10 Surprising Last-Minute WWE WrestleMania Card Twists
3. Austin Unretires To KO Owens
When “Stone Cold” Steve Austin retired after WrestleMania 19, many figured he’d take a few years off and then probably return to the ring once he healed up. After all, Shawn Michaels had just returned from a career-ending injury a few months earlier.
But Austin managed to stay out of the ring for 19 years, leaving him as one of the longest retired wrestlers to eventually change course. That came last year, when Kevin Owens called out the Rattlesnake and invited him to appear on the KO Show at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas. The segment was slated to main-event night one of the show, leaving the door wide open for what everyone hoped for, but couldn’t assume.
After some pointed back-and-forth, the two bowed up and agreed to an impromptu match, sending the stadium into a collective heart attack. They brawled into the crowd, where Austin took a suplex on the floor, and returned to the ring, where Stone Cold eventually scored the win in his first match since 2003.
As impromptu Mania matches go, this was hiding in plain sight the entire time, but that didn’t make it any less exhilarating afterward when you realized that Austin and Owens had pulled it off.