Ric Flair Rules Out CM Punk, The Rock and John Cena as Opponents for Stone Cold at WrestleMania 39

The news dropped on Monday that Triple H and WWE officials were interested in having Stone Cold Steve Austin do more with the company following his long awaited return to in-ring competition at WrestleMania 38 against Kevin Owens. Since then, the internet continues to speculate on who the best opponent would be for The Texas Rattlesnake with WrestleMania 39 returning to Hollywood.

Naturally, there are a handful of dream matches that would help sell out SoFi Stadium this April. The few names that have emerged from the rumor mill thus far include John Cena, The Rock and CM Punk. While they each have their own unique intrigue for the grandest stage of them all, The Nature Boy is ruling out a few of these big names himself.

Related: How A Possible CM Punk WWE Return Is Being Received Backstage

During his latest To Be The Man podcast on Wednesday, Ric Flair was asked about Austin’s next opponent and immediately didn’t see a potential WWE return and match with Stone Cold as a valid option for CM Punk.

“If he wrestled CM Punk, you need to beat him in 30 seconds, so that’s not the answer, Flair explained. “Stone Cold Steve Austin and CM Punk? Come on. Give me a break. You can’t even mention their name in the same breath. Please.”

Harsh words, but the 16-time world champion also didn’t see the angle for a match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock or John Cena either. In his words, “someone would need to lose.”

However, an actual match would be more necessary for CM Punk than it would be for Austin to share some beers with The Rock or Stunners with John Cena.

That’s a WrestleMania segment that works by itself without the stress of a match. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for someone like The Undertaker to make an appearance.

What’s your favorite Stone Cold Stunner of all time?

For Stone Cold to do something comparable to his performance against Kevin Owens, he would need a star capable of helping him overcome his faults as an older performer. He would also likely need to feud with a heel. The thought has likely occurred to someone in creative to book Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.

While that’s obviously intriguing for a number of reasons, it’s almost a guarantee that The Tribal Chief walks out of his third straight WrestleMania as WWE Universal Champion in a match with Austin.

The eyes of the wrestling world are looking at Cody to be that guy come April, but WrestleMania 39 is still almost a half a year away. Stone Cold is a legend you can put almost anywhere so HHH and WWE officials are likely waiting until some big pieces of the card fall into place before they’ll know who gets to work with Stone Cold.

Who do you think should be Stone Cold’s next opponent at WrestleMania 39?

Author Will McCormick 

Will McCormick, editor-in-chief for WrestlingRumors has been a professional writer for more than 15 years. He covered the rise of NXT and the Women’s Revolution as well as the rise of AEW and its impact on the industry.

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