Steve Austin was reportedly wanted for WrestleMania 40 before being unable to agree on financial terms.
The wrestling world is still reeling from the main event of WrestleMania 40’s second night, which saw Cody Rhodes finally finish his story and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Many had theorised that the match may feature a lot of run-ins, but perhaps no one quite expected the way that things turned out. Featuring Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa, John Cena, The Rock, and Seth Rollins, it was The Undertaker’s appearance which perhaps shocked fans the most, particularly as many had anticipated it being Steve Austin who’d have taken out ‘The Final Boss’ amongst the chaos, and it now appears as if Stone Cold was the original plan.
Per Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s believed that Steve Austin was the man that WWE originally wanted to for Undertaker’s spot, but, after being unable to reach an agreement, the decision was made to go with ‘The Deadman’.
“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.”
-Dave Meltzer
Of course, The Rattlesnake’s inclusion would’ve made sense given his storied past with The Rock, and the glass shattering would’ve added to the drama of this Sunday’s main event, but The Undertaker’s inclusion certainly had people taking coming out of WrestleMania 40.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the original plan for WrestleMania 40 as soon as we hear more.
