The last five minutes of the WrestleMania XL main event is the definition of pro wrestling. Sure, it may not have yielded a five-star Tokyo Dome classic, but WWE still created a moment that will live on forever as long as there are three ropes and four ring posts.
Somehow, WWE delivered on the immense expectations heading into Cody Rhodes-Roman Reigns II with all of the run-ins. The Usos, Solo Sikoa, John Cena, The Rock, The Undertaker, Seth Rollins with the SHIELD music... it was booked like it was a toy ring in a 10-year-old's backyard. And it was beautiful.
There was just one thing missing: Stone Cold Steve Austin. There was speculation Austin would be part of the monumental main event, but it ultimately never came to be. As great as it was to see The Undertaker involved, many wrestling fans speculated that Austin was supposed to be the one in that spot standing up to The Final Boss.
Well, Austin himself may have just confirmed that was WWE's original plan. In an interview with decorated wrestling reporter Chris Van Vliet, Austin revealed that WWE wanted him involved at WrestleMania XL and it just didn't work out.
“Things just didn’t line up. I had other things going on. I remember when they pitched that to me. I said, dude, I got some things going on. I don’t see myself being there. That was way in advance. Was it pitched to me, or did they want me there? Yeah. But I wasn’t in a position to go," Austin said.
“There was a possibility that I could have been there had I chose to go there. I had other s--- going on. "
Stone Cold Steve Austin confirms WWE wanted him at WrestleMania XL
Austin didn't specify what his role would have been or whether or not he would have been tied to the main event but it's rather self explanatory. It's hard to imagine WWE would have used him in any other capacity than joining the most star-studded main event sequence of all time opposite his biggest rival.
These conversations also may have led up to the event itself. Mark Callaway has since revealed that he was attending WrestleMania with family and friends in a suite and didn't tell anyone about his appearance. He simply popped out to "use the restroom" and snuck into position to do the run-in. He didn't know he was needed until the day of the main event.
That reeks of a last-minute pivot, and one that at least made sense in the grand scheme of things. Undertaker is the gatekeeper of WrestleMania, so WWE could pivot and pretend like that was the plan all along. But the real synergy was with Austin.
It's a shame, really, considering Austin was at 'Mania the following year in Las Vegas. Instead of getting a legendary run-in with two birds, a stunner, and a whole lot of beer, fans got Austin reading out the attendance numbers and running into the barricade with his ATV.
This nothing-burger of an appearance was made even worse by the fact that Austin teased his appearance at WrestleMania, leaving many to think he would get involved in the main event one year after not being included. But instead, we all got Travis Scott.
Nobody is ever going to complain about a Stone Cold appearance, or an Undertaker appearance for that matter, but man, would it have been nice to see Austin stun The Rock one final time; his last message of defiance to the system as the most popular antihero in wrestling history.
It almost would have been better if Stone Cold never came clean about this. Now we are all stuck in what-if land.