How ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin Impacted Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania Plans

There was something off about Brock Lesnar’s recent feud with Bobby Lashley.

The final installment of a rivalry between such high-profile powerhouses should’ve been reserved for WrestleMania, the grandest stage of them all, yet the storyline culminated last month at WWE’s Elimination Chamber premium live event, with Lashley winning via disqualification.

Now, Lesnar is working an angle with Omos ahead of WrestleMania 39, while Lashley is expected to face Bray Wyatt. And it turns out the decision to have Lesnar and Lashley settle their score before the upcoming two-night spectacle at SoFi Stadium might’ve had something to do with WWE legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

“Initially, Lesnar was slated to fight Bobby Lashley at the event, Sports Illustrated learned, but that was moved to February (in a finish that protected both men) at Elimination Chamber so Lesnar could then prepare for a program against Steve Austin,” Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso wrote Wednesday, explaining a recent change in WWE’s WrestleMania plans. “Yet WWE and Austin never came to terms. Whether that happens with Austin and a different opponent is yet to be determined.”

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This isn’t the first report to mention a potential match between Lesnar and Austin, who came out of retirement at WrestleMania 38 and held his own against Kevin Owens. It certainly speaks to how serious WWE was about the idea, though, if it was willing to move up a separate box-office feud to possibly facilitate Lesnar vs. Austin.

There also had been rumors about Austin being offered a match against Roman Reigns, who’s set to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship versus Cody Rhodes, winner of the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble match. But that didn’t come to fruition, either, leaving in question whether Austin will appear at this year’s ‘Mania in Inglewood, Calif.