"Stone Cold" Steve Austin wrestled in a surprise match earlier this year at WrestleMania 38 in his home state of Texas, and now there are rumblings that he's been offered to do the same at next year's WrestleMania.
Fightful Select reports WWE has sent Austin an offer for another match, but it's not clear if the match would be at WrestleMania or the next Saudi Arabia event in May. I would think WrestleMania would be the bigger deal for Austin and WWE, in terms of publicity.
Fans started to speculate that Austin may be gearing up for another match after he's been posting videos of himself working out and looking to be in great shape.
Austin commented about appearing at WrestleMania 39 on the Brewbound Podcast shortly after his appearance at this year's WrestleMania. He said "I can’t imagine I would not be there in some capacity and I’m not booking myself on the show because I didn’t book myself on 38. That’s a Vince thing and I have a great relationship with him and if I get the call, I’ll be there."
So, let's say this is locked in… who should be Austin's opponent? For me, the biggest dream match against Austin would be C.M. Punk, but of course, he is still under contract to AEW (although trying to get a buyout). The two teased a showdown for years, but Austin just wasn't ready to come back at the time.
But who knows if Punk would even want to come back to WWE? Although I imagine this would absolutely sweeten the idea. Let's be realistic and assume that Punk is not coming back. Who would be worth an Austin match build-up? Of course, my mind goes to The Rock, but I'm not sure I really want to see these guys try to top their excellent matches of 20 years ago, and realistically, there is no way they could. John Cena seems like a unique dream match. Goldberg is a match wrestling fans have fantasized about for 20 years. But now? Is it something worth seeing? Of course, there is also finally having a match with Brock Lesnar, which might be the best option.
Who do you want to see Austin face? Tag us @KNOTFEST with your pick.
What's on TV this week?
There's a lot going on. Let's kick things off with WWE NXT tonight on USA Network:
- NXT Championship: Bron Breakker defends against Von Wagner
- NXT Women's Championship: Mandy Rose defends against Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing match
- Apollo Crews vs. JD McDonagh
- Indi Hartwell vs. Tatum Paxley
- Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. The Dyad (Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler)
- Shawn Michaels to issue a statement on NXT Deadline event
- Booker T hosts contract signing between Carmelo Hayes & Wes Lee
AEW has a loaded Dynamite scheduled for tomorrow night at 8pm ahead of their big Full Gear event this Saturday. Announced for tomorrow night at 8pm on TBS is:
- Interviews from Jon Moxley, MJF, Samoa Joe, Britt Baker and Saraya
- Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara
- AEW World title eliminator tournament semifinal: Ethan Page vs. Bandido
- Interim AEW World Women’s Championship: Toni Storm vs. The Bunny
- AEW Trios titles: Death Triangle vs. Top Flight and AR Fox
- Anthony Bowens vs. Swerve Strickland
- The Acclaimed music video “A hand for a hand”
Announced for WWE Smackdown on Friday on Fox is:
- Shotzi vs. Shayna Baszler
- SmackDown World Cup first-round match: Sami Zayn vs. Butch
- SmackDown World Cup first-round match: Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali
AEW Rampage has announced:
- June Akiyama & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Eddie Kingston & Ortiz
- Ricky Starks vs. Lance Archer in the AEW World title eliminator tournament quarterfinals
- Winner faces Brian Cage in the semifinals.
AEW Full Gear this Saturday has scheduled:
- AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. MJF
- ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Claudio Castagnoli
- Interim AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jamie Hayter
- AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee)
- Steel Cage: Luchasaurus vs. Jungle Boy
- TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Nyla Rose
- Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal vs. Sting & Darby Allin
- Saraya vs. Britt Baker
- AEW World title eliminator tournament finals
WWE Survivor Series, one week from Saturday has scheduled:
- Women's WarGames match: Bianca Belair, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Mia Yim & TBA vs. Bayley, IYO SKY, Dakota Kai, Nikki Cross & Rhea Ripley
- Men's WarGames match: (Not official but likely The Bloodline vs. Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Ridge Holland, Butch and a mystery partner)
- SmackDown Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Shotzi
- AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor
Wrestling News from Around the Internet
Sasha Banks (real name Mercedes Varnado) filed some unique trademarks for her company, Soulnado Inc., including Mercedes Mone', Mone' Talks, Bank Mone', Statement Maker – sounds like similar names to her moves and finishers in WWE. Could she be working outside of the WWE system?
Meanwhile, WWE has filed a trademark for "Iron Survivor Challenge." Rumor has it that this is the name of a new match for NXT's next big event, Deadline, in December.
Rey Mysterio is out with an unspecified injury to his foot or ankle. No word on how long he will be out, but he was pulled from the Smackdown World Cup tournament and replaced with Mustafa Ali.
Kevin Owens sprained his MCL in his knee this weekend. WWE hopes he won't have to miss any time. He is the rumored mystery partner in the Survivor Series War Games match.
WrestleVotes reports WWE has an interest in bringing back the former Zack Ryder, Matt Cardona, and his wife, Chelsea Green.
Kurt Angle and Mick Foley were recently reunited for a shoot for WWE's Most Wanted Treasures on A&E:
Bret Hart continues his troll on Goldberg, who Bret blames for ending his career. During a recent reflection on the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Screwjob, Bret said of his relationship with Shawn Michaels "I’m grateful he’s
Sammy Guevara recently teased entering a boxing ring. The fans… did not respond…
Don’t forget, Tuesday nights, Knotfest Wrestling will go live on the Knotfest Youtube with hosts Alicia Atout, Colin Young, and Jordan Olds. So make sure to tune in!
Do you enjoy pro wrestling? Knotfest Wrestling has a bi-weekly column filled with wrestling news. Read previous editions of this column here. You can always follow me @robinjection on Instagram and Twitter and @Squaredcirclpit.
