Jim Ross comments on the return of Steve Austin

Jim Ross said that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin didn’t look like he lost a step in his first match in 19 years at WrestleMania 38 against Kevin Owens. On the Grilling J.R. podcast, Ross stated that he spoke with Austin before the WrestleMania match and soon after it was finished.

“You know, he and I talked going into that thing and we communicated on Saturday after the show,” Ross said regarding how close he was to Austin throughout the return process. “He seemed to be real happy and really almost relieved that they pulled it off. He and Kevin Owens deserve a hell of a lot of credit for what they did, and it shows you what kind of ballplayer Austin is. He hadn’t been on the field in 19 years, something like that? He didn’t look like he missed a step and they kept the match in their lane. I thought that was really smart. How they strategized and laid out that match, it was just absolutely a masterpiece, in my view. Kevin Owens deserves a lot of credit, as well. You gotta have a dancing partner to make these things work, and Steve had a great dancing partner.”

Austin beat Kevin Owens on night one of WrestleMania 38, but also appeared on night two. Austin came to the aid of Pat McAfee and gave Stunners to both Vince McMahon and Austin Theory as they beat up on McAfee. Austin also gave McAfee a Stunner before drinking loads of beer in front of the fans.

WrestleMania 38 was Austin’s first WrestleMania appearance since WrestleMania 32. Austin retired from WWE in 2003 after WrestleMania 19. Jim Ross was a key figure and head of talent relations in WWE during the Attitude Era.

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