million.
“We were like: ‘Bro, do you want to get in this bottle?’ I mean, I don’t think he even considered it for a second.
YouTube/ImpaulsiveLogan Paul claimed his big bucks offer to Stone Cold wasn’t given much thought[/caption]
“The WWE Universe would kill him. Imagine it – his face-revealed the Prime bottle: ‘It’s f****** Stone Cold?!’
“He could have done anything, which is why I think it would have worked, ultimately. And maybe one year.”
“Stone Cold strikes me as a guy who takes himself pretty seriously,” added Logan of the wrestling megastar. The relative youngster might well have been served to do his homework. Austin has famously hit back at bad creative ideas in WWE, and him dressing up in a giant bottle is probably right up there.
