Backstage Details On Steve Austin vs. Kevin Owens, Austin Defied WWE Rules

It was almost different. WrestleMania 38 was one of the biggest spectacles that WWE has ever presented and there were all kinds of major moments over the two nights. As tends to be the case, the main event is the most memorable match of the weekend. That was the case again this year, but it was almost a very different situation than what we wound up seeing.

The main event of Night One of WrestleMania 38 saw Steve Austin come out of retirement to face Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match. The match was not advertised in advance and was made the night of the show, as Austin had only been advertised for an appearance. Austin did promise that he would be getting physical with Owens, but an actual match was never mentioned.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there had been plans to promote the match in advance, but Austin was worried about it not living up to his expectations. The plan became an “elongated brawl”, but Austin changed his mind and agreed to the match at some point during his training. Austin also broke WWE’s orders to not hold up his middle fingers at the end of the match, despite being told not to twice.

Opinion: I can’t say I’m surprised at the idea of Austin not wanting to do a match until he was sure that he was ready. Austin has a reputation of wanting to be especially protective of his legacy and there is nothing wrong with that. At the same time, it wasn’t a huge negative as fans knew Austin would be getting physical in the segment, so it isn’t like making it a match would have drawn in that many more people.

What did you think of the match? What was the best part of WrestleMania 38? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 60,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 6,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books

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