‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin On His ‘WrestleMania’ Role & Why Roman Reigns ‘Isn’t Quite There Yet’

Stone Cold Steve Austin was a recent guest of Ring Rust Radio, where the hosts engaged the WWE Hall-of-Famer in a wide array of topics surrounding WrestleMania. The stars are coming out for the company’s biggest show of the year on April 3 in Dallas, Texas. The latest surprise coming this past Monday night with the return of Shane McMahon and the announcement that he will face the Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania.

So we’re seeing the formation of a stacked card with more than five weeks left to build to the biggest pay-per-view ever. Shane-O-Mac, the Undertaker, The Rock, and Stone Cold are all scheduled to appear. While Austin did not address Shane’s blockbuster comeback, he was asked about his own role at WrestleMania, as transcribed by Wrestling Inc.

“As far as my role, I don’t know yet. I haven’t talked to anybody about it. I expect to be in Dallas, Texas, and I expect to do something. I just don’t know what it is.”

It’s hard to tell whether Stone Cold is being completely honest, or if he simply doesn’t want to let the cat out of the bag. We saw firsthand on Monday night that if a surprise return as big as Shane McMahon’s can be held under wraps, it makes the moment all that more special. Austin will be there like he said, so that’s one hurdle that’s already been climbed. In what capacity remains to be seen. We’ve already seen Batista turn down a WrestleMania role, and while Stone Cold won’t go so far as to not show up, he’ll likely want to approve the creative decision. Speaking of WWE creative, Stone Cold wishes more superstars would challenge that process more.

“Absolutely. You have to develop that relationship first. You can’t just go in there and say you want this because you will get a door slammed in your face… you have to develop a relationship with Vince, you have to develop a relationship with Triple H and you have to develop a relationship with the company in general… It’s okay to ask questions and question where they’re going with your character because they are invested in you and you’re invested in your career. There’s a way to do it and everybody should do it, but it is in all how you do it.”

Barring any last-minute changes, Roman Reigns will challenge Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania. Many fans aren’t thrilled with that decision, but based on Triple H’s vicious attack on Reigns to close out Monday Night RAW, they’ll certainly be moving forward with it. Stone Cold Steve Austin sees some of the same things the fans do, but believes it can be fixed.

“Roman Reigns isn’t quite there yet, but he will be one of these days. They got work to do… I got a chance to talk to Roman Reigns and he is going to be fine. When you talk to him one-on-one he is a super cool dude. I told him just be yourself in your promos and you are going to be fine. Some people think he has been a little bit entitled or pushed too fast and too hard… Roman Reigns has a good body, good looking guy, but he does have to bring the work up and he is starting to develop a little bit of a promo when he is himself.”

Stone Cold certainly knows something about delivering a great promo and being himself — at least an amped up version of himself — in the ring and on the mic. It’s hard to imagine any of today’s full-time superstars calling their own audibles in a match, but Austin revealed that he nearly pulled one off, on the grandest stage no less. Stone Cold’s memorable match against The Rock at WrestleMania17 saw the Texas Rattlesnake turn heel and align with Vince McMahon. However, Stone Cold thought about stunning the Chairman instead, and said Vince would have been fine with the mid-match switch. Can you imagine something like that happening today?

[Image via WWE]