Wrestlers are staying in the business and returning from retirement so frequently nowadays that fewer and fewer dream matches are remaining in our heads. Edge and Seth Rollins have clashed, and it was just as good if not better than anyone could have imagined. We've even seen The Undertaker wrestle Goldberg, though that match probably would have been best left to our imaginations.
Brock Lesnar vs. Stone Cold
Even Brock Lesnar has dream matches, although he probably wouldn't refer to them that way. The Beast gave a rare interview this week, appearing on The Pat McAfee Show. Lesnar listed some of the big stars he has been fortunate enough to face, including The Rock and Hulk Hogan. However, the one legend he never had the chance to face but wishes he had is Stone Cold.
“I got to wrestle Hogan, I got to wrestle The Rock, The Undertaker, Ric Flair, but I didn't get to wrestle Steve,” Lesnar said. There was a time when that match was supposed to happen, though. WWE booked Lesnar versus Austin in a King of the Ring qualifying match on Raw in 2002. When Austin was informed he'd be losing, he no-showed the match, arguing that it should have been saved for a bigger event.
Business Is Business
“It was probably the right business decision for him at the time. I don't hold a grudge against it at all,” Lesnar said to McAfee. Stone Cold has discussed that decision a number of times, labeling it one of the biggest regrets of his career. The Hall of Famer wishes he had hammered out the details and come to some sort of agreement rather than picked up his ball and gone home, as he puts it.
Unbeknownst to fans, and maybe even himself at the time, Austin was winding down his career at that point. He would wrestle his final match at WrestleMania the following year, losing to The Rock. Despite claiming he would never wrestle again, there have been reports this week that The Texas Rattlesnake will compete in a match at this year's WrestleMania, his first in 19 years. Since Lesnar is already booked in a match for the event, it won't be against The Beast should it happen.