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Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestling CM Punk on WrestleMania has been the talk of the WWE Universe for almost a year but is it any closer to happening? Austin says he can go but I am starting to wonder if the money is with Punk or with someone else.

Steve Austin returning to the WWE and wrestling on WrestleMania has been a topic of discussion for years, but it really began to heat up last year when Punk and Austin cut those great videos to promote the WWE ’13 game. Fans took it as the start of an angle and while it never went anywhere, those same fans have continued to hold on to that dream. I am not so sure that Vince McMahon and even Stone Cold Steve Austin would see it the same way.

I started writing a blog about Austin’s recent appearance on the Busted Open radio show. Austin and the boys talked a lot about Austin wrestling on WrestleMania 30. They also touched on the Punk match and it got me to start thinking about it. The more and more I look at it, I don’t know if Punk is even the second best choice for that spot.

Austin was asked about whether wrestling Punk would be an all-time match. Austin’s answer may surprise you because it isn’t exactly the ringing endorsement you’d hope to hear if you are pulling for Punk.

”Oh it definitely could (be an all-time match). It brings a lot to the table from a verbal standpoint with his well thought out promos, the way in which he conducts his business. I like his product in the ring. I like to see him turn it up more in the mainstream. I like to see a little more physicality, laying in stuff a little more. I like to see him be a little bit more aggressive. That’s just off the top of my head. Other than that, I like everything about the cat.”

The thing I immediately thought about was Punk’s recent turn. Did the WWE turn him too early? That is a topic for a whole other blog. If we are talking about the Austin match than yes, they did turn him early. Either the WWE has no interest in booking Austin, believed Austin wouldn’t do the match, or has another plan altogether if they can sign Austin for the New Orleans event. Sure Austin-Punk could still work with Punk as a babyface but it would have been much bigger to see Punk come in with a longer, more diabolical heel run under his belt.

The upside to this conversation was that Austin said he could go at WrestleMania 30. Austin isn’t looking for a match but says that if it’s the right fit, he’s healthy enough to get in there and open up a can of you know what.

If not Punk than who is the right opponent for Austin? I will tell you who…John Cena. John Cena vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania 30 is more money than anything that the WWE can come up with today, tomorrow, or next year. The dynamic is so completely different that a match between the two would be epic. If I am looking at it from Vince McMahon’s standpoint, the money is with Cena, not Punk.

The only real problem there is that you can’t hold Steve Austin back. I am convinced that The Rock was held back following WrestleMania 27 on his promos and quite frankly they were never close to as good as they were when he first came back and cut promos on Cena. Every person in that crowd would be cheering Austin and that won’t look good for the guy that the WWE is marketing as their most popular wrestler. Whether they tell Austin to tone it down or not it is just not in his blood to do it. It will be a very hard pill to swallow but if they could they will cash in on the biggest match on the table.

Vince reportedly wants Cena to have an epic run which is why he booked the two matches vs. The Rock and the Three Stages of Hell match. It doesn’t get more epic than the white bread babyface against the beer drinking, street fighting, hero of the working man does it? Plus other than The Undertaker what options do they have for Cena?

If not Cena I’d look at Brock Lesnar. There is a natural dynamic, a real story, and a match that would probably be better in the ring than Cena vs. Austin. It would be a totally different dynamic but there could be some big money there with Brock vs. Austin.

I know the argument for Punk is that you are establishing him for the future. Punk’s future in the WWE is probably going to be shorter than Cena’s. Throw Austin in there with Dean Ambrose or Daniel Bryan if that is your argument. Punk is not a young guy and he has already teased retiring when his contract is up. The investment Punk would have been WrestleMania 27 or 28 not 30.

Whether it is Punk, Cena, Lesnar, or someone else the great news is that Austin’s health is no longer a concern. Austin says that he feels good and can go if called inside the ring.

”Oh I’m healthy enough. My knees coming around just fine, it’s better than it’s ever been because I’ve been doing my do diligence on my rehab. I’ve got two new ligaments. Everything else is pain free. I’m still in shape been working out harder than I’ve ever worked out. But here’s the deal. When you’re gonna try to commit to do a Wrestlemania 30, you’re looking really at, at least a two to three month commitment, if not four. So you know you’re talking about, taking everything else of the table. I can still do my podcast but take everything else off the table and focus specifically on that task. To do it the way I would do it, to do it the way Stone Cold Steve Austin would do it, at a 120 percent. Because to go out there and to try to perform at 85-90 percent because you didn’t prep enough. That would be bogus, that would be BS that would be letting the crowd down. And that would be representing the Stone Cold Steve Austin that I know and love to a degree that is not acceptable. So once you throw a legitimate, real deal offer down on the table and say let’s talk, then we’ll talk. But until then, conjecture.”

Oh hell yeah!

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