If Stone Cold Was To Return For Wrestlemania 30...

...then I think the best way to do it would be the good old fashioned method of having him as the suprise number 30 entrant at thr Royal Rumble. Just imagine it:

Prior to the Rumble, there has been no mention of Steve Austin. They sign him up in complete secrecy. No dirtsheets or internet forums have even the slightest clue about anything. We get to number 30 in the Rumble with 5-10 wrestlers left. then the countdown, 3...2...1... the glass shatters. The place would go absolutely batsh*t crazy. Every single one of us at home marks out and starts crying hysterically like little girls. Forums everywhere would be in absolute meltdown.

Presuming the Mania match would be against CM Punk which seems to be the general consensus, he could either win the rumble and get a title shot at reigning champion Punk. Or they can have Punk be the one to eliminate him and the match can be a grudge match which starts from there on in.

Just try and imagine yourself watching the Royal Rumble though, without even the slightest hint Austin was returning at all. Tell me it wouldnt be possibly the greatest mark out moment in the history of mark outs!!!

I just think this would be so much better than Austin coming out on a randim Raw interrupting a Punk promo, or annnouncing his match a year in advance. If you disagree, please feel free to tell me how you would prefere him to return...

When the glass shatters, the mass mark-out would be so great the Earth would wobble on it's axis. But what happens when he gets to the ring and is as mobile as Bret Hart? Ok, he's not there yet, but he'll never be able to put on a performance like he did 10 years ago.

Also, I'd prefer to see Austin face Orton. After all, that's the direction they wanted the Viper initially to go.

If Austin does return for one final swansong I don’t think in a million years he’d be anywhere near a world title shot. It would have to be a grudge match and the name which keeps popping up is CM Punk. The only problem is I don’t think the WWE are going to be able to keep Punk heel all the way through to Wrestlemania 30, I expect him to turn either in the summer to face Lesnar to later in the year. I actually think a face Punk vs a face Austin would be better. Austin meeting his match when it comes to promos as appose to Punk being a cowardly heel interests me more. I certainly don’t think Punk will be running with the Best in the World gimmick in a years time. Two anti-heroes going toe to toe splitting the crowd would surely be more of a draw than the Punk/heel option.

Austin is probably in far better shape now than he was in the last 18 months of his time as a Pro Wrestler, if Austin was to return for one last match/feud I've got no doubt in my mind he'd make sure he was in the best shape possible and for me that means he'd be better than he was in 2002 or at the end in 2003 so I'd have no worries, I certainly wouldn't worry about him being compared to how Bret Hart was in 2010

I wouldn't want CM Punk as a face if he's the same type of face he was when they had the WWE 13 game discussion. I thought he came across very inferior compared to Austin.

As a heel it just works - The alcohol free, clean living wrestler vs the beer drinking, a** whooping SOB.

Back to the original topic. If Austin came out as number 30 I would cream my shorts, no lie.

nasisillmatic wrote:I wouldn't want CM Punk as a face if he's the same type of face he was when they had the WWE 13 game discussion. I thought he came across very inferior compared to Austin.

As a heel it just works - The alcohol free, clean living wrestler vs the beer drinking, a** whooping SOB.

Back to the original topic. If Austin came out as number 30 I would cream my shorts, no lie.

I thought in that interview that CM Punk came across as a somewhat humble and magnanimous babyface whereas Austin showed more heelish tendencies - at times he wasn't even acting 'tweener', he was full blown heel. If they were going to go the face versus face route I doubt Punk would be doing the humble routine. I think I'd rather have Punk as a heel for this one, the promos would be absolute gold.


And as for the original topic, if they managed to keep the return quiet i.e. no spoilers, no 'Austin signs WWE contract' stories then I would quite probably do a sex wee when I heard the glass shatter during the Rumble.

If this happened I'd probably jump out my momma's basement for the first time in 10 years, breathe some fresh air and then stunner a cat, giving the finger as I slope back into my dark, dingey headquarters.

Giving the finger where exactly?!?

Well I thought that was fairly obvious, up the cat ofcourse! It's been 10 years, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Fair enough!

I've never seen you lost for words

I too would prefer heel Punk v face Austin.

I think Punk would be the perfect final match for Austin and as for him being face/heel/tweener I don't really see it mattering because whatever he was, against Austin he'd hated by a lot of people no matter what just because it was Austin.

As for not being able to keep him heel until WM30, you have to remember two things...1. this year so far he's done some things that have gotten him major heat (to do with the Undertaker) 2. Wrestling fans are pretty fickle, all it takes is one promo to become heel, especially when you have a way with words like CM Punk does.

Austin was the sole reason i got into wwf, and as much as id go crazy for him to return and kick ass, i really wouldnt want him to. I Mean look at the rock, i used to love him too, but since his return ive not really been impressed with him, and im not refering to promos im on bout in ring performance. the rock is younger and fitter than austin and if he can suffer ring rust from a long time out, i wouldnt want to see what austins return match would be like.

Rock and Austin are two completely different type of Wrestlers though, you look at Rock, he's always had high intensity and everything was always done at 100mph, Austins never been like that, he's had the high intensity of course but he could slow a pace of a match down at ease, I personally think The Rock's done brilliant, his matches may not have got to the same level as those during his peak but who really thought they would have? There's a massive difference with a 25-28 year old guy working 150-200 shows a year to a 40 year old guy working 3/4 shows a year.

Punk/Cena will always put on a better match than Rock/Cena or Rock/Punk but when do either of those truly give you that big match feel? Apart from Chicago at MitB I don't think Punk's managed it, and while Cena gives you the big match feel his act for me is so worn out the big match feel he offers is severely diluted

Rock brings the aura back, Austin would be no different, I also believe that Austin is so old school in protecting his character that he'd never just come back for the sdake of it, it'd need to be against the right person for the right reasons storyline wise and that's why I know I'd want to see it and trust it'd be good viewing

Agree with your point Kay fabe, theres just something inside me that is 50/50. . I think im jus being to pessimistic, although im not that happy with the rocks performance since his return others are more than happy, and also now that i think about it Shawn Micheals has had great matches, when he came back after a long time out, so it does make my previous point sort of invalid but i jus cant help think his return would screw up some how.

Shawn Michaels came back to a somewhat full time schedule tho to be fair, by 2003 he was working 50+ dates a year right up until his retirement plus he's a good solid 80lbs lighter than Rock, add to the fact for me he's the greatest performer of all time then its not always a true reflection comparing people to Shawn