WWE Hall of Famer throws water on a match between CM Punk and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin at WrestleMania 41

Ever since CM Punk signed on the dotted line to turn out to be a member of WWE as soon as extra, followers have been desirous to see one match above all others: “The Greatest within the World” versus the “Texas Rattlesnake,” “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin.

Lengthy thought-about the “Second Metropolis Saint’s” dream match, the prospects of Punk and Austin truly working a match collectively, even one on par with the latter’s efforts towards Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, felt possible for the primary time since 2013, which, contemplating the latter appeared like he’d by no means wrestle once more in the course of the former’s preliminary WWE run, is basically saying one thing.

Positive, Punk’s anticipated to overlook the following six or so months on account of a torn triceps and will not wrestle for the promotion once more till Survivor Collection however nonetheless, for so long as he and Austin are respiratory, the match will eternally go down as one of many best “what ifs” of WWE historical past; a “what if” that would truly occur in contrast to, say, Sting versus the Undertaker.

One one that hopes the match stays a “what if” is none apart from WWE Corridor of Famer Eric Bischoff, as he believes the prospect of Austin wrestling a match in his mid-50s is just unrealistic, particularly together with his harm historical past.

“I’ll [be surprised if he wrestles again]. I’d be comfortable to see it. I’d be excited to see it. However I’d positively be shocked if subsequent 12 months’s WrestleMania is a great distance off, and it’s arduous to foretell. However it all comes right down to how Steve’s feeling,” Eric Bischoff defined on his 83 Weeks podcast by way of Wrestling Headlines. “I used to be in all probability in Steve’s final quote-unquote match, however it actually wasn’t a lot of a match. However when it comes to being promoted with a narrative behind it, an arc resulting in a pay-per-view and all that, once I wrestled Steve and Montreal, I didn’t need to say wrestled once I was within the ring was Steve at Montreal. And at that cut-off date, once I don’t keep in mind when that was, that was 2005, possibly, or nearly 20 years in the past, and there was no in a world I may have ever imagined at that cut-off date that Steve would ever step into the ring in an precise match with an precise opponent. Simply bodily, it wasn’t within the playing cards. Now, is Steve recovered? If he’s in rehab, does he overcome the problems that you just had? Every time I labored with him, No Means Out. If he has that, I may see it as a result of he appears to be like like he’s in nice form. So far as how he is aware of his physique. He is aware of what he can do and what he can’t do. I’d like to see it. However I’d be shocked.”

So, if Austin had been to work one other match, would a pairing with Punk make sense from a wrestling perspective? Bischoff has a perspective on that too, and it is in all probability not what most followers of the “Second Metropolis Saint” wish to hear.

CM Punk and “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin aren’t a super pairing in 2024.

Discussing the prospects of an precise bell t0 bell match with CM Punk and “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin, Eric Bischoff questioned simply how efficient such a match could be, as the previous is not precisely identified for his in-ring resilience, and that makes it a complete lot tougher to cowl for the “Texas Raddlesnake’s” diminished athleticism.

“And , we’re speaking about Steve and his accidents. Let’s be trustworthy. And speak about Punk. Yeah, Punk has been very vulnerable to critical accidents during the last couple of outings. Yeah. So it’s not solely Steve, that’s received to, , must work arduous at being bodily prepared and enabled to bump round and do the issues that Steve would need to do. I’d think about, , once you’re a man like Steve Austin, you don’t need to come on the market and be half of what the viewers remembers, proper? That’s, that’s all the time the hazard, proper? When guys who’ve been so profitable for therefore lengthy get out of the enterprise and determine to make a comeback. And simply lower than what individuals keep in mind; a part of that’s as a result of individuals keep in mind you, and their reminiscence of you, and their reminiscence of that point. It’s type of hyper-inflated over time. Completely. You keep in mind it a lot in another way and extra favorably in some respects than it actually was on the time,” Eric Bischoff famous.

“After which on high of that, you’ve received time, and the truth that , on this case, that Austin hasn’t been within the ring for an precise match and needs to be yours. You already know, it’s arduous to go on the market and meet the viewers’s expectation when that expectation is type of based mostly on a reminiscence that wasn’t truly true, at the very least to the magnitude that you just recollect it. So it’s arduous to stay as much as the viewers’s expectations for expertise like that. And particularly somebody like Steve Austin, who’s very proud, however he’s received his head on straight and doesn’t have an overinflated view of himself or worth. However on the similar time, he gained’t need to disappoint the viewers. He gained’t need to go on the market realizing he’s not going to have the ability to stay as much as his expectations. So that you’ve received that you just’ve received the identical state of affairs with CM Punk is gotta be capable of put collectively three or 4 or 5, six-month runs, run with out accidents, to actually begin feeling his momentum. It’s gonna maintain it. Punk is like 44-45 someplace in that space. He’s not going to heal up actual quick. His rehab goes to be robust. And you then’ve received to get again within the ring and get in ring form once more; it’s gonna be fascinating to see how Punk comes out of this with a sequence of accidents that he sustained during the last 12 months.”

At WrestleMania 38, “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin’s match with Kevin Owens went over so effectively as a result of KO offered absolutely the heck out of the bout, taking photographs all around the ringside period in a No Holds Barred outing whereas doing every thing in his energy to make his opponent appear like the man followers remembered from the Nineties. The robust half about CM Punk wrestling in 2024 and past is that his opponents form of must do the identical factor for him, as he merely would not have the identical stuff that made him the “Greatest within the World” a decade or two prior in Ring of Honor and WWE. If the duo may determine a method to make it work, the match would seemingly go down in wrestling historical past eternally, however it has a a lot larger probability of turning tragic, which can lead Austin to easily decide out of a proposed match as an alternative of risking his legacy for another person’s dream.